I’m trying to organize my iPhone home screen and want to hide some apps temporarily without deleting them, but I’m not sure how to do it. Is there a way to keep the apps hidden but still have them accessible later? Looking for step-by-step instructions or tips.
You can totally hide apps on your iPhone without deleting them. There’re a few ways to do it and it’s low-key super simple:
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Hide in the App Library: Just long-press the app you want to hide, select ‘Remove App,’ then tap ‘Remove from Home Screen.’ Boom, it’s still on your phone and chilling in the App Library. You can search for it later in the Spotlight Search.
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Use Screen Time Restrictions: If you’re feeling fancy, go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions. Turn it on, then go to ‘Allowed Apps’ or tweak app permissions under ‘Content Restrictions.’ This doesn’t completely hide apps but locks them so you don’t always see 'em.
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Make a Hidden Folder: Drag the app into a super crowded folder and throw it into the last page of the folder. Kinda sneaky, but effective.
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Search only when needed: If you’re okay ditching it from the Home Screen, use Spotlight Search (swipe down from the middle of the Home Screen) to access hidden apps in App Library. They’ll never see it coming.
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Disable App Suggestions: Go to Settings > Siri & Search, pick the app and toggle off ‘Show on Home Screen.’ Now it won’t pop up even in suggestions.
Seems like way more effort than just deleting apps, but hey, your phone, your rules. Sometimes organizing is just about hiding the mess, lol.
Okay, but are we seriously overthinking this “hide apps” thing?? Like, iPhones already have some low-key ways to mask apps and it’s not that deep. Look, my opinion: the whole “hide in folders” bit from @boswandelaar—meh. Sneaky, sure, but you’ll just end up with one random cluttered folder no one wants to open. So basically… you’re trading visibility for chaos? Cool plan.
Here’s a twist though: try messing with multiple Home Screen pages. Turn on “Edit Home Screen,” and just drag apps waaaay over to like, Page 8 or whatever. Then, remove visibility of that page altogether. Pinch-to-zoom out on the Home Screen, uncheck the circle for the extra pages, and poof - they’re stashed. Is it groundbreaking? Nah. But does it trick your brain into thinking those apps vanished? Yup. Outta sight, outta mind.
Also, consider just turning off app notifications entirely (Settings > Notifications), cause even hidden apps love being attention-seekers sometimes. That way, you’re not getting random pop-ups asking you to “update” or whatever when you’re least expecting it.
Finally, on a real note, maybe we don’t hide too much? If you’re anything like me, you’ll bury an app in the abyss, forget it exists, and then spend 20 minutes freaking out when you actually need it. So maybe just a sprinkle of organization instead of full-blown hide-and-seek mode? Just a thought.