Why Your iPhone's Home Screen Is Blurry (And How To Fix It)

Imagine crafting the perfect wallpaper with snappy colors and a balanced composition. Now, imagine setting it, and it looks smeary. That crisp image you picked now looks like it's wearing a midday fog. This can frustrate you when you are customizing your iPhone just for you. But, before you panic or blame your screen, here's the deal. iOS intentionally blurs your home screen wallpaper to help app icons and widgets stand out rather than get lost in the background. Apple calls this effect the legibility blur on iOS 16. It's been hanging around in various shapes since earlier updates. It softens the background, allowing you to find the icon or text without the picture stretching its pixels into oblivion.

Another culprit is the wallpaper resolution or aspect mismatch. If your image doesn't tick the exact pixel dimensions, or you over-zoomed, iOS will add a blur rather than let the top edge hang awkwardly out of frame. Think of it as a reluctant fix for poorly fit images. If you're having trouble getting suitable wallpapers, try one of the best wallpaper apps for your iPhone.

Many users, especially after updating to iOS 17, noticed that the top third of their phones became fuzzy, even though there's no option to toggle the blur off in settings. That's because iOS 17 sometimes auto-blurs when it feels the top region is overcrowded or doesn't properly fill the space. As such, it's more of a feature than a bug, depending on your mood. But here's how you can fix it.

We've established that the blur on your iPhone's wallpaper is either for readability or because your image doesn't perfectly fit. Fixing a blurry iPhone home screen may vary depending on your specific problem. The first is if your home screen is always blurry. To fix it, unlock your iPhone and press down on the Lock Screen until you get the Customize option at the bottom. From there, tap the Customize button and then Home Screen. Be sure to toggle Blur off in the bottom-right corner and press Done. Or alternatively, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings > Wallpaper.
2. Tap Customize for the Home Screen.
3. You'll see a "Blur" toggle/button. Tap it to disable the blur effect.
4. Tap Done to save.

The second category of problems is if your Home Screen isn't usually blurry, but you now notice it is. This is likely a configuration issue that will require you to adjust a setting. Once in Settings, click Accessibility. Tap Display & Text Size and enable Reduce Transparency to remove blur effects for better legibility. If that doesn't work, you'll have to reset the Home Screen. To do this, go to Settings, then General, and Transfer or Reset iPhone. Click Reset and then Reset Home Screen Layout.

Lastly, if your Home Screen is only blurry at certain times, then your Focus Mode settings are the likely cause. Fix it by going to Settings, then Focus, and tapping Do Not Disturb. Once there, select Options, then turn off Dim Lock Screen.