Whether you want to protect sensitive information from prying eyes or simply declutter your home screen: Hiding Apps on your iPhone is a simple solution that will help you organize your device and protect your privacy.

It’s important that we take a closer look at the need for hiding apps on iPhones before we show you how to do it.

Why people hide apps on iPhone

Here are some of the most common reasons why people need to Hide apps on their iPhones:

• To declutter the app screen and make it easier to find the apps you use most often
• To prevent nosy people from checking your app history
• To prevent kids from accidentally stumbling across an inappropriate app
• To avoid distractions and stay focused on important tasks
• To avoid the frustration of not being able to find the app you need
• To avoid tapping through unnecessary pages of apps
• To take advantage of Spotlight search on iOS

What to consider when hiding apps on iPhone

• The reason for hiding the app: do you need to hide the app for security reasons, to increase productivity, or for organizational reasons?
• The app’s location: is the app in the Dock or on the first or second Home screen? Consider moving the app to the App Library or a folder so it is less accessible.
• Security measures: Consider adding an extra layer of security by locking the Photos app on your iPhone.
• Your device: do you hide apps on an iPhone or iPad? There are different methods for each device.
• Other users: if you share your device with family members or friends, consider their needs and the potential consequences of hiding the app.
• Other functions: Check if you can hide the app from your App Store shopping history and prevent it from appearing in Siri search results.

5 Ways to Hide Apps on iPhone

Now the question is how to Hide Apps on iPhones without complicating things. Fortunately, there are several ways to hide apps on iPhones. In this guide, we will discuss five of these ways to hide apps on iPhones without deleting them.

Hide Apps From Your Home Screen Using App Library

With iOS 14, Apple introduced the App Library, a feature that allows iPhone apps to be organized more efficiently. The App Library automatically categorizes apps into different folders based on their function and usage.

One of the advantages of the iPhone App Library is that you can hide apps from your home screen without deleting them. This feature is especially useful if you have a lot of apps on your device and want to reduce the clutter on your home screen. Follow the steps below to hide apps with the App Library from your Home screen.

1. Long press the app you want to hide until a menu prompt appears.
2. Select Remove App from the context menu.
3. In the pop-up window, tap Remove from Home Screen.

Create a Folder To Hide Apps

With iOS, iPhone users can create folders on their home screen. You can use folders to hide certain apps and protect them from prying eyes. Follow the steps below to create a folder and hide apps on your iPhone.

1. Select an existing folder on your iPhone or create one.
2. Long press on any empty space on the home screen of your iPhone until the apps start to wiggle.
3. Drag and drop an app onto another app to create a new folder.

4. Once the folder is created, drag the app you want to hide to the second side of the folder. The Home screen displays the apps from the first page of the folder.

5. If you want to hide your app somewhere in it, create a folder with multiple pages and drag and drop the app into it.

Hide The Entire Home Screen Page

With the release of iOS 16, Apple added the ability to hide an entire home screen. This means that iPhone users can now create a new home screen with all the apps they don’t want everyone to see and then hide it.

This method of hiding apps on iPhone is especially handy when you want to hide more than one app at a time. Follow the steps below to hide one of your iPhone home screens:

1. Enter edit mode by long-pressing the home screen or dragging all the apps you want to hide at once to another home screen.
2. Long press on an empty area on the home screen of your iPhone.
3. Tap the dots above the iPhone dock.

4. Uncheck the checkbox at the bottom of the magnified version of the home screen. Once you uncheck the circle, the home screen you want to hide will darken slightly. This indicates that the Home screen is now hidden.
5. Finally, click Done to save the changes.

If you want to access the hidden home page, follow the same steps as above and check the box to show the home page again.

Use Screen Time To Hide Apps

As part of its digital wellbeing initiatives, Apple introduced the Screen Time feature in iOS 12. It allows iPhone users to track their overall usage. Not only that, Screen Time makes it easy to set up restrictions and limits for specific apps and hide them.

This feature creates a more controlled and secure environment for your iPhone, giving you better control over your digital content and experience. Follow the steps to hide apps with Screen Time.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap “Screen Time“.
3. Click Content & Privacy Restrictions.

4. Turn on the toggle switch to the right of Content & Privacy Restrictions.
5. Select Allowed Apps.
6. Uncheck the box to the right of each app you want to hide from your Home screen.

That’s it. The selected apps will now no longer appear on your iPhone.

Screen Time also lets you lock apps for different age groups, such as 4+, 9+, 12+, and 17+. This feature can be especially useful for parents who want to manage their children’s access to apps or simply create a more private and secure user experience; Screen Time can be a useful tool to achieve this. The following steps will help you with this process.

1. Launch Settings.
2. Select Screen Time.
3. Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.

4. Turn on the toggle switch to the right of Content & Privacy Restrictions.
5. Click Content Restrictions.

6. Click Apps.
7. Click the option for the age group for which you want to hide the apps, or click Don’t Allow to hide all apps except for some important built-in apps completely.

Use Siri & Search in Settings to Hide an App

Some apps will show up in Siri and search suggestions. If you do not want certain apps to be suggested by Siri or appear in Spotlight Search, you can easily disable them. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Go to Siri & Search settings.

3. Scroll down, find the app you want to hide and tap on it.
4. Uncheck the toggles if you do not want that particular app to show up in Siri and search suggestions.

Keep in mind that these apps are still accessible from the App Library.

Bonus: Change the app icon along with the app name

We have explained five ways to hide apps on iPhone. However, if you do not like any of these ways, then we have a bonus way that is very cool.

In this method, we will not hide the app, but we will change the icon and the name of the app so that no one can guess which app it is. You might be wondering, is this even possible on the iPhone? Yes, it is, and for that, we will use the Shortcuts app. Just follow the steps below.

1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the + icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

3. Tap “Add Action” and type “Open App” in the search bar at the top of the screen.
4. Tap Open App in the results.

5. Tap App and select the app for which you want to create a custom icon, or enter the app name in the search bar at the top of the screen if it’s not visible.
6. Click the info (i) button at the bottom center of the screen.

7. Tap Add to Home Screen.
8. Tap the shortcut icon next to New Shortcut.
9. Select one of the following options from the drop-down menu: Take Photo, Choose Photo, or Choose File.

10. Select an image to use as your app icon and tap Select at the bottom right of the screen.
11. Tap New Shortcut to name the app with your preferred name.
12. Tap Add in the upper-right corner of the screen.
13. Your home screen will now display the new app icon with the name you specified.

Protect your privacy by hiding apps on the iPhone

Hiding apps on your iPhone can provide an extra layer of privacy protection and help you keep your iPhone more organized. With the following five methods, you can easily remove apps from view or restrict access to certain apps without deleting them.

The bonus tip of changing the icon and name of an app is a creative and effective way to hide apps from snoopers. What method will you use to hide apps on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments.

FAQs about Hiding Apps on iPhone