--- title: "How to Hide Google Drive on iPhone: 5 Ways (iOS 27)" description: "Hide Google Drive on iPhone in 10 seconds with Hide and Require Face ID (iOS 18+), then hide its alerts and search results. Where it still shows." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/google-drive lang: en-gb published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # How to hide Google Drive on iPhone > Google Drive 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 Google Drive 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. Google Drive moves to a locked Hidden folder in App Library and drops out of search. Google Drive also has its own option inside the app: Hide suggested files in the widget. 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:** Hide suggested files in the widget (Touch and hold the Google Drive widget -> Edit widget -> Show suggested files). - **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 Google Drive can be hidden in about 10 seconds with the iOS Hidden folder, and Google Drive has 2 privacy settings of its own. Below are 5 ways, fastest first, and the places Google Drive still shows up afterwards. We checked the iOS steps against Apple's iOS 27 documentation and Google Drive's settings against its official help pages in October 2026. ## Method 1: Hide Google Drive with Face ID (iOS 18 and later) This is the only built-in way that hides Google Drive from your Home Screen, App Library and search at once. 1. **Find Google Drive on your Home Screen** Touch and hold the Google Drive 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** Google Drive leaves the Home Screen and moves to the locked Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. Google Drive 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 Google Drive from Screen Time, and it doesn't change iCloud backups. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden folder. ## Method 2: Google Drive's own privacy settings iOS hides the app icon. Google Drive itself can hide what's inside it. These settings work on any iOS version that Google Drive supports. ### Hide suggested files in the widget Go to **Touch and hold the Google Drive widget -> Edit widget -> Show suggested files**. Turn Show suggested files off so the Home Screen widget stops showing your files. ### Hide Google Drive message previews Go to **Menu -> Settings -> Notifications**. Turn Notifications Enabled on or off, or choose only some types: Shared items, Request for access, Comments, and Approvals. ## Method 3: Move Google Drive 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 Google Drive 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 [all Google Drive's privacy settings](/en-gb/apps/google-drive) for the in-app options. ## Other ways to hide Google Drive - **Remove it from the Home Screen.** Touch and hold Google Drive, 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 Google Drive. Apple says excluded apps aren't available to Siri, Search or suggestions. - **Hide its notification previews.** Go to **Settings -> Notifications -> Google Drive -> 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 Google Drive and tap **Hide**. ## Does hiding Google Drive 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 Google Drive 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 Google Drive.** Touch and hold Google Drive, tap Don't Require Face ID and authenticate again. Google Drive goes back to App Library. Drag it to your Home Screen from there. ## Hide Google Drive on iPad The same Require Face ID menu works on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. Hiding doesn't sync through iCloud, so hide Google Drive separately on each device. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you hide Google Drive on iPhone? Yes. On iOS 18 or later, touch and hold Google Drive, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. Google Drive 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 Google Drive 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. Google Drive keeps working from there, with all its data. ### Does hiding Google Drive delete it or its data? No. Hiding or removing Google Drive 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 Google Drive account online is not deleted. ### Can someone tell that I hid Google Drive? Possibly. The Hidden folder itself is visible at the bottom of App Library, though it needs Face ID or your passcode to open. Google Drive 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 hiding Google Drive on iPhone hide it on my iPad? No. Apple says hidden and locked apps don't sync through iCloud, so the setting only applies to the iPhone where you set it. If you use Google Drive on an iPad, hide it there too with the same Require Face ID menu. ## Bottom line Hide and Require Face ID is the fastest way to hide Google Drive: about 10 seconds, and it's gone from your Home Screen and search. Add Google Drive'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) - [Google Drive Help: Learn how we help keep Google Drive secure (iPhone & iPad)](https://support.google.com/drive/answer/141702?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS) - [Google Drive Help: Get Google Drive notifications (iPhone & iPad)](https://support.google.com/drive/answer/6318501?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS) - [Google Drive Help: Add & customize your Google Drive widget (iPhone & iPad)](https://support.google.com/drive/answer/10255119?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS) ## More Google Drive privacy guides - [Google Drive privacy on iPhone: every setting](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/apps/google-drive) ## 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 Dropbox on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/dropbox) - [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