--- title: "How to Hide DuckDuckGo on iPhone: 4 Ways (iOS 27)" description: "Hide DuckDuckGo on iPhone in 10 seconds: Hide and Require Face ID moves it to a locked Hidden folder. Plus fire Button, alerts and search." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/duckduckgo lang: en-gb published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # How to hide DuckDuckGo on iPhone > DuckDuckGo 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 DuckDuckGo 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. DuckDuckGo moves to a locked Hidden folder in App Library and drops out of search. DuckDuckGo also has its own option inside the app: Fire Button. 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:** Fire Button. - **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 DuckDuckGo can be hidden in about 10 seconds with the iOS Hidden folder, and DuckDuckGo has 4 privacy settings of its own. Below are 4 ways, fastest first, and the places DuckDuckGo still shows up afterwards. We checked the iOS steps against Apple's iOS 27 documentation and DuckDuckGo's settings against its official help pages in October 2026. ## Method 1: Hide DuckDuckGo with Face ID (iOS 18 and later) This is the only built-in way that hides DuckDuckGo from your Home Screen, App Library and search at once. 1. **Find DuckDuckGo on your Home Screen** Touch and hold the DuckDuckGo 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** DuckDuckGo leaves the Home Screen and moves to the locked Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. DuckDuckGo 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). **If DuckDuckGo is your default browser:** Apple won't let you hide it. Choose a different default browser in Settings first. **What this does not do:** it doesn't hide DuckDuckGo from Screen Time, and it doesn't change iCloud backups. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden folder. ## Method 2: DuckDuckGo's own privacy settings iOS hides the app icon. DuckDuckGo itself can hide what's inside it. These settings work on any iOS version that DuckDuckGo supports. ### Fire Button Tap the Fire Button to clear your tabs and browsing data at once. Fireproofed sites, bookmarks, and downloads are kept. ### Fire Tabs Fire Tabs are kept apart from your regular tabs, and their browsing data is deleted when you close them all. ### Automatically clear data In the app's Settings you can choose to clear tabs and data automatically when the app restarts. ### Application Lock Turn on Application Lock in the app's Settings. If Touch ID, Face ID, or a passcode is set up on your iPhone, the app asks you to unlock it each time you open it. ## Other ways to hide DuckDuckGo - **Remove it from the Home Screen.** Touch and hold DuckDuckGo, 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 DuckDuckGo. Apple says excluded apps aren't available to Siri, Search or suggestions. - **Hide its notification previews.** Go to **Settings -> Notifications -> DuckDuckGo -> 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 DuckDuckGo and tap **Hide**. ## Does hiding DuckDuckGo 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 DuckDuckGo 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 DuckDuckGo.** Touch and hold DuckDuckGo, tap Don't Require Face ID and authenticate again. DuckDuckGo goes back to App Library. Drag it to your Home Screen from there. ## Hide DuckDuckGo on iPad The same Require Face ID menu works on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. Hiding doesn't sync through iCloud, so hide DuckDuckGo separately on each device. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you hide DuckDuckGo on iPhone? Yes. On iOS 18 or later, touch and hold DuckDuckGo, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. DuckDuckGo 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 DuckDuckGo 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. DuckDuckGo keeps working from there, with all its data. ### Does hiding DuckDuckGo delete it or its data? No. Hiding or removing DuckDuckGo 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 DuckDuckGo account online is not deleted. ### Can someone tell that I hid DuckDuckGo? Possibly. The Hidden folder itself is visible at the bottom of App Library, though it needs Face ID or your passcode to open. DuckDuckGo 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 DuckDuckGo have its own lock? Yes. DuckDuckGo has Application Lock. It works alongside the iOS lock. It uses the same Face ID or passcode as your iPhone, so it adds a second prompt but no separate secret. ## Bottom line Hide and Require Face ID is the fastest way to hide DuckDuckGo: about 10 seconds, and it's gone from your Home Screen and search. Add DuckDuckGo's own settings to hide what's inside it. ## 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) - [DuckDuckGo Help: The Fire Button, Fire Windows, and Fire Tabs](https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/fire-tabs) - [DuckDuckGo iOS source: Application Lock setting (General settings)](https://github.com/duckduckgo/apple-browsers/blob/main/iOS/DuckDuckGo/Settings/Views/Sections/MainSettings/SettingsGeneralView.swift) - [Spread Privacy (DuckDuckGo blog): DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser on iOS 14 (default browser)](https://spreadprivacy.com/duckduckgo-privacy-browser-ios14/) ## More DuckDuckGo privacy guides - [How to lock DuckDuckGo on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/lock-apps/duckduckgo) - [DuckDuckGo privacy on iPhone: every setting](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/apps/duckduckgo) ## Hide apps for other apps - [How to hide Google Chrome on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/chrome) - [How to hide Brave on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/brave) - [How to hide Firefox on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/firefox) - [How to hide Google on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/google) - [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) - [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