FAQ: How Do You Hide Apps?

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Unless you purchased your device straight from the phone manufacturer, chances are it probably came with a handful of useless apps and services I tend to refer to as “bloatware.” While you can disable apps, sometimes an app simply cannot be disabled or you need it but don’t really want it showing up in your app drawer. When that happens, you can simply hide it. Hiding an app does not remove it from your device. Instead, it simply makes the app stop showing up. Depending on your device, it may or may not still show on the actual screens, but either way it will still be listed as an app when you go to uninstall and check other statistics. The process for hiding an app varies by device, especially on Android. Here are some ways to hide Android apps:

Androids with App Drawers

Here is the process to hide apps:
  1. Open the app drawer
  2. Hit the three dots in the upper right corner
  3. Select “Hide/Show apps”
  4. Tap any apps you want to hide
  5. Tap the check mark in the upper right corner
Once apps are hidden, unhiding them uses the exact same process: you simply have to uncheck any apps you want to show. As a note, hiding apps in the app drawer will not remove them from any home screens. You must do that separately. This is useful if you’re trying to clear up your app drawer and don’t need the messenger or phone shortcuts.

Androids without App Drawers

These phones, much like iPhones, work a little differently and will show all apps on the screens. Here’s how to stop it from showing apps:
  1. Press and hold a free space on the screen
  2. Tap “Home Screen Settings” (You can also access this from the Settings menu in the Display tab)
  3. Tap “Hide apps”
  4. Select all apps you want to hide
  5. Tap “Apply”
In order to make apps reappear, there should be a “show hidden apps” button in your settings, or you can repeat the same process and uncheck the app.

Windows phones, by contrast, have a kind of similar feature called “Limited Mode” where you can select which apps are accessible without the correct password. However, this isn’t going to work quite the same as hiding an app on an Android or iPhone, so I’m not going to go into it here. If you want to know more about that, leave me a note below and I’ll add it.  ]]>

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