--- title: "How to Hide Dropbox on iPhone: 5 Ways (iOS 27)" description: "Hide Dropbox on iPhone in 10 seconds: Hide and Require Face ID moves it to a locked Hidden folder. Plus clear cache, alerts and search." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/dropbox lang: en-gb published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # How to hide Dropbox on iPhone > Dropbox can disappear from your Home Screen and search in 10 seconds. Its name still turns up in a few places, listed below. Published 2026-10-31 - Updated 2026-10-31 - By VaultForYou Editorial Team - Checked against iOS 27 - 31 Oct 2026 ## Quick answer Touch and hold the Dropbox icon, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID, and tap Hide App. It takes about 10 seconds on iOS 18 or later. Dropbox moves to a locked Hidden folder in App Library and drops out of search. Dropbox also has its own option inside the app: Clear cache. Its name can still appear in Screen Time. - **Fastest way:** Hide and Require Face ID (iOS 18 or later). - **Can it be hidden?:** Yes. It moves to the locked Hidden folder in App Library. - **Own privacy setting:** Clear cache. - **Still visible in:** Screen Time, Battery and your App Store purchases. - **iOS version:** iOS 18 or later - **Time needed:** About 10 seconds - **Difficulty:** Easy - **Needs an app?:** No - **Reversible?:** Yes - **Changes backups?:** No Dropbox can be hidden in about 10 seconds with the iOS Hidden folder, and Dropbox has 3 privacy settings of its own. Below are 5 ways, fastest first, and the places Dropbox still shows up afterwards. We checked the iOS steps against Apple's iOS 27 documentation and Dropbox's settings against its official help pages in October 2026. ## Method 1: Hide Dropbox with Face ID (iOS 18 and later) This is the only built-in way that hides Dropbox from your Home Screen, App Library and search at once. 1. **Find Dropbox on your Home Screen** Touch and hold the Dropbox icon until the quick actions menu opens. 2. **Tap Require Face ID** On iPhones with Touch ID it says Require Touch ID. You can also choose Require Passcode. 3. **Tap Hide and Require Face ID** Authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. 4. **Tap Hide App** Dropbox leaves the Home Screen and moves to the locked Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. Dropbox keeps working, and its data is untouched. Open it from the Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. On iOS 17 or earlier, remove it from the Home Screen instead (see below). **What this does not do:** it doesn't hide Dropbox from Screen Time, and it doesn't change iCloud backups. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden folder. ## Method 2: Dropbox's own privacy settings iOS hides the app icon. Dropbox itself can hide what's inside it. These settings work on any iOS version that Dropbox supports. ### Clear cache In the app's Settings, Clear cache removes files stored on your iPhone. Files you made available offline are kept. ### Passcode lock Go to **Account -> Settings -> Passcode lock -> Turn passcode on**. Set a 4-digit Dropbox passcode that you enter each time you open or return to the app. After you set it, you can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID under Passcode lock. After 10 wrong tries in a row, Dropbox signs out on that device. ### Hide Dropbox message previews Go to **iPhone Settings -> Notifications -> Dropbox**. The app sends push notifications for shared folder invitations and links shared with you. Dropbox says to change them in the iPhone Settings app. ## Method 3: Move Dropbox photos into a vault Hiding the app doesn't hide photos you've saved from it. Those sit in your camera roll, where anyone scrolling Photos can see them. Move them into a vault, then delete the originals from Photos and empty Recently Deleted. > **Lock this in VaultForYou.** Keep Dropbox photos in an encrypted vault that opens only with a pattern you draw. [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/vaultforyou/id0000000000) See [how to hide photos in Dropbox](/en-gb/hide-photos/dropbox) for the in-app options. ## Other ways to hide Dropbox - **Remove it from the Home Screen.** Touch and hold Dropbox, tap **Remove App**, then **Remove from Home Screen**. It moves to App Library and still shows in search. - **Keep it out of Siri and search.** Go to **Settings -> Siri -> Excluded Apps**, tap **Add Apps** and select Dropbox. Apple says excluded apps aren't available to Siri, Search or suggestions. - **Hide its notification previews.** Go to **Settings -> Notifications -> Dropbox -> Show Previews** and choose **Never** or **When Unlocked**. - **Hide it from your App Store purchases.