How can I unhide apps on my iPhone?

I had the same panic when I couldn’t find my Notes app. I thought I had deleted it somehow, and my first instinct was that all my data was gone. I dug through every folder, searched Spotlight, nothing. Finally, I learned that Apple lets you remove certain system apps now, and when you do, they don’t just hide—they actually uninstall. That blew my mind. What I did was open the App Store, type in “Notes,” and sure enough, it had the little download cloud icon next to it. I tapped it, and the app came back instantly, with all my old notes waiting for me. Another time, my kid had messed with my Screen Time settings and restricted Safari, so it vanished too. That one I restored by going into Settings → Screen Time → Allowed Apps and just toggling Safari back on. My point is, hidden apps on iPhone usually aren’t gone forever—it’s either a restriction, the App Library, or offloaded storage. Once you know where to look, it’s usually a 2-minute fix. Don’t panic like I did.

Sometimes it’s not “hidden,” it’s just Apple playing hide-and-seek with you. 😂 Swipe all the way left to the App Library, pull down to search, and type the app name. Nine times out of ten, it pops up. If not, check if your phone offloaded it—then you just re-download it. Easy fix.

When you say the app is “hidden,” do you mean you can’t see it on your home screen at all, or that it doesn’t even appear in search? That detail makes a difference. If it’s missing only from the home screen, it’s likely just in the App Library. If it’s not searchable, then restrictions or deletion are more likely.

Honestly, if none of that works, you can always reset your Home Screen layout under Settings → General → Reset → Reset Home Screen Layout. It puts everything back to default. Not glamorous, but it does the job.