You’re staring at your screen. You need to print a PDF, or maybe you're trying to save an image to a specific folder, but the option just isn't there. We’ve all been there. Apple loves minimalism, but sometimes that minimalism feels like a game of hide-and-seek. The more icon on iphone—that little three-dot symbol or the box with an arrow—is basically the gateway to everything useful on your device.
It’s annoying.
The reality is that "More" isn't just one thing. Depending on whether you are in Messages, Mail, or Safari, the icon changes its look and its neighborhood. Apple’s design philosophy, often referred to as "Human Interface Guidelines," prioritizes the content you’re looking at over the buttons you use to manage it. This means the buttons get tucked away. If you can't find the three dots, you're not losing your mind; Apple just decided that specific menu wasn't "essential" enough for the main view.
The Many Faces of the Three Dots
In most modern iOS versions, the primary more icon on iphone looks like an ellipsis—three horizontal dots inside a circle. You’ll find this at the top right of almost every Apple-made app. In the Files app, it’s where you go to change how icons are sorted or to connect to a server. In the Notes app, it’s how you lock a note or scan a document.
But here is where it gets tricky.
Sometimes the "More" function is actually the Share Sheet. That’s the square with the arrow pointing up. If you’re in Safari, you won't see three dots for most page actions; you have to hit that square. Once that menu slides up, you often have to scroll all the way to the bottom to find—you guessed it—another "Edit Actions" or "More" button. It's a nested doll situation.
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Why Context Matters
Apple uses "Contextual Menus." This is a fancy way of saying the menu changes based on what you are doing. If you are looking at a list of emails, the more icon on iphone might be a swipe gesture. If you long-press (Haptic Touch) an email, a menu pops up. That is technically a "More" menu, even though there's no icon at all.
Actually, the long-press is becoming the new "More" button. Instead of looking for a tiny icon, Apple wants you to just push hard on the thing you want to change. It feels intuitive once you know it, but for a new user, it’s like trying to find a secret door in a wall with no handle.
Finding the Hidden Settings in Messages
Messages is perhaps the most confusing place for this. People often look for a way to manage attachments or silence a rowdy group chat. You used to tap the "i" in a circle. Now, you usually tap the person's name or the group icons at the very top of the screen. That acts as your more icon on iphone for that specific conversation.
Inside that menu, you see the toggle for "Hide Alerts" or "Share My Location." If you’re looking for the "More" that lets you delete multiple messages at once, that’s different. You have to long-press a message bubble, hit "More," and then you get those little checkboxes on the left. It’s a multi-step process for something that feels like it should be a single tap.
The Hidden Safari Menu
Safari is a beast. You have the "AA" icon in the address bar. That’s a "More" menu for text size, Reader Mode, and website settings. Then you have the Share icon for everything else. If you want to find a word on a page, you don't look for a magnifying glass anymore; you hit the Share button and scroll down to "Find on Page."
It’s genuinely strange that "sharing" a page is the same button as "finding a word" on that page. But that is the logic of iOS. Everything that isn't a primary navigation move gets dumped into that single bucket.
Customizing Your More Options
Most people don't realize you can actually fix this mess. When you tap the Share icon (the square with the arrow), scroll to the very bottom. Tap "Edit Actions." This is the secret clubhouse.
You can take the stuff you actually use—like "Save to Files" or "Print"—and hit the green plus sign to move them to your favorites. This moves them to the top of the list. You can even delete the stuff you never use. If you never use the "Create Watch Face" option, get rid of it. This turns the generic more icon on iphone experience into something that actually fits your workflow.
The Evolution of the Ellipsis
Before iOS 13, we didn't see the three dots nearly as much. We had "Edit" buttons in the corners. Apple shifted toward the ellipsis because it's a universal symbol for "there's more stuff here." This is great for consistency across apps, but bad because it makes every app look the same at a glance. You have to hunt for the specific dot placement.
In the Music app, the three dots are everywhere. They are next to every song, every album, and every playlist. In this context, the more icon on iphone handles your library management. It’s where you go to "Add to Queue" or "Love" a song. If you don't see the dots, try swiping left on the song title. Sometimes the "More" options are hidden under a swipe, particularly the "Delete" function.
What to Do When the Icon Is Missing
Sometimes the icon really is gone. This usually happens for a few reasons:
- Guided Access is on: If your phone is locked into a single app for a kid or a demo, menus are often disabled.
- Screen Time Restrictions: If "Account Changes" or certain app permissions are restricted, some "More" options just vanish.
- Landscape vs. Portrait: Some apps hide the more icon on iphone when you rotate the screen because there's "no room," which is ironically when you have the most horizontal space.
- App Updates: Developers sometimes move the menu to a bottom tab. If you can't find the dots at the top, look for a "Settings" or "Library" tab at the bottom.
Honestly, if you're stuck, the "Search" feature in the Settings app is your best friend. But that only works for system settings. For app-specific stuff, the long-press is your "Hail Mary" move. If you can't find a button, just press and hold on the screen. Nine times out of ten, the menu you're looking for will pop up under your thumb.
Actionable Steps for a Cleaner iPhone Experience
Stop hunting and start organizing. The more you customize these hidden menus, the less time you spend squinting at those three little dots.
- Audit your Share Sheet. Open any photo, hit the Share icon, scroll to the bottom, and hit "Edit Actions." Move your most-used tasks to the top.
- Master the Long-Press. Spend five minutes in the Mail or Messages app just long-pressing things. See what menus appear. This is often faster than finding the more icon on iphone.
- Check the Address Bar. In Safari, remember the "AA" isn't just for fonts; it’s for privacy reports and desktop site requests.
- Use Search in Settings. If you are looking for a "More" menu to change a system behavior (like haptics or notification styles), don't hunt through the app. Pull down on the main Settings page to reveal the search bar and type it in directly.
The "More" icon isn't going away. If anything, as iPhones get more complex, more features will be tucked into these secondary menus. Learning where they live in each specific app is the only way to stop the frustration. Usually, it's right there in the corner, waiting for a tap.