How to Hide Apps on Android Without Deleting Them (2026 Guide)
We all have apps we’d rather keep private — whether it’s a banking app, a dating profile, or just something you don’t want curious eyes stumbling on. The good news is that Android gives you several ways to hide apps completely without uninstalling them and without losing any of your data or login sessions.
This guide walks you through every working method in 2026, from built-in settings on Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and stock Android to secure folders and third-party launchers. No root required.
| ⚡ Quick Answer To hide apps on Android: go to Settings → Home Screen (or Apps) → Hide Apps, then select which apps to hide. This works natively on Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus. On stock Android or Pixel, use a third-party launcher like Nova Launcher instead. |
Why Would You Want to Hide Apps on Android?
Before diving into the how, it helps to understand the different reasons people hide apps — because the best method often depends on why you’re doing it.
Privacy from Family or Roommates
Shared households mean shared curiosity. Whether it’s a nosy sibling, a parent who picks up your phone, or a roommate who borrows your device, some apps are simply nobody else’s business. A banking app, a health tracker, or a personal journal app are all legitimate things you might want out of sight.
Keeping Your Home Screen Clean
Not every app you use daily needs to be on your home screen. You might have utility apps, system tools, or backup apps you only open occasionally. Hiding them reduces clutter and makes your launcher feel faster to navigate — without the permanence of uninstalling.
Work-Life Separation on One Device
If you use one phone for both personal and professional life, hiding work apps during weekends (or personal apps during work hours) helps you mentally switch modes. Some people also use this when handing their phone to a child temporarily — hiding apps like email or social media before passing it over.
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Method 1: Hide Apps Using Built-In Android Settings (No App Needed)
Most Android skins — One UI, MIUI, OxygenOS — have a native hide apps feature built right into the launcher settings. This is the cleanest option because it requires no third-party app and the hidden apps leave no icon anywhere on the home screen or app drawer.
On Samsung Galaxy (One UI)
Samsung’s One UI makes hiding apps straightforward through the home screen settings. Here is exactly how to do it:
| Long-press on any empty area of your home screen to enter edit mode. Tap ‘Settings’ (gear icon) in the bottom toolbar. Select ‘Hide apps on Home and Apps screens’. Tap the + button next to each app you want to hide. Tap ‘Done’ to confirm. The apps will now be invisible in both your home screen and app drawer. |
| 📌 Note Hidden apps on Samsung are still accessible by searching in the search bar at the top of the app drawer. If you want true invisibility even from search, use the Secure Folder method (Method 2) instead. |
On Xiaomi / Redmi / MIUI
MIUI handles app hiding through the App Lock feature combined with the Hidden Space folder. Here is the process:
| Swipe right on your home screen to open the Hidden Space panel. Tap the + icon at the top right corner. Select the apps you want to move to Hidden Space. Tap the tick/checkmark to confirm. To access hidden apps later, swipe right on your home screen again. |
On MIUI 14 and HyperOS (2024 and later), you can also set a password for Hidden Space by going to Settings → Hidden Space → Lock Hidden Space.
On OnePlus / OxygenOS
| Open the App Drawer by swiping up from the home screen. Tap the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top right corner. Select ‘Hide Apps’. Tap the checkbox next to each app you want to hide. Tap ‘Apply’. The apps will disappear from the drawer. |
On newer OnePlus devices running OxygenOS 14, the option may appear under Settings → Home Screen & Lock Screen → Hidden Space instead.
On Stock Android / Pixel
Pure Android (as found on Pixel phones) does not have a built-in app hiding feature. Google has kept the launcher minimal and hasn’t added native hide functionality. Your options on stock Android are:
- Use a third-party launcher (see Method 3 below — Nova Launcher is the most popular)
- Create a guest user account and hide apps from it
- Use Android’s built-in parental controls if hiding apps from a child
| 💡 Pixel Tip On Pixel phones, you can create a second user profile (Settings → System → Multiple Users) and simply not install the apps you want hidden on that profile. It’s more involved but doesn’t require any extra app. |
Method 2: Create a Secure Folder to Hide Apps (Samsung Only)
Samsung’s Secure Folder is the most privacy-focused built-in option available on any Android phone. It creates a completely separate, encrypted space on your device — think of it as a second phone within your phone. Apps inside Secure Folder are invisible to anyone who doesn’t know it exists, and they’re protected by a separate PIN, pattern, password, or biometric lock.
What makes Secure Folder different from simply hiding apps is that it stores a completely separate copy of the app. This means you can be logged into two different accounts — your main Instagram account in the regular launcher, and a second account inside Secure Folder, for example.
How to set up Secure Folder:
| Open Settings and search for ‘Secure Folder’, or go to Settings → Biometrics and Security → Secure Folder. Sign in with your Samsung account to activate it. Choose your lock type: PIN, password, pattern, fingerprint, or iris. Once created, open Secure Folder from your app drawer. Tap ‘Add apps’ to install apps inside the folder. To make the Secure Folder itself invisible: open Secure Folder → tap the three-dot menu → Settings → toggle off ‘Show Secure Folder’. | ||
| 🔒 Privacy Level: Maximum Secure Folder is encrypted using Samsung Knox and requires Samsung account verification to set up. Even Samsung’s own technicians cannot access Secure Folder contents without your lock credentials. This is the best method if you need serious privacy protection. | ||
| Feature | Hide Apps (Built-in) | Secure Folder |
| Hides from app drawer | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Password protected | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Encrypted storage | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Separate app accounts | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Can hide the folder itself | N/A | ✅ Yes |
| Available on | Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus | Samsung only |
Method 3: Use a Third-Party Launcher to Hide Apps
Third-party launchers replace your phone’s default home screen and app drawer — and most of them come with powerful app hiding features that work on any Android phone, including Pixel and older devices without native hiding support.
