Hide apps on iOS 26
These steps are for iOS 26. They cover hiding an app you installed, opening it from 「Hidden」, and putting it back. Hiding removes the icon. It does not delete the app.
How to hide an app
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Go to the Home Screen
The control is on the icon, not in 「Settings」.
Go to the Home Screen.
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Touch and hold the app icon
Hold until the menu opens. A short tap only opens the app.
Touch and hold the app you want to hide until the menu opens.
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Tap 「Require Face ID」
The label matches this iPhone.
Tap 「Require Face ID」, 「Require Touch ID」, or 「Require Passcode」.
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Tap 「Hide and Require Face ID」
That button is on the next screen. 「Require Face ID」 on that screen locks the app and leaves the icon where it is.
Tap 「Hide and Require Face ID」, 「Hide and Require Touch ID」, or 「Hide and Require Passcode」.
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Authenticate, then tap 「Hide App」
Face ID comes first. 「Hide App」 is the confirmation after it.
Use Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode, then tap 「Hide App」.
The app leaves the Home Screen and the rest of App Library. It moves to the 「Hidden」 folder at the bottom of App Library.
Apps that come with the iPhone cannot be hidden. 「Photos」 is one of them, so this menu does not remove the 「Photos」 icon. To keep particular pictures and videos out of the library, use how to hide photos and videos on iPhone. An app set as the default browser cannot be hidden. In the EU, an app set as the default app marketplace cannot be hidden.
To require Face ID before 「Photos」 opens, without hiding it, see how to lock photos on iPhone.
How to open a hidden app
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Go to the Home Screen
「Hidden」 is past the last Home Screen page.
Go to the Home Screen.
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Swipe left to App Library
Keep swiping past your pages.
Swipe left until App Library opens.
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Tap 「Hidden」
The folder sits at the bottom of App Library.
Tap 「Hidden」.
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Unlock
This is the same check that unlocks the iPhone.
Use Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.
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Tap the app, then unlock again
The folder opens. The app still asks.
Tap the app, then authenticate again.
A list of the same apps is under 「Settings」. Tap 「Apps」, then 「Hidden Apps」. That list asks for the same check. It does not open the app.
Put the app back
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Open 「Hidden」
Use the path above, including the unlock.
Open 「Hidden」 and unlock it.
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Touch and hold the app
The menu is the same kind as on the Home Screen.
Touch and hold the app you want back.
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Tap 「Don’t Require Face ID」
The label matches the lock you turned on.
Tap 「Don’t Require Face ID」, 「Don’t Require Touch ID」, or 「Don’t Require Passcode」, then authenticate.
The app appears near the top of App Library.
What hiding leaves in place
The hide stays on this iPhone only. It does not follow the app to another device through iCloud.
Search no longer finds the app. Notification previews, Siri suggestions, call history, and CarPlay no longer show what is inside it.
The name can still show in 「Screen Time」 and under Battery Usage By App in 「Settings」. Anyone who can open 「Settings」 on this phone can see both. It can also show in your App Store purchase history. Anyone who can pass Face ID or the passcode can open 「Hidden」.
If Stolen Device Protection is on and the iPhone is away from places it knows, a hidden app asks for Face ID or Touch ID and does not offer the passcode.
When you want a password of your own
Hiding an app uses the same Face ID or passcode that unlocks the iPhone. 「Photos」 cannot be hidden this way.
Privately is the option when one album should have a password of its own. Photos in a locked album leave the library, search, and favorites, and they are encrypted on the device.
Download Privately and try a locked album there.