How to Hide Apps on iPhone (and What Still Shows)

Short answer: To hide apps on iPhone (iOS 18 and later), touch and hold the app on the Home Screen, tap Require Face ID, then tap Hide and Require Face ID and Hide App. The app moves to the Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library, which opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Only apps you downloaded can be hidden.

This guide is for anyone who wants an app out of sight, whether you share your phone now and then or just want a tidier Home Screen. It covers four built-in ways, from the most private to the lightest, and what each one still leaves visible. Steps checked against Apple’s documentation for iOS 18 and later.

1. Hide an app in the Hidden folder

This is the only built-in way that really hides an app. A hidden app no longer appears on your Home Screen or in App Library, and Search can’t find it.

1. Go to the Home Screen and find the app.
2. Touch and hold the app icon until the quick actions menu opens.
3. Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID or Require Passcode).
4. Tap Hide and Require Face ID.
5. Authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, then tap Hide App.

To open a hidden app: swipe left past all your Home Screen pages to get to App Library. Scroll to the bottom, tap the Hidden folder and unlock it. Then open the app.

To unhide it: in the Hidden folder, touch and hold the app, tap Don’t Require Face ID and authenticate. The app goes back to App Library. Drag it to a Home Screen page if you want it there.

You can also see every hidden app in Settings > Apps > Hidden Apps, after you authenticate.

This only works for apps you downloaded. Apps that come with iOS 18 or later can’t be hidden. You can lock some of them instead (next section).

2. Lock an app with Face ID

Locking doesn’t hide the app. The icon stays where it is, but it asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode every time it opens. This is the option for built-in apps like Photos, Notes or Messages.

1. Touch and hold the app icon.
2. Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID or Require Passcode).
3. Tap Require Face ID again and authenticate.

After you leave the app, it locks again. While an app is locked, what’s inside it doesn’t show in notification previews, search, Siri suggestions or your call history.

Some built-in apps can’t be locked: Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts and Settings. If you have Stolen Device Protection on, a locked app opens only with Face ID or Touch ID when you’re away from familiar locations.

3. Remove an app from the Home Screen

This keeps the app installed but takes the icon off your Home Screen. It’s a tidy-up, not a privacy feature: the app is still in App Library and in Search, with no lock.

1. On the Home Screen, touch and hold the app.
2. Tap Remove App.
3. Tap Remove from Home Screen. Don’t tap Delete App, which uninstalls it.

To keep new downloads off your Home Screen too, go to Settings > Home Screen & App Library and choose App Library Only.

You can also hide a whole Home Screen page: touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen, tap the dots near the bottom of the screen, tap the circle under the page you want to hide, then tap Done. The apps on that page still appear in App Library.

4. Keep an app out of Search

If you’ve removed an app from the Home Screen but don’t want it popping up when someone searches, turn off its search results:

1. Open Settings and tap Search.
2. Scroll down and tap the app.
3. Turn off Show App in Search. You can also turn off Show Content in Search and Suggest App.

Hide the app in your App Store purchases

Hiding an app on your iPhone doesn’t remove it from your App Store purchase list. To hide it there:

1. Open the App Store and tap your photo or initials at the top.
2. Tap Apps (if you use Family Sharing, tap My Apps).
3. Find the app, swipe left on it and tap Hide, then tap Done.

This only removes it from that list. It doesn’t delete the app from any device, and the app still appears in your full purchase history in Settings. If you use Family Sharing, family members can no longer download it from your shared purchases.

What this doesn’t protect

Hiding an app keeps it out of casual view. It doesn’t make the app invisible.

• Your iPhone passcode opens the Hidden folder. Face ID is a shortcut, not a separate code. Anyone who knows your passcode can open hidden and locked apps.
• Hidden app names still show elsewhere. Apple lists Screen Time, battery usage in Settings > Battery, your App Store purchase history and Settings > Apps > Hidden Apps (behind Face ID).
• The Hidden folder itself is visible. Anyone who opens App Library can see that the folder exists, just not what’s in it.
• Hiding doesn’t sync. An app hidden on your iPhone isn’t hidden on your iPad, and the other way around.
• Built-in apps can’t be hidden. Photos, Messages, Notes and other apps that come with iOS can only be locked, and some can’t even be locked.
• Removing from the Home Screen and hiding pages hide nothing. The apps stay in App Library and Search with no lock.
• The app’s data isn’t encrypted separately. Hiding or locking an app changes how it opens, not how its data is stored. Files and photos you shared from it, or saved elsewhere, are still where you left them.
• Family Sharing. Children under 13 can’t lock or hide apps. For ages 13 to 17, a parent or guardian can still see downloads and usage through Screen Time.

How we checked this

We checked every step against Apple’s own documentation on 31 Oct 2026: the lock or hide apps article in the Apple Personal Safety User Guide, the iPhone User Guide’s lock or hide an app section, “Organize the Home Screen and App Library” (support.apple.com/108324), “If you can’t find an app on the Home Screen” (support.apple.com/120630), the Spotlight Search article (support.apple.com/118232) and the App Store purchase list article (support.apple.com/108091), for iOS 18 and later. We haven’t tested this guide on a device yet.

Methods compared

Method	Off the Home Screen	Off App Library and Search	Needs Face ID or passcode to open	Works for built-in apps
Hide (Hidden folder)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Lock (Require Face ID)	No	No	Yes	Most, not all
Remove from Home Screen	Yes	No	No	Yes
Hide a Home Screen page	Yes	No	No	Yes
Turn off Show App in Search	No	Search only	No	Yes

For most people, hiding the app plus hiding it in App Store purchases is enough to keep it out of casual view. If what you really want to protect is a set of files, photos or documents rather than the app itself, keep them somewhere with its own code. Our guide to a secure folder on iPhone compares the options, and how to hide photos on iPhone covers the Photos side. Cubbylock is in development. It’s designed to keep files encrypted behind a code that isn’t your iPhone passcode, inside its own folder only, not in other apps.