5 Best Ways to Hide Apps on Android Without Disabling

When we think about hiding an app on Android, we can think of disabling or uninstalling it. But it has major drawbacks such that all the data in your application will be deleted and you will have to configure the application from scratch. To avoid this, you can hide the apps on your Android phone or tablet without deactivating using other methods indicated in the message.

Everyone has different reasons for hiding apps. While some want to hide dating, VPN or social media apps, others would like to hide apps related to child labor. Whatever the reason, the methods mentioned below will allow you to hide apps on Android without rooting your device as well.

Without making you more curious, let’s see how to hide the applications on Android phones such as Samsung, OnePlus, Redmi, etc. without deactivating the applications.

1. Use Stock Launcher

Phones from brands like Samsung, OnePlus and Redmi offer native functionality to hide apps using their launcher. Here’s how to do it on them.

Hide apps on Samsung One UI Launcher

On the home screen, long press on an empty space and tap Settings on the home screen. Scroll down and tap Hide apps.

Select the apps you want to hide and tap Apply.

Point: You can also use the secure folder on Samsung phones to hide applications.

Hide apps on Xiaomi Redmi phones

On phones running MIUI, open the Security app on your app and go to App Lock. Add the apps you want to hide.

Hide apps using the OnePlus launcher

In the OnePlus launcher, open the app drawer. Swipe right from the left edge of the screen. You will see Hidden Space. Tap the add icon (+) at the top and select the apps you want to hide.

2. Use third-party launchers

If your phone’s native launcher doesn’t offer the ability to hide apps, you can download third-party launchers like POCO and Evie. You can hide applications in these launchers using the hide applications option available in the launcher settings. Check out our detailed article with steps on launchers that let you hide apps.

3. Change the name and icon of the application

An application is identified on your phone by its name and icon. What you need to do is change its name and icon to something else using a launcher. We will show you the stages of the popular Nova Launcher. The basic idea of ​​the stages remains the same on all launchers.

Open the application drawer in Nova Launcher. Long press the app you want to hide. Select Edit from the menu.

Change the name of the application under App Label. Keep it ordinary, like a calculator. Then tap the app icon and change the icon on the next screen. Again, keep it simple so you would think it’s a system application.

Note: Changing the name of the application and the icon is not a privileged feature in Nova Launcher. You can also do this in the free version.

4. Rename a folder

Another easy way to hide apps is to add them to a folder. Then name the folder in a way that no one would be interested in tapping on it. For example, unnecessary applications or bloatware.

This method hides the application on the application drawer or on the Home screen depending on where you added the application to a folder. While all launchers allow you to add applications to folders on the Home screen, only a few launchers offer the functionality of folders in the application drawer. And, if you don’t like the app drawer, check out the best launchers without an app drawer.

Point: You can also use the folder scan feature to hide applications. It is available on applications like Nova and Action Launcher.

5. Use the functionality of multiple users

If you want to hide applications without a launcher, you can use the multi-user function. Basically, you will need to create a new user and install the secret apps in this profile. Each profile is independent of the other and the installed applications are available on the profile where they were installed.

To create a new user, open Settings on your phone and go to System. Tap Multiple users. Then tap Add user. The steps may vary for different devices. Just search for users in the search available in the settings. Once the user is created, switch to the user from the user icon in the quick panel.

Pay attention

The above methods only hide apps from the app drawer and the Home screen. They will not be hidden in the section of installed applications in the settings. So, if someone is spying on your phone badly, be careful. You will need to uninstall the application to hide it from the settings.