--- title: "How to Hide Notes on iPhone: 4 Ways (iOS 27)" description: "Notes can't go in the iPhone Hidden folder. Here are the ways that work: remove it from the Home Screen, lock it with Face ID, hide it from search." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/notes lang: en-gb published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # How to hide Notes on iPhone > Notes is built into iPhone, so it can't be hidden like an App Store app. These are the ways that work instead. Published 2026-10-31 - Updated 2026-10-31 - By VaultForYou Editorial Team - Checked against iOS 27 - 31 Oct 2026 ## Quick answer Notes comes with iPhone, so Apple won't let you put it in the Hidden folder. Instead, touch and hold it, tap Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen. It stays in App Library and search. To stop people opening it, lock it with Require Face ID. - **Fastest way:** Remove from Home Screen; it stays in App Library. - **Can it be hidden?:** No. Apple only lets you hide App Store apps. - **Own privacy setting:** Lock a note (Notes -> open the note -> Note Actions button -> Lock). - **Still visible in:** Screen Time, Battery and your App Store purchases. - **iOS version:** Any recent iOS - **Time needed:** About 10 seconds - **Difficulty:** Easy - **Needs an app?:** No - **Reversible?:** Yes - **Changes backups?:** No Notes is built into iPhone, so it can't be hidden like an App Store app, and Notes has 6 privacy settings of its own. Below are 4 ways, fastest first, and the places Notes still shows up afterwards. We checked the iOS steps against Apple's iOS 27 documentation and Notes' settings against Apple's official help pages in October 2026. ## Method 1: Take Notes off your Home Screen Apple's Hidden folder only takes apps from the App Store, so Notes can't go in it. The next best thing is to take it off your Home Screen. 1. **Remove from the Home Screen** Touch and hold Notes, tap Remove App, then tap Remove from Home Screen. The app stays installed in App Library. Notes stays installed and keeps working from App Library. It still shows up when someone searches for it. To stop people opening it, lock it: touch and hold Notes, tap **Require Face ID**, then confirm. See [how to lock Notes](/en-gb/lock-apps/notes). ## Method 2: Notes' own privacy settings iOS hides the app icon. Notes itself can hide what's inside it. These settings work on any iOS version that Notes supports. ### Lock a note Go to **Notes -> open the note -> Note Actions button -> Lock**. Only the note's contents are hidden. The title remains visible in the notes list. To remove the lock: Note Actions button -> Remove. ### Open (unlock) locked notes Go to **Notes -> tap the locked note -> View Note -> Face ID, Touch ID, device passcode, or Notes password**. Opening one locked note opens all locked notes in the same account for several minutes. To lock them again, tap the lock button or tap Lock Now at the top of the notes list. ### Keep Notes out of Search and Siri Go to **Settings -> Apps -> Notes -> Siri / Search**. Search: 'Allow suggestions and content from Notes to appear in Search and widgets.' Siri: allow Siri to make suggestions based on how you use Notes. ### Turn off Lock Screen access to Notes Go to **Settings -> Apps -> Notes -> Access Notes from Lock Screen**. Choose Always Create New Note or Resume Last Note, or turn it off to prevent access from the Lock Screen. ### Locked notes (device passcode or custom password) Go to **Settings -> Apps -> Notes -> Password -> [account] -> Use Device Passcode or Use Custom Password; then in Notes: open the note -> Note Actions button -> Lock**. You can lock notes with your device passcode (and Face ID or Touch ID) or with a custom password that's separate from your iPhone passcode. When a note is locked, its title remains visible in the notes list. ### Hide Notes message previews Go to **Settings -> Notifications -> Notes (below Notification Style) -> Show Previews**. Notes also has Mention Notifications (Settings -> Apps -> Notes) for when your name is mentioned in shared notes. ## Method 3: Move Notes 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 Notes 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 Notes](/en-gb/hide-photos/notes) for the in-app options. ## Other ways to hide Notes - **Remove it from the Home Screen.** Touch and hold Notes, 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 Notes. Apple says excluded apps aren't available to Siri, Search or suggestions. - **Hide its notification previews.** Go to **Settings -> Notifications -> Notes -> Show Previews** and choose **Never** or **When Unlocked**. ## Does hiding Notes hide its notifications, Siri suggestions, Spotlight and backups? | Where | Locked with Face ID | Removed from Home Screen | |---|---|---| | Notification previews | Content hidden | Still shown | | Siri suggestions | Not shown | Still shown | | Spotlight search | Content hidden | 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. ## Hide Notes on iPad The same Require Face ID menu works on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. Hiding doesn't sync through iCloud, so hide Notes separately on each device. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you hide Notes on iPhone? Not in the Hidden folder. Notes comes with iPhone, and Apple only lets you hide App Store apps. You can remove it from your Home Screen so it lives only in App Library, and you can lock it with Require Face ID so it needs your face or passcode to open. ### Where does Notes go when you remove it from the Home Screen? It moves to App Library, the last page after your Home Screens. Notes stays installed and keeps all its data. You can also still find it by swiping down on the Home Screen and searching for its name. Drag it back to a Home Screen page any time. ### Does hiding Notes delete it or its data? No. Hiding or removing Notes from the Home Screen doesn't delete the app or anything in it. Only Delete App removes it from your iPhone. Data that Notes syncs through iCloud stays in iCloud either way. ### Can someone tell that I hid Notes? Possibly. The Hidden folder itself is visible at the bottom of App Library, though it needs Face ID or your passcode to open. Notes 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 Notes have its own lock? Yes. Notes has Locked notes (device passcode or custom password), under Settings -> Apps -> Notes -> Password -> [account] -> Use Device Passcode or Use Custom Password; then in Notes: open the note -> Note Actions button -> Lock. It works alongside the iOS lock. Because it uses its own code, it can stop someone who knows your iPhone passcode. ## Bottom line Notes can't be hidden, but it can be taken off your Home Screen and locked. Add Notes' 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) - [Apple Support: Lock your notes on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/lock-notes-iphf177bb154/ios) - [Apple Support: Change your Notes settings on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/change-notes-settings-iph92579feda/ios) ## More Notes privacy guides - [How to lock Notes on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/lock-apps/notes) - [How to hide photos in Notes](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-photos/notes) - [Notes privacy on iPhone: every setting](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/apps/notes) ## Hide apps for other apps - [How to hide Photos on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/photos) - [How to hide Safari on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/safari) - [How to hide Camera on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/camera) - [How to hide Files on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/files) - [How to hide FaceTime on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/facetime) - [How to hide Health on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/en-gb/hide-apps/health) - [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