The best way to hide apps on iPhone is the Hide and Require Face ID option in iOS 18 and later. Touch and hold the app, tap Require Face ID, then tap Hide and Require Face ID. The app leaves your Home Screen and moves into a locked Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library.
On older versions, or for apps iOS won't hide, you can still take an app off the Home Screen or hide whole Home Screen pages. Each method has a different limit, and none of them hides what's already been saved to your Photos library. Here's what each one actually does.
How do I hide an app completely on iPhone?
On iOS 18 and later, hiding an app removes it from the Home Screen, from search and from notifications, and puts it behind Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Touch and hold the app icon on your Home Screen.
- Tap Require Face ID (it says Touch ID or Passcode on iPhones without Face ID).
- Tap Hide and Require Face ID.
- Confirm with Face ID, then tap Hide App.
The app moves into the Hidden folder at the very bottom of the App Library. While it's hidden:
- Its icon is gone from every Home Screen page.
- It doesn't appear when you search your iPhone.
- You won't get its notifications.
- Opening it means opening the Hidden folder first, which needs Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
Not every app has the Hide option. Some of Apple's built-in apps can only be locked, not hidden. If you only see Require Face ID with no Hide choice, use one of the methods below for that app.
How do I find hidden apps on my iPhone?
Hidden apps live in the Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library, and you unlock that folder with Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode.
- On your Home Screen, swipe left past your last page to open the App Library.
- Scroll all the way down.
- Tap the Hidden folder and authenticate.
- Tap an app to open it.
To unhide an app, open the Hidden folder, touch and hold the app, and tap Don't Require Face ID. It goes back to the App Library, and you can drag it to your Home Screen from there.
How do I hide apps without deleting them on older iOS?
If you can't use the iOS 18 Hide option, removing an app from the Home Screen hides its icon while keeping the app and its data on your iPhone.
- Touch and hold the app icon.
- Tap Remove App.
- Tap Remove from Home Screen (not Delete App).
The app still lives in the App Library, sorted into a category folder and listed alphabetically. Anyone who opens the App Library or searches by name will find it in seconds, and it isn't locked.
Hide a whole Home Screen page
If you want to tuck away several apps at once, put them on one page and hide that page.
- Touch and hold an empty spot on your Home Screen until the icons jiggle.
- Tap the row of dots above the dock.
- Uncheck the page you want to hide.
- Tap Done.
The page disappears from swiping, but its apps still show up in the App Library and in search.
Hide built-in Apple apps with Screen Time
Screen Time can turn off some built-in apps entirely, so they vanish from the Home Screen and the App Library. Look in Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn restrictions on, then switch off apps in the allowed apps list. This only works for Apple's own apps, and anyone who knows your Screen Time passcode can switch them back on.
What does hiding an app not hide?
Hiding an app hides its icon, not the photos, videos and files that app has already saved to the rest of your iPhone. This is the gap most hide-apps tutorials skip.
- Photos saved from the app stay in Photos. If you saved a picture from a messaging app, a browser or a dating app, it sits in your library under Recents, completely visible, even though the app itself is hidden.
- The Hidden folder opens with your iPhone passcode. If Face ID fails, your normal passcode unlocks it. Anyone who knows your passcode can open the folder and every app inside.
- The folder itself is visible. Anyone who scrolls to the bottom of the App Library can see that a Hidden folder exists, even if they can't open it.
- Hidden isn't the same as encrypted with a separate key. Hiding changes how iOS displays the app. It doesn't put the app's data behind a different lock than the one that already protects your iPhone.
If the reason you're hiding an app is something you saved from it, check your Photos library. Hiding the app does nothing for a picture that's already sitting in your camera roll, and if you've used the Hidden album, remember it opens with the same passcode.
So iOS gives you good tools to tidy away an app from casual glances. What it doesn't give you is a place with its own passcode that someone who knows your iPhone passcode still can't open.
How do you keep what's inside an app private?
If what you really want to hide is photos, videos or notes, keep them in a vault with its own passcode instead of relying on a hidden icon. Vult is a private photo and video vault for iPhone that encrypts everything on your device with AES-256, behind its own passcode.
- Open Vult and set a vault passcode that's different from your iPhone passcode.
- Import the photos and videos you want to keep private.
- Delete the originals from Photos, then empty Recently Deleted.
Everything inside is encrypted with AES-256-GCM. The key comes from your vault passcode combined with a secret held in your iPhone's Secure Enclave, and the passcode itself is never stored. So someone who knows your iPhone passcode, and can open your Hidden folder, still can't open the vault.
A few Vult features matter most for people who hide apps:
- Decoy vault. A second passcode opens a separate vault with its own contents. If someone pressures you to open it, there's something to show them.
- Break-in selfies. A wrong passcode takes a photo of whoever tried.
- Anonymous browser. Browse without history and save images straight into the vault, so they never touch your Photos library in the first place.
- Strict Face ID. If someone adds a new face or fingerprint to your iPhone, Face ID stops unlocking the vault, and there's no fallback to the iPhone passcode.
You can combine both. Vult is an App Store app, so you can use the iOS Hide option on it too. Then the icon is out of sight, and what's inside still needs a passcode only you know.
Which method is right for you?
Each way to hide apps on iPhone covers a different situation, so pick by who you're hiding from.
| Hide and Require Face ID | Remove from Home Screen | Hide a Home Screen page | Vault with its own passcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icon off the Home Screen | Yes | Yes | Yes | If you hide it too |
| Hidden from search | Yes | No | No | If you hide it too |
| Locked | Yes, iPhone passcode | No | No | Yes, separate passcode |
| Protects saved photos | No | No | No | Yes |
- If you just want a cleaner Home Screen, use Remove from Home Screen or hide a page.
- If someone sometimes borrows your unlocked phone, use Hide and Require Face ID so the app is out of sight and locked.
- If someone knows your iPhone passcode, hiding the app isn't enough. Change your passcode, and move private photos into a vault. Our guide on hiding photos from someone who knows your passcode walks through both.
- If you hand your phone to a child, hide the apps you don't want tapped, and use Screen Time for built-in apps.
- If the thing you're worried about is pictures, read how to hide photos on iPhone as well, because hiding an app never hides its photos.
Frequently asked questions
Can you hide apps on iPhone without deleting them?
Yes. On iOS 18 and later, use Hide and Require Face ID to move the app into the locked Hidden folder. On any version, Remove from Home Screen takes the icon away while keeping the app and its data.
Where do hidden apps go on iPhone?
They go to the Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library. You need Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode to open it.
Can someone see my hidden apps?
Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden folder and see every app in it. Without your passcode or Face ID they can see that the folder exists, but not what's inside.
Do hidden apps still send notifications?
No. iOS doesn't show notifications from apps you've hidden with the Hide option, so check the app yourself if you're waiting on something. Apps you only removed from the Home Screen keep sending notifications as normal.
How do I put a password on an app?
Touch and hold the app and tap Require Face ID. That locks it behind Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode. iOS can't give an app a separate password, so for photos and videos that need their own passcode, use a vault app.
