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How to save a website to your Android home screen

Adding a website to your Android home screen puts an icon there that opens the site with one tap, without typing the address or digging through bookmarks. This guide uses Chrome, the default browser on most Android phones.

What you'll need

An Android phone with the Chrome app installed
The website already open in Chrome

Steps

Open the website in Chrome

Type or paste the address into Chrome's address bar and go to the page you want to save.

Open the menu

Tap the three dots (⋮) in the top-right corner of the screen.

Tap "Add to Home screen" or "Install app"

Look for Add to Home screen in the menu. If the site is built as a web app, Chrome may show Install app instead — both do the same job of putting an icon on your home screen.

If the site also has an app in the Google Play Store, Chrome may show Open in app or offer to install the real app instead of a website shortcut.

Confirm the name

Edit the text if you want a different name to appear under the icon, then tap Add.

Place the icon

Chrome will ask whether to add the icon automatically or let you position it yourself. Choose Add automatically, or drag it to where you want it on your home screen.

Variations

Using a different browser

Most Android browsers — Firefox, Samsung Internet, Edge — offer the same feature, usually under a menu option called Add to Home screen or Add page to. The wording and menu position vary slightly by browser.

Removing an icon later

Press and hold the icon until options appear, then drag it to Remove or tap Uninstall. This only removes the shortcut — it doesn't delete anything from the website itself.

Troubleshooting

I only see "Install app", not "Add to Home screen"

This means the website is built as a proper web app (a PWA). Tapping Install app does the same thing and usually works better — it gives the site its own entry in your app drawer as well as a home screen icon.

The icon shows a plain letter instead of the site's logo

This happens when the website hasn't provided an icon for this purpose. There's nothing to fix on your end — it's down to how the site is built.

Tapping the icon just opens Chrome instead of the site

Remove the icon and add it again. This is usually a one-off glitch during creation rather than a setting you need to change.

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