What to Know

You can hide an app from your iPhone's Home Screen, Search function, Siri Suggestions, and App Store purchase history.
However, there's no way to hide apps from your App Library (any installed app will appear here).
Avoid third-party apps that claim to hide apps on your iPhone.

Can you hide apps on iPhones 16 and earlier models? Absolutely. You can use your iPhone's built-in features to hide any Apple or third-party app for free. Hidden apps on iPhones will not appear on your Home Screen, Spotlight Search results, Siri Suggestions, or even your Apple purchase history.

How to Hide Apps on iPhone: 6 Best Ways

An iOS 18 feature lets you quickly hide apps in the Hidden folder in your App Library, which is locked using Face ID. This isn’t ideal for everyone, so we’ve compiled five alternative ways to hide and organize hidden apps on iPhones, even if they aren’t running the latest software. Here’s how to hide apps on iphone without deleting them:

1. Hide Apps From iPhone Home Screen Pages but Nowhere Else.

Sometimes you don't need to completely hide your app, you just don't want it staring at you from your Home Screen. You can always remove it from your Home Screen pages but keep it in your App Library for easy access. This method will still allow the hidden app appear in your Spotlight Search results, Siri suggestions, and be opened from the App Library without requiring a Face ID unlock. Here's how to remove apps from iPhone:

Long-press (press and hold) the app icon for the app you want to hide.
Tap Remove App.
Tap Remove from Home Screen. This removes the app icon from your Home Screen, but keeps it safely stored in your App Library so it isn't deleted.

This will hide the app in the iPhone App Library. Now to find your app, just keep swiping left until you access your App Library, and either scroll until you see the app icon or use the search feature and enter the app's name. Since it's easy to find hidden apps in the App Library, you can always change your mind and add them back to your Home Screen later.

2. Hide an Entire Home Screen Page of App Icons.

If 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:

Press and hold anywhere on your Home Screen to enter Edit mode.
Tap the Home Screen dots located above your dock.
You'll see your Home Screen pages. To hide a page from view, tap the checkmark beneath the page to uncheck and remove it. Press Done to save your changes.

Only Home Screen pages with a checkmark below them will appear when you swipe through your Home Screen pages. If you change your mind and want to unhide this page of apps, tap the circle icon to add the checkmark again. Don't forget to check out our free Tip of the Day newsletter for more great iPhone tutorials!

3. Hide Apps on iPhone from Siri's Smart Suggestions.

Your 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 them. Here's how to hide apps from Smart Suggestions on your iPhone:

Open the Settings app.
Tap Apple Intelligence & Siri.
Scroll down and tap Apps.
Select the app you want to hide.
To hide an app from Smart Suggestions, toggle off Show on Home Screen, Suggest App, and Suggestion Notifications.

Once the toggles have been disabled, the app and its content will no longer appear in your Smart Suggestions (even if you have the Siri Suggestions widget on your Home Screen). Next, learn how to remove apps from Spotlight Search.

4. Hide Apps from App Store Purchase History.

If you have Family Sharing enabled, anyone in your Family Group can see the apps you’ve 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. Here's how to hide an app from your Apple purchase history:

Open the App Store app.
Tap on your profile icon in the top right corner.
Tap Apps.
If you're using Family Sharing, tap My Apps. If not, skip to the next step.
Swipe left on the app and tap Hide. This removes your app from the list of purchased apps.
Tap Done to save your changes.

This method only hides the app from your App Store purchase history, and will not delete the app on your device. You also can’t hide app subscriptions from the Family Organizer in Family Sharing, even if you hide the app from Purchases. If you ever need to find hidden App Store purchases? No worries; it's easy.

5. Use App Folders to Hide an App on Your iPhone.

If 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 is more convenient. If you do chose the method below, here's how to create an iPhone folder to hide your apps:

Navigate to a Home Screen page with a folder that already exists on your iPhone or create a new app folder. Drag the app into the folder of your choice.
Tap to open the folder, then drag the app to the right so you can place it on the next page of the folder, you can even skip a page and have an entire empty page between your visible apps and your hidden app.
Only the apps on the first page of the folder are visible on the Home Screen.

While this method doesn’t completely hide apps on your iPhone, it does make them hard to accidentally come across them.

6. Hide Apps on an iPhone by Changing the App Icon & Name.

Hide Apps on an iPhone by Changing the App Icon & Name

If you're looking for a fun way to hide apps on your iPhone Home Screen, you can also learn how to change app icons using the Shortcuts app. This customization option allows you to replace the default app icon with another image on your Home Screen and change the app name that is displayed. However, this will only change how the app is displayed on your Home Screen (not in your App Library), so it is more of a way to disguise rather than hide apps.

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! We even taught you how to remove an app from iPhone's Home Screens and Smart Suggetions without deleting it. Next, learn how to hide files and find hidden files on an iPhone or iPad.

FAQ

Can you disguise apps on your iPhone? Yes, you can change apps names and icons on your iPhone using the Shortcuts app. Keep in mind: this only changes how the app name and icon is displayed on your Home Screen (not in your App Library).
Can you lock apps on iPhone? Yes, many apps can be locked with Face ID. But even apps that aren’t made to work with Face ID or a passcode can be locked by placing a zero-minute limit on them in your Screen Time settings. You will then need to enter your Screen Time passcode to use the app.
What do I do if I hid an app and can’t find it? Your missing app could be hidden in many different places including the App Library, a hidden Home page, or an app folder. Check out this article covering how to find hidden apps on your iPhone.

Privacy & Security

Our Experts' Picks

How to Find a Lost iPhone That Is Turned Off or Dead—4 Ways

How to Hide Apps on iPhone in 6 Best Ways

Apple Security Alert Scam: Get Rid of Fake Virus Alerts