How to Customize the iOS 16 Lock Screen

This article explains how to customize your iPhone lock screen—by changing fonts, adding widgets, and much more—using the features introduced in iOS 16. This article is based on a beta version of iOS 16; lots of things can change between a beta and the final, published release of software. Check back as we’ll update this article as needed to reflect changes introduced to the lock-screen customization process.

How to Make a Custom Lock Screen on iPhone

If you’re running iOS 16 or higher on your iPhone, you have a whole new set of iPhone customization features available to you. In addition to the many customization choices that existed in the previous versions of the iOS, now you can customize your lock screen, too. Here’s how to do it:

1. Long press your iPhone lock screen.
2. Tap the blue +.
3. If you’re using an existing wallpaper, you need to select a new one. Tap Add New in the pop-up menu.
4. Choose a new wallpaper from the Add New Wallpaper screen.
5. To customize the day and date, tap it. Choose from the fonts and colors that appear in the pop-up menu at the bottom of the screen.

Note: You can add 1 widget to the day and date section of the lock screen. Just drag and drop a widget into that area.

6. To customize the time, tap it. Choose from the fonts and colors that appear in the pop-up menu at the bottom of the screen.
7. You can add widgets to the lock screen. You can pick up to 4 small widgets, 2 medium widgets, or 1 medium and 2 small widgets. To do that, tap the + beneath the time.
   • Tap the widget(s) you want to add to the lock screen. You can also drag and drop them into the widget area.
   • Drag widgets side to side or up and down to adjust their placement.
   • Tap the widget’s – icon to remove it after you’ve added it to the lock screen.

Tip: Lock screen widgets are similar to homescreen widgets: They update periodically to show new data and tapping them takes you to the app connected to the widget.

8. Tap the … icon to choose whether you want Depth Effects or Perspective Zoom applied to your lock screen.
9. When you’ve customized your lock screen in just the way you want and are ready to save and use it, tap Done.

How to Use Multiple Lock Screens on iOS 16 and Up

Each lock screen you customize is saved as its own option that you can select at any time. To access existing lock screens, and adjust some additional settings, follow these steps:

1. Long press the lock screen.
2. Swipe side to side to view all of the lock screens you’ve created.
3. To connect a lock screen to a Focus state, tap Focus and choose a pre-defined Focus setting.

Tip: This allows you to use a lock screen packed with useful widgets in a Focus setting when you want to be available and a lock screen with no notifications and nothing but the day and time when you're trying to focus on work or sleep.

4. Tap the lock screen you want to use to activate it.

How to Delete Lock Screens

Here’s how to delete an existing customized lock screen:

1. Long press the lock screen.
2. Swipe side to side to find the lock screen you want to delete.
3. Long press the lock screen you want to delete.
4. Tap Delete Wallpaper.