How to Hide Apps on iPhone: The Complete Guide for iOS 18
Learn every method to hide apps on your iPhone, from built-in iOS 18 features to third-party solutions. Step-by-step instructions for keeping your apps private.
Why Would You Want to Hide Apps?
There are plenty of legitimate reasons to hide apps on your iPhone. Maybe you share your phone with family members and want to keep certain apps private. Perhaps you're trying to reduce distractions by removing social media from sight. Or you might have apps with sensitive information — banking, health, dating — that you'd rather not have visible on your home screen.
Whatever your reason, iOS 18 gives you more control than ever. Let's walk through every method available, starting with the built-in options.
Method 1: Remove Apps from the Home Screen
The simplest way to hide an app is to remove it from your home screen without deleting it. The app stays installed and remains accessible through the App Library.
Long-press the app you want to hide on your home screen.
Tap "Remove from Home Screen" from the context menu that appears.
The app disappears from your home screen but remains installed. You can find it by swiping left until you reach the App Library and searching for it there.
To find a hidden app later, swipe all the way to the right to reach the App Library and use the search bar at the top. You can also pull down on the home screen and use Spotlight Search.
What happens to notifications? Apps removed from the home screen still send notifications normally. They appear in Notification Center and on your lock screen as usual. Hiding the app only removes its visual icon — it doesn't affect how the app functions.
Method 2: Hide Apps Using Screen Time Restrictions
If you want a stronger layer of hiding, Screen Time lets you remove apps from your device entirely (while keeping them tied to your Apple ID).
Open Settings and go to Screen Time.
Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions and enable the toggle at the top.
Go to Allowed Apps and toggle off any apps you want to hide.
This method completely removes built-in Apple apps from your device. They aren't just hidden — they're uninstalled. When you toggle them back on, they reappear with all your data intact, but third-party apps are not supported by this method.
For hiding specific apps entirely — including third-party ones — you can also use the App Limits or Content Restrictions features. Under Content Restrictions, you can block apps by age rating, which effectively hides any app that falls outside the allowed rating.
Method 3: Use Nested Folders
A more casual approach involves burying apps deep inside folders. This doesn't truly hide them, but it makes them harder to stumble upon.
Create a folder by dragging one app on top of another on your home screen.
Drag the app you want to hide into this folder.
For extra obscurity, create a folder within a folder structure by naming the folder something innocuous like "Utilities" or "Tools."
This method is more about visual privacy than security. Anyone who knows to look will find the app, but it keeps your home screen looking clean and reduces accidental openings.
Method 4: Hide Entire Pages
iOS lets you hide entire home screen pages, which is useful if you have a collection of apps you want out of sight.
Long-press on an empty area of your home screen to enter jiggle mode.
Tap the row of dots at the bottom that represents your home screen pages.
Uncheck the pages you want to hide and tap Done.
The apps on hidden pages are still on your phone and still appear in the App Library and Spotlight search. This is a great method for creating a minimalist home screen while keeping all your apps accessible when you need them.
Method 5: Use Invis for Reliable App Hiding
The methods above work, but they each have trade-offs. Removing from the home screen leaves apps discoverable through search. Screen Time restrictions are limited to built-in apps. Nested folders are barely hidden at all. And hiding pages is an all-or-nothing approach.
Invis takes a different approach. It's designed specifically for people who need to manage app visibility on a regular basis — not just hide something once and forget about it.
Quick Toggle
Hide and unhide individual apps or groups of apps with a single tap. No digging through Settings menus.
Face ID Protection
Apps hidden through Invis require Face ID (or Touch ID) to access. Even if someone finds the app, they can't open it without biometric authentication.
Here's how to get started with Invis:
Download Invis from the App Store and open it.
Grant the necessary permissions when prompted — Invis needs accessibility access to manage your app layout.
Select the apps you want to hide. You can choose individual apps or create groups.
Tap Hide to remove them from your home screen. They're now accessible only through Invis, which requires Face ID to open.
The advantage of using Invis is that hidden apps are truly out of sight and out of reach. They won't appear in Spotlight search, they won't show up in the App Library, and nobody can access them without biometric authentication.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can hidden apps still send notifications?
It depends on the method. Apps removed from the home screen (Method 1) still send notifications normally. Apps hidden through Screen Time restrictions won't send notifications because they're effectively uninstalled. Apps hidden through Invis can have their notifications managed individually.
Will hiding an app delete its data?
No — regardless of which method you use, hiding an app never deletes its data. When you unhide it, everything is exactly as you left it.
Can someone find my hidden apps through Settings?
Apps removed from the home screen still appear in Settings under their respective entries. If you need apps to be completely invisible, Invis provides a more thorough hiding mechanism.
Does hiding apps affect battery life?
Hiding apps does not affect battery life. The apps are still installed, but they behave according to their normal background refresh and notification settings.
Which Method Should You Use?
Here's a quick summary to help you choose:
| Method | Best For | Security Level | |--------|----------|---------------| | Remove from Home Screen | Quick visual cleanup | Low | | Screen Time Restrictions | Hiding built-in Apple apps | Medium | | Nested Folders | Casual visual privacy | Very Low | | Hide Pages | Minimalist home screen setup | Low | | Invis | Regular, reliable app hiding with biometric protection | High |
If you only need to hide an app once, the built-in methods work fine. But if you regularly need to keep certain apps private — whether for personal, professional, or parental reasons — Invis gives you a dedicated, purpose-built tool that handles the job properly.
Your home screen is the first thing anyone sees when they look at your phone. Take control of what's visible and what stays private.