Smartphone security and privacy are major concerns for many iPhone users. Hiding apps on your iPhone home screen is an easy way to maintain your privacy, and the process is straightforward.
To remove an app from your iPhone’s home screen, tap and hold the app and click ‘Remove from Home Screen.’ To remove apps from the search function, go to Settings, then ‘Siri and Search,’ and disable ‘Show App in Search.’ Hidden iPhone apps will still appear in the App Library.
Don’t panic if you need to hide an app (or several) from your iPhone home screen. Let’s take a look at the different methods you can use to keep your apps hidden.
How Do You Hide Apps on Your iPhone Home Screen?
You can hide apps on your iPhone screen with two primary methods, including hiding apps one at a time or hiding a whole page of apps at once.
All the apps that you hide are sent to an organized list of every app on your device, the App Library. You can locate the App Library on an iPhone by swiping to the last page of your home screen.
How to Conceal One iPhone App
As we mentioned earlier, you can hide single iPhone apps. Follow the steps below to begin.
- Locate the app you want to conceal and hold your finger on it.
- A list of options will appear. Select ‘Remove App.’
- Next, click ‘Remove from Home Screen.’
Now, the app logo will leave your home screen, but you’ll still have access to it in the App Library.
You can unhide the app later by locating it in the App Library, holding your finger on it, and clicking ‘Add to Home Screen.’
How to Conceal Multiple Apps on an iPhone
You can also hide multiple apps or a whole page of apps on an iPhone. The process is straightforward, and you can follow the steps below to begin.
- Click and hold your finger on the dots located at the bottom of your Home Screen. These dots indicate which page you’re on.
- Keep holding the dots until your iPhone screen zooms out and displays all pages at once. If the apps start moving, but your screen doesn’t zoom out, let go of your screen and click the dots once more.
- Locate the page of apps you want to conceal and click the checkmark below it so that the icon disappears.
- Finally, click ‘Done‘ near the top-right corner of the screen.
Now you won’t see the pages that you removed when swiping through your home screen. However, you can access the apps from your App Library. You can open this menu once more and check the page to make it visible on the home screen.
How to Hide Apps in iPhone Search
Besides the App Library, you can locate hidden apps by swiping your finger down on the home screen and searching for them. This is handy for locating hidden apps — but it can be another security issue.
Fortunately, you can use the steps below to prevent apps from showing up in iPhone searches.
- Launch the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone.
- Scroll downward and click the ‘Siri and Search’ option.
- From the new menu, scroll down until you find the app you want to conceal from your iPhone search.
- Click the ‘Show App in Search’ toggle so that it turns gray and it’s disabled.
The app you selected won’t appear in your iPhone search results after completing these steps.
How to Conceal Apps on Your iPhone With Folders
Alternatively, you can use Home Screen folders to hide and organize apps. The process is convenient, and you can follow the instructions below to start.
- Start from the Home Screen on your iPhone.
- Next, click and hold any app until a pop-up menu displays.
- Afterward, click ‘Edit Home Screen.’
- Now, click and hold an app and drag it on top of another app icon. Doing so will create a new folder on your iPhone Home Screen.
- Afterward, open the folder. Simply click the new folder on your Home Screen. To create a new folder window, drag the app to the right side of the folder. Doing so creates a new folder window, which will conceal the app.
- Lastly, click any blank space on your display and select ‘Done’ near the top right corner of your display.
How to Conceal Apps from Your Purchase History in the App Store
With Family Sharing enabled, any user in your Family Group can view and download the apps you’ve bought. However, you can keep your apps secure by hiding them from your purchase history in the App Store.
Here’s how:
- Launch the ‘App Store’ app on your iPhone.
- Click the profile icon near the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Click ‘Purchased’ to see a list of the apps you have purchased in the App Store.
- Find the app you want to conceal and swipe left.
- Now, click ‘Hide’ to delete the app from your App Store purchase history.
- Repeat these steps for any apps you want to conceal. Once you’re satisfied, click ‘Done’ near the upper-right-hand corner of the screen.
Note: This doesn’t delete or hide the app on your iOS device. This simply hides the app from your App Store purchase history.
It’s not possible to hide app subscriptions in the Family Organizer, even if you conceal the app in the Purchases page.
Can You Unhide Apps on iPhone?
Apple recently unveiled the App Library, which displays an organized list of all the apps on your iPhone in iOS 14. The update allows you to install apps on your iPhone that won’t be displayed on your home screen but are still accessible.
To view the App Library, simply swipe left on your home screen until you reach the last result and swipe again. You’ll notice a grid of different app icons that are categorized. You can also click the search bar at the top of the page and enter the app you’re searching for.
You can unhide apps on your iPhone from the App Library.
Simply locate the app you want to find in your App Library and click and hold your finger on the icon. A menu will appear where you can choose ‘Add to Home Screen.’ Now the app logo will appear on the next available page of your home screen.
Alternatively, you can add freshly downloaded apps to your home screen automatically. Simply launch the ‘Settings’ app and select ‘Home Screen.’ Next, tap the check mark next to ‘Add to Home Screen.’