How to delete an app that’s not visible on your iPhone Home Screen

Do you want to delete an app from your iPhone but can’t find it anywhere on the Home Screen? In this quick guide, we’ll show you five ways to delete invisible apps from your iPhone or iPad to declutter things and free up local storage.

Why you don’t see an installed app on your Home Screen

You may not see an app on the Home Screen because of the following reasons:

• You have hidden the app and locked it behind Face ID or Touch ID.
• The app is hidden from plain sight by being only in the App Library and not the Home Screen. After you touch and hold an app icon > Remove App > Remove from Home Screen, the app is moved to the App Library and visible there only.
• If you go to Settings > Home Screen and select App Library Only, all new apps you download do not appear on the iPhone Home Screen. Their app icons are only visible inside the App Library.
• If you hide a Home Screen page, this naturally hides all the apps on this page.
• The app may be hidden inside an app folder or on the second or third page inside the folder.

1. Delete apps from the Hidden section

iOS 18 allows you to hide apps so other people using your iPhone cannot see and access them. If you have hidden an app, go to App Library, tap the Hidden section, and authenticate to see all your hidden apps. Now, touch and hold an app icon to delete it.

2. From Spotlight

You can find a hidden app using Spotlight Search and delete it from there.

1. Swipe down on a Home Screen to go to Search and type the app name.
2. Long-press the app icon and tap Delete App > Delete.

3. From iPhone Settings

The Settings app has a list of all the installed apps on your device. You can remove unnecessary apps from here in an instant.

1. Open the Settings app and tap General.
2. Tap iPhone Storage and give it a while to display all your apps.
3. Tap the app name you want to remove.
4. Finally, tap Delete App and confirm.

4. From the App Library

You can locate an app in the App Library and get rid of it from there.

1. Swipe left on the Home Screen until you reach the App Library. You’ll see apps inside proper categories.
2. Find the desired app.
3. Long-press the app icon and tap Delete App > Delete.

If you swipe down the App Library or tap the search box, you’ll see all apps listed alphabetically. When you press and hold the app icon, you will see an option to Delete App.

5. Using the App Store

You can use this method to delete only those apps that have a pending update or ones that have been updated recently.

1. Open the App Store and tap your profile picture. You can also touch and hold the App Store icon on the Home Screen and choose Updates.
2. Scroll down and see if you find the app here. If not, pull down the updates screen to refresh it.
3. If you see the app under “Available Updates” or “Updated Recently,” swipe left on its name and tap Delete.

Check out next: How to remove apps from Apple Watch