How to hide apps on iPhone

Before iOS 18, hiding an app on iPhone meant moving it off the Home Screen. Anyone could still find it in App Library or search. iOS 18 added a real hide with a lock. This guide covers that method, what it leaves visible, and the older options that still help. We checked each step against Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 27 on 2026-10-02. The steps are the same in iOS 18 and later.

Hide an app with Face ID

1. Go to the Home Screen and find the app you want to hide.
2. Touch and hold the app icon until the menu opens.
3. Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode).
4. Tap Hide and Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), then authenticate.
5. Tap Hide App. The app moves to the Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library.

Apple’s iOS 27 guide says hiding an app removes it from the Home Screen, App Library and search results. Apple also says information inside a locked app stays out of notification previews, search, Siri suggestions, CarPlay and call history.

The steps are the same on iPhone 13, iPhone 16 or iPhone 17. What matters is the iOS version: iOS 18 or later. iOS 27 runs on iPhone 11 and later, and on iPhone SE (2nd generation) and later.

Open, list and unhide hidden apps

Open a hidden app. Swipe left past all your Home Screen pages to reach App Library. Tap the Hidden folder at the bottom, then authenticate. Tap the app and authenticate again.

See every hidden app. Go to Settings, tap Apps, then tap Hidden Apps. iOS asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode first.

Unhide an app. Open the Hidden folder and authenticate. Touch and hold the app, tap Don’t Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), then authenticate. The app appears near the top of App Library. To put it back on the Home Screen, touch and hold it in App Library until the icons jiggle and the app moves to the Home Screen. Then lift your finger.

What hiding an app does not hide

Apple lists these limits in its guides. They matter if the person you hide the app from uses your phone.

• The name still shows in some places. Apple’s iOS 26 guide names Screen Time, Battery Usage By App in Settings, and your App Store purchase history.
• Your passcode opens the folder. Anyone who can authenticate with your Face ID, Touch ID or passcode can open the Hidden folder.
• Built-in apps cannot be hidden. Only apps you download from the App Store can. Photos, for example, can only be locked. See how to lock photos. Your default browser, and an app marketplace you set as default in the EU, cannot be hidden either.
• It does not sync. A hidden app is hidden only on the device where you hid it. The status does not sync with iCloud.
• Families see more. Children under 13 in a Family Sharing group cannot lock or hide apps. Users aged 13 to 17 can. A parent in the group can still see that the app was downloaded and how long it is used. The ages vary by country or region.

Other ways to keep apps out of sight

Each older method does something different. None of them locks the app.

Method	Where the app goes	Locks the app	Found with search
Hide and Require Face ID	Hidden folder in App Library	Yes	No
Remove from Home Screen	App Library only	No	Yes
Hide a Home Screen page	App Library	No	Yes
App Library Only for new downloads	App Library	No	Yes
Screen Time, Content and Privacy Restrictions	Blocked	Built-in apps and features only	Not stated by Apple
Screen Time, Time Allowances (iOS 27)	Stays in place	No, it sets a daily time budget	Yes

Remove from Home Screen. Touch and hold the app, tap Remove App, then tap Remove from Home Screen. The app stays in App Library and in search.

Hide a whole page. Touch and hold the wallpaper until the icons jiggle. Tap the dots at the bottom of the screen, then tap the checkmark under each page you want to hide. Tap Done.

Keep new apps off the Home Screen. Go to Settings, Home Screen & App Library, and choose App Library Only.

Block built-in apps. Screen Time can block some apps that come with iPhone. The menu changed in iOS 27.

• iOS 27. Go to Settings, tap Screen Time, tap Content & Privacy Restrictions, then tap Other Features. Allow or block the items shown, such as AirDrop and Camera.
• iOS 18 to iOS 26. Go to Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, and turn the restrictions on. Tap Allowed Apps & Features and turn off the apps you want to restrict. Apple’s iOS 26 guide says a turned-off app is not deleted. It is hidden from the Home Screen until you turn it back on.

Time limits do not hide anything. In iOS 27, Screen Time uses Time Allowances to set a daily time budget for a category of apps. Apple says these need iOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices. Earlier versions call the feature App Limits. Either way, the app stays where it is.

How to hide a photo vault app

A vault app has a special problem: its name. We read 836 App Store reviews of 7 vault apps. In 26 of them, users said the app’s name or icon gave the vault away. A 2-star Calculator Lock review (2026-07) says the name “calculator lock - secure vault” is “a dead giveaway in our app list and folders”.

iOS does not let an app rename itself on the Home Screen. LockMyPix says so in its own text: “The app title cannot be changed due to iOS guidelines”. An app can offer other icons, but the name under the icon stays the same.

So the best setup for a vault app combines three things:

• Hide and Require Face ID, so the icon leaves the Home Screen and App Library.
• A neutral icon, for the times the app is visible, such as in the Hidden folder.
• The app’s own lock. A person who opens the Hidden folder with your passcode still meets a second code.

Remember the limits above. The name still shows in Screen Time and in battery usage.

What York Vault does

York Vault is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad and on Google Play for Android. Plus adds a Mac app, and Pro adds a web app. It:

• Offers a set of neutral icons, free, that do not look like a vault. The icon you pick stays the same after updates. See disguise icons.
• Locks and switches to another app when you put the phone face down. See quick exit.
• Shows a plain cover in the app switcher, and keeps its content out of Spotlight and Siri suggestions.
• Can open as a working calculator, free. Your code followed by the equals key opens the vault, and any other input just calculates. See calculator disguise.
• Opens with its own code, separate from your iPhone passcode. See lock options.

York Vault works with Hide and Require Face ID like any App Store app, and its settings include a guide to that iOS setting with the current steps. For the photos themselves, see our guides to hiding photos and what a photo vault is.