How to Hide Apps on iPhone
iPhone gives you a few ways to hide apps — from simply moving them off the Home Screen to locking them behind Face ID. Here are the three levels, and the one thing hiding an app won't do.
1. Move an app off the Home Screen
The quickest way to declutter and hide an app from a casual glance:
- Touch and hold the app icon.
- Tap Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen.
- The app stays installed and still appears in the App Library (swipe left past your last Home Screen page) and in Search.
This hides the icon, but anyone browsing the App Library or searching can still find and open it.
2. Lock an app in the Hidden folder (Face ID)
On iOS 18 and later you can lock and hide an app behind Face ID:
- Touch and hold the app icon.
- Choose Require Face ID (or Touch ID).
- Select Hide and Require Face ID, then confirm.
The app moves into a Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library that only opens with Face ID, and its notifications and content stay out of Search and Siri. This is the strongest built-in option.
3. Hide what's inside your apps
Here's the catch: hiding an app icon doesn't protect the data inside it. Your private photos still sit in the Photos app; your saved passwords, card numbers and documents still live wherever you keep them. If someone opens those apps, everything's there.
To actually protect the content, move it into an encrypted vault. A vault app stores photos, passwords, cards, notes and files in one place, encrypted on your device and locked behind its own Face ID — so even if someone gets into your phone, the sensitive material stays sealed.
Hide the content, not just the icon
Safey keeps your private photos, passwords, cards, notes and files encrypted and Face-ID-locked in one vault. Free to start.
Which level do you need?
Removing an app from the Home Screen is fine for tidiness. The Hidden folder with Face ID is good when you want an app itself out of sight. But when it's the information you're protecting — private pictures, logins, financial details — put it in an encrypted vault. That's the only approach that keeps your data safe rather than just hard to find.
Related: how to hide photos on iPhone and how to password-protect photos.
FAQ
How do I hide an app on iPhone with Face ID?
On iOS 18 and later, touch and hold an app, choose Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. The app moves to a locked Hidden folder in the App Library that opens only with Face ID.
Where do hidden apps go on iPhone?
Apps you remove from the Home Screen still live in the App Library, in an alphabetical list or the Hidden folder at the bottom. They aren't deleted — just moved out of sight.
Can I hide what's inside an app, not just the app?
Hiding an app's icon doesn't hide its content. To protect the photos, passwords or documents themselves, store them in an encrypted vault app so the data is locked and encrypted, not just the icon.