How to Customize Your PS Vita Home Screen

This article explains how to customize your PS Vita's home screen by rearranging or deleting icons, adding more pages, and adding or changing background wallpaper.

Enter Edit Mode to Access Customization Options

To perform customization functions on your PS Vita, the first step is to enter ​edit mode.

1. Turn on your PS Vita.

2. Once it's started up, touch and hold the screen anywhere.

   Make sure to hold your finger on the screen, rather than just tapping, because tapping an icon will open the Live Area for the application or game it represents.

3. The screen will change from its normal view to a version that lacks the top bar and some of the peripheral material. You'll also see a little circular icon added to the top right of each game or application icon and a clear/grey rectangular icon with a plus symbol at the bottom right of the screen.

4. Once you see these changes, lift your finger from the screen.

Rearrange Icons

Once your PS Vita home screen is in edit mode, rearranging the icons is as simple as touching one and dragging it to its new position, then letting go.

Make sure you don't tap the icon: touch it and leave your finger on it, slide your finger to the spot where you want the icon to go, and lift your finger when it's in position.

Delete Icons

With your PS Vita home screen in edit mode, tap the icon you want to delete. A menu will pop up. Select Delete and the icon will disappear. If you decide not to delete, you can cancel at the point the menu pops up.

Add Pages

With your PS Vita home screen in edit mode, you'll see a translucent plus sign in a circle at the bottom right of the screen. To add a new page to your home screen, simply tap the plus sign.

Now you can drag icons there from other pages of your home screen if you like as multiple pages are stacked vertically while the screen is in edit mode, so drag them down the screen until the page you want scrolls up, then let them go.

Add Background Wallpaper

You can set any image you like to be your background wallpaper. First, you'll need to find the image you want. For the best possible image, make sure to size it to 960 x 544 pixels on your computer, and save it in a format readable by the PS Vita. Then transfer the image to your PS Vita's memory card.

Put your PS Vita's home screen in edit mode, as above. Now tap the Background Settings icon at the bottom right of the screen. It looks a bit like a rectangular yin-yang symbol (it's a simplified version of the PS Vita's default background with its swoosh pattern).

A new screen will pop up, allowing you to select the image you want. Use this same process to change to a different image if you change your mind about the image you want.

Obviously, you can't change the whole look of the PS Vita this way, or even the general appearance of the home screen, with its cute round icons and staggered grid arrangement. But putting your most-used icons right upfront can go a long way towards making your whole experience with a device better.

And, though your background image will be largely obscured by the icons on the home screen, it's still a nice touch to be able to put your own stamp on the look of your device.