There are plenty of ordinary reasons to hide an app. You lend your phone to a grandchild and don't want them wandering into your banking. You're planning a surprise. Or you simply don't want a health or dating app sitting on the front screen for anyone glancing over your shoulder.
Both iPhone and Android now have a proper way to do this, locked behind your face, fingerprint or passcode. Here's how, step by step, and the honest limits of it.
First: hidden is not the same as secure
Hiding an app keeps it out of sight. It doesn't protect it from someone who knows your phone's passcode: on an iPhone that passcode opens the hidden apps, and on Android it does too unless you give the private area its own separate lock. So before anything else, make sure your passcode is one nobody else knows (not your birthday, not 123456). Our guide to locking apps and keeping a private folder covers setting a stronger one.
iPhone: hide an app (iOS 18 and later)
On an iPhone running iOS 18 or iOS 26, hidden apps move to a locked “Hidden” folder at the bottom of the App Library.
- Go to the Home Screen and find the app you want to hide.
- Touch and hold the app icon until the menu opens.
- Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode, depending on your iPhone).
- Tap Hide and Require Face ID, confirm with your face, fingerprint or passcode, then tap Hide App.
The app disappears from your Home Screen. To open it later, swipe left past all your Home Screen pages to the App Library, tap the Hidden folder at the bottom, and unlock it. To see a list of everything you've hidden, go to Settings › Apps › Hidden Apps.
A few things Apple is upfront about:
- Only apps you downloaded from the App Store can be hidden. The apps that came with the iPhone can't.
- A hidden app's name still shows up in a few places, such as Screen Time, battery usage in Settings, and your App Store purchase history.
- Hiding only applies to that iPhone. It doesn't sync to your iPad through iCloud.
- Children under 13 in a Family Sharing group can't hide apps. Teenagers can, but a parent can still see the app was downloaded and how much it's used through Screen Time.
The simpler option: just take it off the Home Screen
If you only want less clutter rather than a lock, touch and hold the app, tap Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen. It stays on the phone and you'll find it in the App Library, but anyone can open it.
Android (Pixel and others): use private space
Phones running Android 15 or later have private space: a separate, lockable area for apps you want to keep to yourself. When it's locked, its apps don't appear in your app list, search, recent apps or notifications. They're completely paused.
- Open Settings and tap Security and privacy, then Private space.
- Confirm with your screen lock, then tap Set up.
- Choose how to lock it: Use device screen lock, or Choose new lock to give private space its own PIN or pattern (the safer choice, if you can remember it).
- To put an app in it, unlock private space, then touch and hold an app and tap Install app in private space. Or open private space and tap + Install.
Private space shows up as its own section at the end of your app list. For extra discretion, switch on Hide private space when it's locked in its settings, and it won't appear in the app list at all while it's locked.
Worth knowing: private space needs Android 15 or later on a phone that supports it, and it can't be set up while a supervised (Family Link) account is signed in on the phone.
Samsung Galaxy: two options
Samsung phones have their own tools, and the menus differ slightly from other Android phones.
Quick hide (no lock)
- Touch and hold an empty spot on your Home screen, then tap Settings.
- Tap Hide apps on Home and Apps screens.
- Tap the apps you want to hide, then tap Done.
This only takes the icon away. Anyone can still find the app by typing its name into the search bar, so treat it as tidying, not security.
Secure Folder (with a lock)
Secure Folder is Samsung's locked, separate space for apps and files. It needs a Samsung account.
- Open Settings, tap Security and privacy, then More security settings, then Secure Folder. (On some older Galaxy phones it's under Biometrics and security.)
- Sign in to your Samsung account and choose a lock: pattern, PIN or password.
- Open Secure Folder and tap the plus icon (Add apps) to put apps inside.
- To hide Secure Folder itself, swipe down to open the quick settings panel and tap the Secure Folder tile.
Which should you use?
- Just tidying up: remove it from the Home Screen (iPhone) or use Samsung's quick hide.
- Keeping something private from people who borrow your phone: iPhone's Hidden folder, Android's private space, or Samsung's Secure Folder.
- Keeping a child away from an app: hiding isn't the tool. Use proper parental controls instead; our parents' guide and iPhone Screen Time guide show you how.
And if what you really want is fewer apps quietly sending data about you, hiding them won't help. Deleting the ones you don't use will. See our guide to cleaning up your phone.