When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The Kindle Paperwhite is a fantastic e-reader with a great design, excellent screen, and nifty reading features. However, if you’re new to Kindles and their interface, the Paperwhite can seem confusing at first, as many features are not exactly intuitive. For example, how do you get back to your home screen?
There are several ways to return to your Kindle Paperwhite’s home screen. Since it has no physical buttons, you’ll need to rely on on-screen icons and gestures. You can tap the Back icon, hold the Home icon, swipe from the left edge of the screen, or tap and hold to jump to the top of the screen.
If you’re new to Kindles or e-readers in general, the Paperwhite can initially seem challenging. In this article, we will show you how to easily get back to the home screen on your Kindle Paperwhite so you can access the home screen quickly and conveniently.
How to Easily Get Back to the Home Screen on the Kindle Paperwhite
The Kindle Paperwhite’s home screen is the page where you can see and access all the e-books you have purchased or downloaded. However, some people have difficulties navigating to this page because, unlike some other Kindle models, it doesn’t have any physical buttons.
There are a few ways to navigate back to your Kindle Paperwhite’s home screen easily. These include:
- Tapping the Back Icon
- Holding down the Home icon
- Swiping from the left edge of the screen
- Tapping and holding to jump to the top of the screen
Below, we will discuss how you can use each of these methods to return to the home screen.
Tap the Back Icon
Like on other Kindle devices, the Back icon on the Kindle Paperwhite sends you back to the last screen you were on. This is an easy way to navigate the device if you are lost or want to go back to what you were reading before.
The back icon will bring you back one screen at a time. So, it may take multiple taps before you’re actually brought to the home screen. For example, if you’ve clicked on three different pages after the home screen, you will need to tap the icon three times. With enough taps, you can use this button to return to your bookshelf or home screen no matter how many pages deep you are.
Hold Down the Home Icon
If you want to go back to the home screen without having to tap the Back icon multiple times, you could also hold down the Home icon for a few seconds. The Home icon is located on the far left side of the Kindle Paperwhite’s navigation bar. It’s a large, round button with an “A” on it.
This will automatically take you back to the home screen, no matter what page you’re currently on. This is especially useful if you accidentally press a button and end up somewhere you don’t want to be.
Holding down the Home Icon will take you back to the home screen. If you press it accidentally and want to return to the previous page, simply press the Back Icon.
Swipe from the Left Edge of the Screen
Swiping from the left edge of the screen is a gesture-based technique that will bring you back to the home screen. In addition to this, the left side of the Kindle Paperwhite’s screen holds quick navigation buttons that let you jump between different screens on the device.
You can also tap the Cloud icon to access the bookshelf or the icon with lines to return to the library. Tapping the Settings button will allow you to access and adjust your Kindle Paperwhite’s device settings.
Tap and Hold to Jump to the Top of the Screen
The Kindle Paperwhite’s Back icon is located at the top of each page. If you’re reading a book or article, you can quickly jump back to the top of the screen to access this icon by tapping and holding the bottom of the screen. When you do this, a small menu will appear with an icon that looks like two arrows pointing up.
When you tap this icon, the page will scroll all the way up, allowing you to access another navigation menu. Use this second menu to access additional functions, including the Back icon.
Conclusion
The Kindle Paperwhite is slightly different from other Kindles, so even seasoned Kindle users sometimes have trouble navigating to the home screen. It doesn’t have a physical button and relies entirely on screen gestures.
There are multiple ways to get to the home menu, but the general rule is to use the on-screen icons and gestures mentioned above. Once you learn how to navigate your Kindle properly, you can return to the home screen anytime to browse through books, change your settings, or read articles easily.
