Can you hide apps on an iPhone? Absolutely! You can use your iPhone's built-in features to hide any Apple or third-party app for free. We'll show you how to hide an app on your iPhone by removing it from your Home Screen, hiding it from Search and Siri Suggestions, and deleting it from your App Store purchase history. If you want to hide multiple apps, you can even hide an entire Home Screen page of app icons. Show
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How to Hide Apps on iPhone Home Screen Using the App LibraryYour iPhone will include the App Library if you are running iOS 14 or later. Here's how to hide apps in the App Library, which allows you to store it away from your Home Screen.
This will hide the app in the iPhone App Library. Now to find your app, just swipe left to your last Home Screen and swipe left one more time to access your App Library and search for the app name. Since it's easy to find hidden apps in the App Library, you can always change your mind and add it back to your Home Screen later. If you're interested, here's more guidance on the App Library. Can I Hide Apps from the App Library?No, you can't hide or remove an app from the App Library as long it is installed on your device. So unless you delete and reinstall the app each time you use it, the app will always appear when you search your App Library. In rare instances, this may be a necessary option; but for most people, this won't be practical. If you have decided to use this option, follow the steps in the App Library section above and select "Delete App" when the menu appears. Hide a Page of Apps on Your iPhoneIf you're looking for a way to hide multiple apps, hiding an entire Home Screen page of apps is my favorite method. Before you follow the steps below, drag any apps you want to hide onto their own Home Screen page. Then, follow the steps below to learn how to hide apps on your iPhone by hiding an entire Home Screen page of apps from view:
Only Home Screen pages with a checkmark below them will appear when you swipe through your Home Screen pages. How to Hide Apps from iPhone Search & Smart SuggestionsYour iPhone Search function allows you to search for apps or content on your device from one unified location, while Smart Suggestions uses Siri's intelligence to suggest apps based on your usage patterns. This can lead to hidden apps on your iPhone showing up in search results or suggestions when you'd rather not see it. Be warned: if you use this method, someone determined to snoop can still find your iPhone's hidden apps by searching the App Library. However, taking these measures will help to further conceal your app. Here's how to hide apps from iPhone Search and Smart Suggestions:
Once the toggles have been disabled, the app and its content will no longer appear in your Search results or Smart Suggestions (even if you have the Siri Suggestions widget on your Home Screen). If you change your mind and want to unhide an app in iPhone Search or Smart Suggestions, follow the steps above and switch the toggles back on. Related: How to Make a Private Photo Album to Hide Pictures on iPhone Return to top How to Hide Apps from App Store Purchase HistoryIf you have Family Sharing enabled, anyone in your Family Group can see and download the apps you’ve purchased and downloaded. If you want to keep some of your apps private, you can hide them from your App Store purchase history. Don't worry; you can always find hidden app purchases later when you need to!
Note: This will not delete or hide the app on your iPhone or iPad. This method only hides the app within your purchase history inside the App Store. You also can’t hide app subscriptions from the Family Organizer in Family Sharing, even if you hide the app from Purchases. Need to find hidden App Store purchases? No worries; it's easy. Return to top Use App Folders to Hide an App on Your iPhoneIf you're looking for a way to reduce clutter on your Home Screen, creating app folders is a great way to do this! However, if your purpose is to hide multiple apps, I recommend using the Hide a Page of Apps method, which I've found to be simpler and more convenient. If you do chose the method below, here's how to create an iPhone folder to hide your apps:
If you really want to hide apps deep down in your folders, you can create up to 12 pages in a folder as long as each page has one app. That means you could have a folder with 11 pages of apps you only sometimes use, and hide your app or apps on the twelfth page. This method obviously doesn’t completely hide apps on your iPhone, but it sure makes it hard to accidentally come across them. Now that you know how to hide an app on iPhone in a variety of ways, you can decide which method works best for your purposes! And just in case you hide an app too well, we can show you how to find hidden apps on your iPhone. Master your iPhone in one minute a day: Sign up here to get our FREE Tip of the Day delivered right to your inbox. |