How to lock and hide apps on iPhone (and what it doesn't hide)

Lock vs hide: what's the difference?

Apple gives you two levels, and they're easy to mix up.

• Locking keeps the app on your Home Screen but asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode before it opens. Apple says content from a locked app is also kept out of notification previews, search, Siri suggestions and call history.
• Hiding does everything locking does, then removes the icon from the Home Screen and moves the app into a Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. That folder itself needs Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to open.

The catch for hiding: it only works with apps you downloaded. Apple says apps that come installed with iOS 18 or later can't be hidden. And a handful of built-in apps can't even be locked: Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts and Settings.

Based on Apple's Personal Safety User Guide, as of October 2026.

How to lock an app on iPhone

1. Go to the Home Screen and find the app you want to lock.
2. Touch and hold the app icon until the menu appears.
3. Tap Require Face ID (on some iPhones it says Require Touch ID or Require Passcode).
4. Tap Require Face ID again in the confirmation, then authenticate.

From now on the app shows a lock screen every time it opens. Good candidates are the apps that hold the most about you in one place: Photos, Messages, Mail, Notes, your banking and dating apps.

How to hide an app on iPhone

1. Touch and hold the icon of an app you downloaded from the App Store.
2. Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID / Passcode).
3. Tap Hide and Require Face ID, then authenticate.
4. Tap Hide App to confirm.

The app disappears from the Home Screen. To open it later, swipe left past your last Home Screen page to App Library, scroll to the bottom and tap the Hidden folder.

How to unhide or unlock an app

Open the Hidden folder in App Library (or find the locked app on your Home Screen), touch and hold the icon, tap Don't Require Face ID and authenticate. Hidden apps go back to being regular apps. You can also see the full list in Settings → Apps → Hidden Apps.

Where hidden apps still show up

"Hidden" means hidden from the Home Screen, not from the whole phone. According to Apple, someone holding your unlocked iPhone can still see that a hidden app exists in:

• Settings → Apps → Hidden Apps (the list itself requires authentication)
• Settings → Screen Time, which shows app usage
• Settings → Battery, which lists the apps that used power
• App Store purchase history, unless you also hide the purchase there

There's also the Hidden folder itself. It doesn't show what's inside until it's unlocked, but its presence tells anyone who looks that you've hidden something.

The passcode problem

This is the gap that matters most. Locked apps accept Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. So the lock protects you from someone who picks up your unlocked phone for a minute, but not from anyone who already knows your passcode: a partner, a family member, someone who watched you type it, or a thief who saw it over your shoulder before taking the phone.

Apple's answer to that last case is Stolen Device Protection. When it's on and your iPhone is away from familiar places like home or work, opening a locked app requires Face ID or Touch ID with no passcode fallback. To turn it on:

1. Open Settings and tap Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode).
2. Enter your passcode.
3. Tap Stolen Device Protection and turn it on.

It needs iOS 17.3 or later, two-factor authentication on your Apple Account, Face ID or Touch ID, and Significant Locations turned on. It's a real improvement, but notice what it doesn't cover: at home, the passcode still opens your locked apps. If the person you're worried about lives with you, the app lock alone won't stop them.

Other limits to know

• It's per device. Apple says locked or hidden status doesn't sync with iCloud. Lock Photos on your iPhone and it's still open on your iPad or Mac.
• The data isn't moved or re-encrypted. Locking is a gate in front of the app. The app's content is protected the same way as everything else on the phone, and if it syncs to iCloud, it's reachable from any other device signed in to your account.
• Family Sharing. Children under 13 can't lock or hide apps. Teens 13 to 17 can, but a parent or guardian can still see that the app was downloaded and how much it's used, and can limit it with Screen Time. The exact ages vary by country.

When an app lock is enough, and when it isn't

For most people, locking Photos, Messages and a couple of sensitive apps is a quick, free win. It stops the most common problem: someone borrowing your unlocked phone and swiping one screen too far.

It's not enough when the person you need protection from knows your passcode, when you share an iPad or Mac on the same account, or when the phone is going somewhere out of your control, like a repair shop. For those cases, the sensitive files need their own secret, separate from the phone passcode, and need to be encrypted rather than just hidden.

That's what Hushkeeper is for. It keeps photos, videos and documents in a vault encrypted with AES-256-GCM on your iPhone, behind a pattern that is not your phone passcode, so knowing the passcode doesn't open the vault. Every pattern opens its own vault, and the unlock screen never lists how many exist. With Pro, you can swap its icon for Calculator, Notes, Weather or Clock, so there's no obvious vault icon to spot in the first place. Hushkeeper is coming soon to the App Store.

Not sure whether a disguised app is the same as a secure one? Read are calculator vault apps safe. If it's only a few photos, how to hide photos on iPhone compares the built-in options.

Quick checklist

1. Lock the apps that hold the most about you: Photos, Messages, Mail, Notes, banking.
2. Hide downloaded apps you don't want seen on the Home Screen.
3. Turn on Stolen Device Protection so a seen passcode can't open locked apps away from home.
4. Repeat the locks on your iPad; they don't sync.
5. Remember Screen Time, Battery and App Store purchases still reveal hidden apps.
6. If someone knows your passcode, keep your most private files in an encrypted vault with its own secret.

Sources

• Apple Personal Safety User Guide: Lock or hide an app on iPhone
• iPhone User Guide: Lock or hide an app on iPhone
• Apple Support: About Stolen Device Protection for iPhone