Nova Launcher (Best Free Option)
Nova Launcher is the most widely used custom Android launcher, with over 50 million downloads. Its app hiding feature is clean, reliable, and free.
How to hide apps using Nova Launcher:
| Download Nova Launcher from the Play Store (free) and set it as your default launcher. Long-press on any empty home screen area and tap ‘Nova Settings’. Go to ‘App & Widget Drawers’ → ‘Hide Apps’. Select all the apps you want to hide from the list. Press the back button to save. The apps are now hidden from your drawer. |
| 💡 Pro Tip To also hide apps from Nova’s search results, enable Nova Launcher Prime (paid upgrade) and toggle off ‘Search hidden apps’. The free version hides apps from the visual drawer but they can still appear in search. |
Microsoft Launcher
Microsoft Launcher is a solid free alternative that also supports app hiding, with a slightly simpler setup process than Nova. It’s particularly good if you use Microsoft 365 or a Windows PC alongside your Android phone, since it integrates your calendar, tasks, and recent files from your Microsoft account.
To hide apps in Microsoft Launcher:
| Install Microsoft Launcher and set it as your default. Long-press on the home screen → tap the launcher icon at the bottom → Settings. Go to ‘App Drawer’ → ‘Hidden Apps’. Select the apps you want to hide and tap Done. |
Method 4: Use App Lock + Hide Icon (Best for Privacy)
Some App Lock apps let you not only password-protect an app but also remove its icon from the app drawer entirely — a combination that’s more thorough than most built-in hiding methods. This approach is popular because it works on virtually every Android phone and doesn’t require switching your launcher.
Apps like Calc Vault or Keepsafe work by disguising themselves as something innocent (a calculator or photo app) while secretly containing a vault where you can move other apps. When you open the decoy app and enter your secret code, you’re taken to the hidden app vault.
How to use this method:
| Download an app vault app such as Calc Vault or AppHider from the Play Store. Set up a secret PIN inside the app. Add the apps you want to hide to the vault. The original app icons can then be hidden from your launcher (the vault app takes over the functionality). To access your hidden apps: open the decoy calculator, type your secret code, and tap ‘=’. |
| ⚠️ Watch Out Some free app vault apps on the Play Store contain aggressive ads or request excessive permissions. Stick to apps with 4.0+ ratings and 1M+ downloads. Avoid any app that asks for SMS or call log access — it doesn’t need that to hide apps. |
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How to Unhide Apps on Android
Unhiding apps follows the same path you used to hide them. Here’s a quick reference:
| Method Used | How to Unhide |
| Samsung built-in | Home screen long-press → Settings → Hide Apps → tap the X next to each app → Done |
| Xiaomi Hidden Space | Swipe right → long-press the app → ‘Remove from Hidden Space’ |
| OnePlus | App Drawer → three-dot menu → Hide Apps → uncheck the app → Apply |
| Nova Launcher | Nova Settings → App & Widget Drawers → Hide Apps → deselect the app |
| Secure Folder | Open Secure Folder → long-press the app → ‘Remove from Secure Folder’ |
| Calc Vault / AppHider | Open the vault app → tap the app → ‘Restore to drawer’ |
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Can Hidden Apps Still Run in the Background?
This is one of the most common questions — and the answer is yes, in most cases. Hiding an app only removes its icon from your home screen and app drawer. It does not stop the app from:
- Running background processes (syncing, notifications, push alerts)
- Using battery and mobile data
- Updating automatically through the Play Store
- Appearing in your Settings → Apps list
If you want to completely stop an app from running while it’s hidden, you need to go to Settings → Apps → select the app → Force Stop. You can also disable background activity for that specific app under Settings → Apps → Battery → Restrict background usage.
| 📌 Key Point Hiding an app is about visibility, not functionality. The app continues to exist and operate normally — only its icon is removed from view. If you want to truly freeze an app, use a freezer app (like Hibernator) alongside hiding it. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Hiding an App Delete Its Data?
No. Hiding an app in Android does not delete any of its data, accounts, settings, or files. Your login sessions stay active, your data stays saved, and the app continues to work exactly as before — it’s just not visible as an icon. The only exception is if you use a vault app that physically moves an app to a different container, in which case the original install is removed and replaced by the vault’s version.
Can Someone Find Hidden Apps on My Android?
It depends on the method used. With basic built-in hiding (Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus), a technically-aware person can find hidden apps by going to Settings → Apps and viewing all installed applications — every app shows up there regardless of launcher visibility. With Secure Folder or a decoy vault app, the app does not appear in the standard Apps list and is much harder to detect. The only completely undetectable option is Secure Folder, where even the folder itself can be hidden.
What Is the Safest Way to Hide Apps on Android?
Samsung’s Secure Folder is the safest and most secure method available on Android. It uses Samsung Knox encryption, requires a separate lock credential, and can make itself invisible. For non-Samsung users, the next best option is a reputable decoy vault app with a strong PIN and no suspicious permissions. Basic launcher hiding (Nova Launcher, built-in settings) is fine for casual privacy but not for serious security needs.
Summary: Which Method Should You Use? Samsung users → Secure Folder (best security) or built-in Hide Apps (quickest) • Xiaomi / Redmi users → Hidden Space • OnePlus users → Built-in Hide Apps in Drawer • Pixel / Stock Android → Nova Launcher • Any Android (maximum privacy) → Calc Vault or similar decoy app |
