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On Huawei phones and tablets that support it, enable the app drawer at Settings > Home screen & wallpaper > Home screen style > Drawer. Return to the home screen and swipe up to see the apps kept in the drawer. You can place selected apps on the home screen as shortcuts, remove those shortcuts without uninstalling the apps, and switch back to the standard layout whenever you want.
What the Huawei app drawer changes
The app drawer is an alternative home-screen style. Instead of displaying every installed app across one or more home-screen pages, Drawer mode keeps the complete app collection in a separate list that opens with an upward swipe. The home screen can then show only the shortcuts you choose. Huawei describes the purpose as putting apps “in a drawer” and displaying frequently used apps on the home screen to streamline that screen. Read Huawei’s general instructions for the feature at HUAWEI Support: App Drawer.
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Drawer mode does not create a second copy of an app, move the app’s data, or require a download. It changes how the launcher presents apps. A shortcut on the home screen is an access point; the underlying app remains part of the drawer until you uninstall it through the normal app-management controls.
The setting is useful when you want a less crowded first screen but still need access to all installed apps. It is also reversible: Huawei identifies Standard as the home-screen style to select when you want to turn Drawer mode off.
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Check support before looking for the setting
Huawei does not promise the same menu on every phone or tablet. Its support pages cover particular products and software releases, and one of the device-specific guides explicitly warns that the feature may vary by device. Labels can also differ with language, region, model, or a later software update. The general path below is the best starting point, not a guarantee that every Huawei device includes the option.
Official examples include EMUI 10.0, EMUI 10.1, EMUI 10.1.1, EMUI 11.0, EMUI 12.0, Magic UI 4.0, and HarmonyOS 2.0. Those examples are tied to named systems or selected models rather than establishing universal support for every current Huawei phone and tablet. For a version-specific reference, compare your device with Huawei’s guides for EMUI 10.1.1, the HUAWEI nova 9 on EMUI 12.0, selected MatePad products on HarmonyOS 2.0, or selected devices using Magic UI 4.0 and EMUI 11.0.
Enable Drawer mode
Use this sequence on the device itself. The wording in parentheses is what to look for if your translation or software build uses slightly different labels.
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- Open Home screen & wallpaper. This section contains the launcher and wallpaper controls on Huawei builds that use the general menu structure.
- Tap Home screen style. You should see the available home-screen layouts, commonly including Standard and Drawer.
- Select Drawer. Tap the Drawer option rather than Standard. The change applies to the home-screen layout; it is not an app installation or a factory reset.
- Return to the home screen. Press the Home control or use your device’s home gesture.
- Swipe up from the home screen. An upward swipe opens the drawer and shows the apps stored there, as described in Huawei’s general support instructions.
If your phone displays a confirmation prompt, accept it to apply the selected style. If the screen returns to the home page without changing, reopen Settings > Home screen & wallpaper > Home screen style and verify that Drawer is selected.
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Open the drawer and find an app
Once Drawer mode is active, start on a home-screen page and swipe upward. This gesture is the normal entry point to the drawer in Huawei’s documented workflow. The drawer is where you access apps that do not have a shortcut on the home screen.
A home-screen shortcut and the drawer entry are not competing installations. The same app can be available in the drawer and also have a shortcut on one of your home-screen pages. If you remove the shortcut later, the drawer remains the place to launch the app.
Because gesture behavior can be affected by the device’s navigation arrangement, begin the swipe on an open area of the home screen rather than on a widget or an existing icon. If an upward swipe does not open the drawer, first confirm that the selected style is still Drawer; a device that is set to Standard will not use this drawer workflow.
Add an app shortcut to the home screen
Drawer mode is selective: you can keep the full collection in the drawer and place only the apps you want immediately visible on the home screen.
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- From the home screen, swipe up to open the drawer.
- Touch and hold the app you want to place on the home screen.
- Keep holding and drag the icon toward the home-screen edge or target position.
- Move through the home-screen pages if necessary, then release the icon in the desired location.
Huawei’s instructions describe this as touching and holding an app in the drawer and dragging it to the desired home-screen position. If the icon lands on a different page than intended, touch and hold it again and drag it to the correct page. This action creates a shortcut; it does not change the app’s installation status.
Remove a shortcut without uninstalling the app
To tidy the home screen while keeping the app available, touch and hold its home-screen icon and choose Remove. In Huawei’s terminology, Remove takes away the home-screen icon only. The app remains available in the drawer and is not uninstalled. Huawei documents this distinction in its general App Drawer guidance.
- Locate the shortcut on a home-screen page.
- Touch and hold the icon until the shortcut menu or editing controls appear.
- Tap Remove, not an option labeled Uninstall or Delete.
- Swipe up from the home screen later if you need to launch that app from the drawer.
The exact menu appearance can vary, but the important decision is the command name. Remove changes the shortcut arrangement; an uninstall command removes the application itself and is a separate action.
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Drawer versus Standard: which layout fits?
Huawei’s two relevant home-screen styles serve different organizational preferences. The table describes the documented behavior without assigning unsupported claims about battery life, storage, speed, or productivity.
