www.makeuseof.com How to Hide Apps on Android

From a safety and security viewpoint, you should always use a screen lock along with some form of biometric authentication on your Android device to prevent anyone else from accessing it. However, there can be situations where you want to double down on security and hide an installed app from prying eyes.

Perhaps you want to hide the banking apps on your phone for additional security just in case someone can bypass the screen lock. Or you want to hide all the games that you spend hours playing on your phone from your parents.

Whatever the case, here's how you can easily hide installed apps on your Android device to ensure no one can access them but you.

Hiding Apps on Android: The Pros and Cons

Hiding an app on your Android device will prevent it from showing up in the app drawer. In some cases, you will have to access another hidden app drawer from where you'll be able to open the hidden apps.

Some phones only allow you to hide apps and do not offer any way to access them again, while others will also allow you to lock hidden apps so that they cannot be easily accessed.

If your Android device comes with a lot of pre-installed bloatware that cannot be disabled, you can hide them from your app drawer to clean it up. You can also hide your banking apps, password manager, and other apps containing sensitive information for additional security.

Some Android phones allow you to natively hide installed apps. In case the feature is not present in your phone, you can use a third-party launcher like Nova or Microsoft Launcher. If you are unsure of which Android launcher to try, check out our roundup of the best minimalist Android launchers.

Apart from letting you hide apps, these third-party launchers also offer a plethora of other new features and customization options, including the ability to use third-party icon packs, fit more apps on your home screen, use custom gestures, and more.

Related: How to Wi-Fi Unlock Your Android Phone With Smart Lock

How to Hide Apps on Samsung Phones

All Samsung phones offer the ability to hide installed apps from the app drawer. The process is relatively straightforward as well.

That's about it. You have now hidden all the apps you selected. One good thing about Samsung's implementation is that the hidden apps will not show up in the app drawer search results. However, they will show up in the search results of other third-party universal search apps and underSettings > Apps.

Samsung does not offer a hidden app drawer from where you can access hidden apps, which means accessing hidden apps is going to be a chore. You can always use Google search or any other universal search app to work around this problem though.

How to Hide Apps on OnePlus Phones

OnePlus offers a Hidden Space feature on its Android devices where you can hide installed apps. This hidden space can also be protected by a password for additional security.

You can now access the hidden space via a pinch-out gesture on the home screen of your OnePlus phone or by swiping right in the app drawer.

If you enabled password lock for hidden space, you'll have to enter the password/pattern or scan your fingerprint for authentication purposes.

How to Hide Apps on Android Using Nova Launcher

If the default launcher on your Android device does not offer the option to hide installed apps, you'll have to use a third-party launcher like Nova. Once you have downloaded and installed the free Nova Launcher from Google Play, set it as the default launcher on your Android device. Then follow the below steps to hide any installed app.

Now, all the apps you selected will be hidden from the app drawer. Sadly, this method has its own set of limitations. If you use any universal search app or Nova's built-in app search, the hidden app will be shown in the results.

It is also possible to find the listing of the hidden app underSettings > Apps of your Android device.

Related: Forgot Your Android Passcode? 5 Ways to Get Back In

How to Hide Apps on Android Using Microsoft Launcher

If you use Microsoft Launcher instead, you can follow the below steps to hide apps on your Android device. None of the hidden apps will show up in Microsoft Launcher's app drawer search as well.

Hide Important Apps on Your Android Device

You should always hide apps containing important and sensitive data if you want to prevent anyone from gaining unauthorized access to it. While not foolproof, the implementation is still good enough to prevent anyone from easily accessing it without the proper technical know-how.

If your Android device does not offer the option to hide apps natively, you can use one of the alternative methods that we have mentioned above.

Rajesh Pandey started following the tech field right around the time Android devices were going mainstream. He closely follows the latest development in the world of smartphones and what the tech giants are up to. He loves to tinker around with the latest gadgets to see what they are capable of.

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