How to Find Hidden or Missing Apps on Your iPhone (Updated for iOS 14)

Is there an app missing on your iPhone? Whether it’s a hidden app and you want to get it back, or you accidentally deleted an app and want to restore that app to your iPhone, we can help.

By Sarah Kingsbury Updated 01/25/2021

Have you lost an app on your iPhone recently? Did you know that you can hide an app on your iPhone? It can happen easily, and potentially even accidentally. Maybe you stuck it in a folder in an effort to declutter your Home screen, or even deleted it to create space for the latest iOS update, and then forgot. Or maybe you just have so many apps it's lost in the crowd. Whether you have a missing app on your iPhone, a hidden app on your iPhone, or have simply deleted your app, here's how to find a hidden app that disappeared from your device.

* This post is part of iPhone Life's Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

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How to Find a Hidden App in the iPhone App Library

With the new iOS 14 App Library, many people are taking advantage of the handy way to compartmentalize and store apps without them cluttering up their Home screens. If you've lost an app recently, you may have found a way to hide that app in the App Library by mistake. To get an app back on your iPhone home screen after hiding it, all you have to do to find it is follow some simple steps:

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  1. First, find your App Library by swiping left until you've gone one screen past your last Home screen page. You'll see the App Library, which is made up of groupings or folders of apps that auto-sort according to where iOS 14 thinks they belong.
  2. If you don't immediately notice your app in the App Library, the fastest way to find it is to search for it. If you do see it, skip to step 6.
  3. Tap the bar that says App Library with a magnifying glass.


     
  4. Type the name of the app.
  5. You should see the app icon appear in the results list.


     
  6. Press and hold the app icon until a menu appears.
  7. Tap on Add to Home Screen.

Now the app is accessible on your home screen, and you can rearrange it as you see fit! 

Where Is My Missing App? Use the App Store to Find It

If you're trying to find an app you suspect is buried in an app folder on your iPhone or iPad, the easiest way I've found to find missing apps is to search the App Store. If you are trying to identify the folder where the app is located, see the second method below.

  1. Open the App Store.
  2. On the bottom menu, choose Search. iPhone 6 and earlier: Open the App Store app and tap on the Search tab.


     
  3. Next, type the name of your missing app into the search bar.
  4. Now, tap Search and your app will appear! 

The advantage of this method is that your app will either say Open, indicating that it is still installed on your phone, or there will be a download icon indicating that somehow the app was deleted from your phone and needs to be reinstalled. If the download icon appears, download the app again and see if it appears on the Home screen as it used to. If Open appears, you can tap it to access your app immediately, and then go through your folders later and move the app back to a more visible place, so you don't have to repeat this search procedure every time you need your app. 

Related: Top Hidden iPhone Features That May Just Change Your Life 

iPhone App Disappeared? Use the Siri & Search Feature

Another way to find your missing app is to use Siri & Search, this will search both your device and the App Store.

  1. To activate Search, swipe down from the center of the Home screen. (You can also access Search from the Today View by swiping right on the first Home Screen.)
  2. Type the name of the missing app in the search field; try to match it exactly if possible. The Search feature will present you with a list of results. Your missing app should be among the top results.


     
  3. If the app is on your device, it will appear under the heading Applications. If the app is located in a folder, the name of the folder will appear to the right of the app icon (as long as you type the full name of the app in the search field and ignore the suggestions that pop up before that). You can open the app directly from the Search results by tapping the app icon.
  4. If the app appears under the heading App Store, it means the app is no longer on your device. But if you tap View, you’ll be redirected to the App Store, where you can tap the cloud icon to download the app again.

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Topics: 
Apps
How-To
iPhone
Tip of the Day
App Store
Spotlight
Third-Party Apps

Author Details

Sarah Kingsbury's picture

Author Details

Sarah Kingsbury

Sarah Kingsbury is the Senior Web Editor and SEO Content Manager at iPhone Life. She manages the web editorial team and oversees all web and newsletter content. A long-time Apple enthusiast, Sarah can't live without her iPhone, Macbook Air, HomePod, Apple TV, or Apple Watch. As the original contributor to the iPhone Life Tip of the Day Newsletter, she wrote hundreds of iPhone how-tos to help users master their iPhones. It's safe to say that she has written or edited every tip published on iPhoneLife.com! In her 20 years of editing and writing, Sarah has done everything from working as the associate editor of the Iowa Source magazine to developing recipes and reviewing cookbooks for a vegetarian cooking website. But teaching people how to use their Apple devices is her favorite job so far.