To hide an app on iPhone, touch and hold its icon, tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), then choose Hide and Require Face ID and confirm. The app leaves your Home Screen and moves into a locked Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library, which only opens after Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. This built-in feature arrived with iOS 18, so you don’t need a third-party app.
If you only want the icon off your Home Screen without a lock, you can also remove it to the App Library, or hide a whole Home Screen page. This guide covers each method, how to undo it, and what hiding does not cover.
Key Takeaways
| Method | What it does | Needs Face ID to open? |
|---|---|---|
| Hide and Require Face ID | Moves the app into the locked Hidden folder | Yes |
| Require Face ID (lock only) | Keeps the icon visible but locks the app | Yes |
| Remove from Home Screen | Keeps the app only in the App Library | No |
| Hide a Home Screen page | Hides a whole page of apps | No |
| Screen Time restrictions | Blocks content, installs or built-in apps | Screen Time passcode |
Table of Contents
- How to Hide Apps on iPhone With Face ID
- How to Lock an App Without Hiding It
- How to Unhide or Unlock an App
- Other Ways to Hide Apps on iPhone
- How to Hide an App From Search and Purchase History
- Using Screen Time to Restrict Apps and Content
- What Hiding an App Does Not Cover
- Hiding a Web App From Your Home Screen
- FAQ
How to Hide Apps on iPhone With Face ID
This requires iOS 18 or later. Check under Settings, then General, then About.
- Touch and hold the app icon on the Home Screen or in the App Library.
- Tap Require Face ID (this reads Touch ID or Passcode on devices without Face ID).
- Tap Hide and Require Face ID.
- Authenticate, then confirm.
The app disappears from the Home Screen and appears only inside the Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library. According to Apple, you won’t receive notifications from hidden apps, and they don’t appear in places like search results.
A few things to know:
- The Hidden folder itself is visible in the App Library. It just doesn’t show its contents until you authenticate.
- Not every app can be hidden. Hiding is for apps you installed; many built-in Apple apps can’t be hidden, and some can’t be locked either.
- Hide apps you open rarely. For something you use daily, locking without hiding is less friction.
How to Lock an App Without Hiding It
Locking keeps the icon where it is but asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode before the app opens.
- Touch and hold the app icon.
- Tap Require Face ID.
- Tap Require Face ID again in the confirmation that appears, and authenticate.
Once an app is locked, iOS also limits what it shows elsewhere, for example notification content and the app’s information in search, so the app’s content isn’t visible without authentication.
Pro Tip: After locking an app, test it: tap the icon and make sure you get the Face ID prompt before anything loads.
How to Unhide or Unlock an App
To unhide an app:
- Open the App Library and scroll to the bottom.
- Tap the Hidden folder and authenticate.
- Touch and hold the app, then tap Don’t Require Face ID and authenticate.
The app is no longer hidden or locked. It stays in the App Library; to put it back on the Home Screen, touch and hold it and choose Add to Home Screen, or drag it there.
To unlock an app that is locked but not hidden, touch and hold its icon, tap Don’t Require Face ID, and authenticate.
If an app you expect to find isn’t in the Hidden folder, it was probably only locked, not hidden, and is still on a Home Screen page or in the App Library.
Other Ways to Hide Apps on iPhone
These methods don’t need iOS 18 and don’t add a lock, so they rely on nobody looking closely.
Remove an app from the Home Screen. Touch and hold the icon, tap Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen. The app stays installed and can be found in the App Library or by search.
Hide a whole Home Screen page. Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen until the icons jiggle, tap the page dots at the bottom, untick the page you want to hide, and tap Done. Useful if you keep several private apps together.
Put it in a folder. Moving an app into a folder with a neutral name keeps it out of sight at a glance, but not from anyone who opens the folder.
None of these methods require authentication, so pair them with a lock if privacy matters, not just tidiness.
How to Hide an App From Search and Purchase History
Search and suggestions. Hidden apps are already kept out of search. For an app you haven’t hidden, open its Siri settings (on recent iOS versions, Settings, then Apps, then the app, then Siri or Siri & Search) and turn off the options that show the app and its content in search and suggestions.
Notification previews. Settings, then Notifications, then the app: set Show Previews to “When Unlocked” or “Never”.
App Store purchase history. Hiding the app on your phone doesn’t hide the purchase. To hide it, open the App Store, tap your profile picture, tap Apps (or Purchased), find the app, swipe left on it and tap Hide. You can review hidden purchases later from your account settings in the App Store.
Using Screen Time to Restrict Apps and Content
Screen Time is a restriction tool rather than a hiding tool, but it complements locking and hiding.
- Go to Settings, then Screen Time, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, and turn it on.
- Set a Screen Time passcode that is different from your device passcode.
- Under the content restrictions, open Web Content and choose Limit Adult Websites to filter Safari.
- Under Allowed Apps, turn off built-in apps you want removed from the Home Screen.
- Under the App Store purchase settings, set installing or deleting apps to Don’t Allow if you want to stop changes without your passcode.
Exact menu names shift slightly between iOS versions, so if a label doesn’t match, look for the closest equivalent. If your iPhone is part of Family Sharing with Screen Time managed by an organizer, their settings take precedence.
What Hiding an App Does Not Cover
Hiding and locking stop casual snooping. They are not encryption.
- Your device passcode opens everything. Anyone who knows it can pass the Face ID check, open the Hidden folder or change settings. If someone might know your passcode, change it.
- Traces can remain elsewhere, such as purchase history (unless hidden separately), subscriptions in your account settings, and usage lists in Settings. Check the places that matter to you.
- Other devices. Set up hiding on each iPhone or iPad you use and check each one rather than assuming it carries over.
- What is inside the app. Hiding the icon doesn’t change what the app stores or who can read it. For that side, see our guide to adult app privacy and our explainer on a chat PIN lock.
Hiding a Web App From Your Home Screen
Some services are web apps that you add to your Home Screen from Safari instead of downloading from the App Store. They behave differently from App Store apps, and the Hide and Require Face ID option may not be available for them. For a web app, you can:
- Put its icon on a Home Screen page you hide, or inside a folder.
- Edit its name when you add it to the Home Screen, so the label is neutral.
- Skip the icon entirely and open it in a Safari private tab. Safari can lock private tabs behind Face ID (check Safari’s settings for the option).
Mistrix, a female-led AI companion for femdom and BDSM, is one such web app: it runs at app.mistrix.ai with no App Store listing, so there is no store purchase to hide, and billing runs through Stripe with a neutral descriptor. Inside the app, sensitive data and stored chats are encrypted on your device with a key derived from your PIN, which covers what hiding an icon can’t. Our guide to a private NSFW AI app explains the full setup.
Sources
- Lock or hide apps on your iPhone, Apple Support
- How to hide and unhide an app on your iPhone or iPad, Engadget
FAQ
How do I hide apps on my iPhone?
Touch and hold the app, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. The app moves to the locked Hidden folder in the App Library. This needs iOS 18 or later.
Where do hidden apps go on iPhone?
Into the Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library. It opens only after Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
How do I unhide an app on iPhone?
Open the Hidden folder in the App Library, authenticate, touch and hold the app, and tap Don’t Require Face ID.
Can I hide apps on an older iPhone?
Without iOS 18, you can remove an app from the Home Screen to the App Library, hide Home Screen pages or put it in a folder, but these don’t add a Face ID lock.
Does hiding an app hide it from my App Store purchases?
No. Hide the purchase separately in the App Store under your purchased apps.
Can you hide apps on Android the same way?
Android has no identical feature, but many phones offer a private space, secure folder or app lock in settings, depending on the manufacturer.