** In the App Store, tap your photo, tap **Apps & Purchase History**, then swipe left on Dropbox and tap **Hide**. ## Does hiding Dropbox hide its notifications, Siri suggestions, Spotlight and backups? | Where | Hidden with Face ID | Removed from Home Screen | |---|---|---| | Notification previews | Content hidden | Still shown | | Siri suggestions | Not shown | Still shown | | Spotlight search | App hidden from results | Still shown | | iCloud backup | Unchanged | Unchanged | Apple says information inside a locked or hidden app doesn't appear in places like notification previews, search and Siri suggestions. Hiding never changes what your iPhone backs up. ## How to unhide Dropbox 1. **Open App Library.** Swipe left past your last Home Screen page. 2. **Open the Hidden folder.** Scroll to the bottom, tap Hidden and authenticate. 3. **Unhide Dropbox.** Touch and hold Dropbox, tap Don't Require Face ID and authenticate again. Dropbox goes back to App Library. Drag it to your Home Screen from there. ## Hide Dropbox on iPad The same Require Face ID menu works on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. Hiding doesn't sync through iCloud, so hide Dropbox separately on each device. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you hide Dropbox on iPhone? Yes. On iOS 18 or later, touch and hold Dropbox, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. Dropbox moves to a locked Hidden folder in App Library and disappears from search. On older iOS versions you can only remove it from the Home Screen, which leaves it in App Library. ### Where does Dropbox go when you hide it? It goes to the Hidden folder at the very bottom of App Library. Swipe left past your last Home Screen page, scroll down and tap Hidden. The folder opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Dropbox keeps working from there, with all its data. ### Does hiding Dropbox delete it or its data? No. Hiding or removing Dropbox from the Home Screen doesn't delete the app or anything in it. Only Delete App removes it from your iPhone. Even then, data stored in your Dropbox account online is not deleted. ### Can someone tell that I hid Dropbox? Possibly. The Hidden folder itself is visible at the bottom of App Library, though it needs Face ID or your passcode to open. Dropbox can also still appear in Screen Time, the Battery list and your App Store purchase history. Anyone who knows your passcode can open everything. ### Does Dropbox have its own lock? Yes. Dropbox has Passcode lock, under Account -> Settings -> Passcode lock -> Turn passcode on. It works alongside the iOS lock. Because it uses its own code, it can stop someone who knows your iPhone passcode. ## Bottom line Hide and Require Face ID is the fastest way to hide Dropbox: about 10 seconds, and it's gone from your Home Screen and search. Add Dropbox's own settings to hide what's inside it. For photos, a vault is the only option that takes them out of Photos. ## Sources - [Apple Support: Lock or hide an app on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/lock-or-hide-an-app-iph00f208d05/ios) - [Apple Personal Safety User Guide: Lock or hide apps on your iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/personal-safety/ipsd0be4c185/web) - [Apple Support: Change Siri settings on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/change-siri-settings-iphc28624b81abc/ios) - [Apple Support: Change notification settings on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/change-notification-settings-iph7c3d96bab/ios) - [Apple Support: Lock or hide an app on iPad](https://support.apple.com/guide/ipad/lock-or-hide-an-app-ipad4026f2de/ipados) - [Dropbox Help: Set a four-digit passcode on a mobile device](https://help.dropbox.com/security/passcode) - [Dropbox Help: Enable Face ID or Touch ID for the Dropbox mobile app on iOS](https://help.dropbox.com/installs/ios-touch-id) - [Dropbox Help: How to manage Dropbox mobile app settings](https://help.dropbox.com/account-settings/mobile-app-settings) - [Dropbox Help: How to use camera uploads](https://help.dropbox.com/create-upload/camera-uploads-overview) ## More Dropbox privacy guides - [How to lock Dropbox on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/lock-apps/dropbox) - [How to hide photos in Dropbox](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-photos/dropbox) - [Dropbox privacy on iPhone: every setting](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/apps/dropbox) ## Hide apps for other apps - [How to hide Gmail on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/gmail) - [How to hide Google Photos on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/google-photos) - [How to hide Google Drive on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/google-drive) - [How to hide YouTube on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/youtube) - [How to hide Instagram on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/instagram) - [How to hide Messages on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/messages) - [All hide-app guides](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps) --- Our guides are written and fact-checked by the VaultForYou team against Apple's own documentation. We make VaultForYou, a private vault app for iPhone. Download on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/vaultforyou/id0000000000