Are you trying to open an app on your iPhone, but you can't find it anywhere? It can be worrying if it's an important app related to finance, productivity, or work.
Sometimes, it happens that we hide an app on purpose and then cannot locate it when needed. Whatever the case, if you can't unhide apps, or if you notice that some apps are missing from the iPhone Home Screen, here's how to find them.
1. Drag the Missing App From the App Library to the Home Screen
In iOS 14, Apple introduced the App Library, which places all your apps in proper categories. If you're looking to unhide apps, swipe left on the last Home Screen to reach App Library. You should find any missing apps here.
Or, the more straightforward solution is to swipe down in the App Library, which will list all apps in alphabetical order. From here, scroll down or use the search box to find the hidden app quickly.
Once you find the app you're looking for, you can drag it left from the App Library onto the iPhone Home Screen. Alternatively, long-press an app icon in the App Library and, if this app is not on the Home Screen, you will see an option to Add to Home Screen.
From now on, if you want all the new apps you download to show on the iPhone Home Screen, open Settings > Home Screen and select Add to Home Screen.
2. Use Spotlight to Find the Missing App
From any iPhone Home Screen, swipe down to reveal the Spotlight search bar. Now, type the app name and tap to open it.
3. Ask Siri to Open the Missing App
Siri can open hidden apps for you if you can't locate them on your own. Simply summon the voice assistant and ask it to "Open [app name]."
You can say "Hey Siri" or press and hold the Side button (on iPhone with Face ID) or Home button (on other iPhones) to activate Siri.
4. Look Inside Folders to Find Hidden Apps
Sometimes we put apps inside folders to hide them or keep them away from plain sight if the app is not used frequently. After a while, it's possible to forget about them.
In case this is the situation you're in, open all the app folders on your iPhone Home Screen and look for the missing app inside them. Once you find it, you may want to drag the app icon out of the folder onto the Home Screen.
5. Check Screen Time to Unhide Restricted Apps
Using Screen Time, you or your guardian can restrict iPhone apps like Safari, Camera, FaceTime, Mail, and so on. Similarly, Screen Time also lets you restrict apps by age limits. As a result, you won't find the app icons for these restricted apps on the Home Screen or the App Library. They won't even appear in search results or be accessible via Siri.
To unhide these apps, open Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps and make sure all the apps are allowed. Next, tap Back and then tap Content Restrictions > Apps and select Allow All Apps.
After doing this, you should see the missing app icons on the iPhone Home Screen and App Library.
6. Unhide Home Screen Pages to See All Your Apps
iOS allows you to hide Home Screens for a cleaner look. If you did that accidentally, you may at times get confused wondering where your apps have gone. Worry not! All your downloaded apps are in the App Library. And to avoid future confusion, you can learn more about hiding and unhiding the Home Screen pages.
7. Use the App Store to Learn If an App Is Installed or Not
When you have an app downloaded on your iPhone, the app's page on the App Store page says Open (or Update). If the app is not downloaded, it says Get (or shows the download icon).
Using this information, here's how you can find missing apps on your iPhone:
- Long-press the App Store icon from the Home Screen and tap Search.
- Type the missing app name.
- In the search results, if the app says Open, tap it. If it says Get or shows a download icon, that means the app is not installed on your iPhone. You will have to download it.
8. Unhide Purchased Apps and Re-Download Them
After you hide a purchase, it doesn't appear in your or your family member's list of App Store purchases. Plus, the hidden app is not available for download to family members.
Please note that this doesn't hide the actual app if it is already downloaded on the device. Still, if you or a person added to family sharing cannot find and re-download the hidden app, here's how to unhide App Store purchases on your iPhone:
- Open the App Store and tap your profile picture.
- Tap your name and Apple ID.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Hidden Purchases.
- Tap Unhide next to a hidden app.
9. Reset the Home Screen Layout to View All Apps Alphabetically
Finally, if you think you've had enough trouble and want every app to be listed alphabetically, you can reset the Home Screen and Dock layout. After this, the first two Home Screens will show all the Apple apps (just like a new iPhone). And all the apps you have downloaded will be placed alphabetically from the third Home Screen onwards.
Here's how to reset the iPhone Home Screen layout:
- Open Settings and tap General.
- Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Home Screen Layout.
Hopefully You Found the Missing iPhone App!
These were the quick ways to find any missing or hidden apps on iPhone. Sometimes if you can't find an app, you likely deleted it. In this case, re-download it from the App Store. Additionally, it also happens at times that an app is removed from the App Store by the developer or Apple (as was the case with Flappy Bird and Fortnite, respectively). In this situation, you will have to use one of its alternatives.
If it is often difficult to find apps or to open them quickly, you should learn about some creative ways to organize your iPhone Home Screen layout to help with that.
