How to Customize Your iPhone Lock Screen

iOS 16 and later let you change the font, color, and widgets on your lock screen — create a personalized display with the time, weather, or fitness data.

In this guide (5 steps):

1.Enter lock screen customization mode
2.Add or swap a lock screen
3.Change the clock font and color
4.Add widgets below the clock
5.Save and set as active

Enter lock screen customization mode

~19s

Wake your iPhone (so the lock screen is visible). Long-press anywhere on the lock screen. The screen zooms out slightly and a "Customize" button appears at the bottom.

Quick Tip

Make sure Face ID does not unlock the phone before you long-press — press the side button to wake without unlocking, or look slightly away from the phone.

Add or swap a lock screen

~15s

You will see your current lock screen with a "+" button to create a new one and a "Customize" button to edit the existing one. Tap "+" to browse wallpaper and style options.

Change the clock font and color

~15s

Tap the clock on the lock screen. A font and color picker appears. Swipe through font styles on the left. Use the color circles on the right to change the clock and other element colors.

Add widgets below the clock

~15s

Tap the widget area below the clock. A panel appears showing available widgets. Tap a widget to add it — options include weather, calendar, activity rings, reminders, battery level, and more.

Save and set as active

~15s

Tap "Done" in the top right corner. If you created a new lock screen, tap "Set as Wallpaper Pair" to also use the matching wallpaper on your Home screen, or "Customize Home Screen" to set them independently.

You Did It!

You've completed: How to Customize Your iPhone Lock Screen

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Starting with iOS 16, Apple let iPhone users fully customize the lock screen — the screen that appears when you wake your phone before unlocking it. You can change the clock font, the color scheme, your wallpaper, and add information-rich widgets showing weather, battery level, upcoming appointments, fitness rings, or stock prices.

You can create multiple lock screens and switch between them manually or have them change automatically throughout the day. For example, you might have a calm, simple lock screen for evening and a more detailed one during the day that shows your appointments and reminders.

Widgets appear in two rows: a small row just above the clock (for single-data widgets) and a row just below the clock (for larger widgets). The widgets are small and glanceable — a weather icon, your step count, the calendar date, or battery levels for your iPhone and Apple Watch.

Changing your lock screen does not affect your Home screen wallpaper unless you want it to — they are configured separately.

This feature requires iOS 16 or later and works on iPhone 8 or newer. The selection of available widgets grows as app developers update their apps to support lock screen widgets.

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