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| Home-screen style | Where the full app collection appears | How the home screen is used | When to choose it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drawer | In the app drawer, opened by swiping up | Show selected app shortcuts and keep other apps in the drawer | Choose this when you want a separate app list and a more selective home screen |
| Standard | On the standard home-screen layout | Use the conventional Huawei arrangement rather than the drawer workflow | Choose this when you do not want a separate drawer or when Drawer is unavailable |
Huawei’s cited support pages do not quantify a performance, storage, battery, or speed difference between these styles. The practical distinction is the location of app access and whether you maintain a separate list.
Turn Drawer mode off
You can return to the standard arrangement from the same setting used to enable the drawer.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Home screen & wallpaper.
- Tap Home screen style.
- Select Standard.
- Return to the home screen and check the resulting layout.
Switching to Standard changes the launcher style. It does not, by itself, uninstall apps. If you later select Drawer again, Huawei’s documented workflow lets you access the app collection with an upward swipe.
If “Home screen style” or “Drawer” is missing
A missing option is usually a support or menu-variation issue rather than a gesture problem. Work through these checks in order:
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- Confirm the current menu path. Start at Settings and look for Home screen & wallpaper. On some builds, a search field in Settings can help locate “home screen style,” but the exact search result and label depend on the software.
- Check the device model. Huawei’s device-specific pages do not cover every product. A feature documented for a selected phone or MatePad should not be treated as universal.
- Check the software release. Note the EMUI, Magic UI, or HarmonyOS version in your device information and compare it with Huawei’s support page for that model.
- Account for language and region. Translated labels, regional firmware, and carrier-customized menus can change the wording or position of the control.
- Look for an update-specific guide. Huawei’s support library includes separate instructions for EMUI 10.1.1, EMUI 12.0, HarmonyOS 2.0, Magic UI 4.0, and EMUI 11.0 examples. Use the guide that matches both your model and version.
- Do not assume a failed swipe means the feature is disabled. First verify the selected home-screen style. A swipe-up drawer is expected only after Drawer has been enabled.
If the option remains absent after checking the model and software documentation, the safest conclusion is that your particular device or build may not provide Huawei’s Drawer setting. Do not install a third-party launcher merely to reproduce these steps unless you specifically want a different launcher; the built-in workflow does not require one.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Version and device context
The following examples explain why instructions can differ between Huawei products. They are reference points from Huawei’s own support pages, not a compatibility list for every device sold today.
| Huawei documentation example | System or product context | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| General App Drawer guide | Huawei global support | Documents the Drawer selection, swipe-up access, shortcut dragging, Remove behavior, and Standard as the way to disable Drawer mode |
| App Drawer guide | EMUI 10.1.1 | Shows that the workflow is documented for this specific EMUI release |
| Use App Drawer to Store Apps | HUAWEI nova 9, EMUI 12.0 | Shows a model-and-version-specific example rather than a universal rule |
| Use App Drawer to Store Apps | Selected MatePad products, HarmonyOS 2.0 | Shows that tablet instructions also exist for selected products |
| Use App Drawer to Store Apps | Selected devices, Magic UI 4.0 and EMUI 11.0 | Explicitly notes that feature availability may vary by device |
These distinctions matter when helping someone remotely. Two Huawei devices can show different labels or omit the setting even when both are running software from the same broad family. Ask for the exact model and software version before treating a menu path as definitive.
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If you are moving from Standard to Drawer, make the change before rearranging icons. Once Drawer is active, open the drawer and add shortcuts only for the apps you reach often. Place those shortcuts on the first home-screen page or another location that makes sense to you. Leave less frequently used apps in the drawer so the home screen stays focused.
When an app no longer deserves a visible shortcut, use Remove from its home-screen menu. This preserves drawer access while avoiding a crowded page. If you later need the shortcut again, open the drawer, touch and hold the app, and drag it back to a home-screen position.
This workflow separates two decisions that are easy to confuse: choosing where an icon appears and choosing whether the app is installed. Drawer mode addresses the first decision. Uninstalling addresses the second and is not required for ordinary home-screen cleanup.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Looking for a standalone “App Drawer” app. Huawei documents Drawer as a home-screen style under Settings, not as a separate download.
- Choosing Uninstall when you only want a cleaner screen. Use Remove on the shortcut when the app should remain available.
- Expecting every app to appear as a home-screen icon. Drawer mode is designed to keep the complete collection in the drawer while showing selected shortcuts on the home screen.
- Assuming a tutorial for one model applies to all Huawei devices. Huawei’s own pages are tied to selected models and releases, and availability can vary.
- Repeating the upward swipe while Standard is active. Select Drawer first; the swipe-up drawer behavior follows that setting.
What you can reliably expect
On a supported Huawei device, the complete built-in workflow is straightforward: select Drawer in Home screen style, swipe up to open it, drag chosen apps onto the home screen, and use Remove to take shortcuts away without uninstalling those apps. Standard reverses the layout. The only part that cannot be generalized is availability: Huawei’s version- and model-specific documentation makes clear that the menu and feature support depend on the device and software build.
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