--- title: "How to Hide Firefox on iPhone: 4 Ways (iOS 27)" description: "Hide Firefox on iPhone in 10 seconds: Hide and Require Face ID moves it to a locked Hidden folder. Plus private browsing, alerts and search." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/firefox lang: en published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # How to hide Firefox on iPhone > Firefox 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 - Oct 31, 2026 ## Quick answer Touch and hold the Firefox 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. Firefox moves to a locked Hidden folder in App Library and drops out of search. Firefox also has its own option inside the app: Private browsing. 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:** Private browsing. - **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 Firefox can be hidden in about 10 seconds with the iOS Hidden folder, and Firefox has 3 privacy settings of its own. Below are 4 ways, fastest first, and the places Firefox still shows up afterwards. We checked the iOS steps against Apple's iOS 27 documentation and Firefox's settings against its official help pages in October 2026. ## Method 1: Hide Firefox with Face ID (iOS 18 and later) This is the only built-in way that hides Firefox from your Home Screen, App Library and search at once. 1. **Find Firefox on your Home Screen** Touch and hold the Firefox 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** Firefox leaves the Home Screen and moves to the locked Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. Firefox 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 Firefox 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 Firefox from Screen Time, and it doesn't change iCloud backups. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden folder. ## Method 2: Firefox's own privacy settings iOS hides the app icon. Firefox itself can hide what's inside it. These settings work on any iOS version that Firefox supports. ### Private browsing Open the tabs view and tap Private to switch to private browsing. Firefox doesn't save your history, searches, or cookies from private tabs. ### Clear browsing history Open History from the menu, tap the trash icon, and choose Today, Today and Yesterday, or Everything. You can also swipe a single site in History and tap Delete. ### Clear Private Data Go to **Settings -> Data Management -> Clear Private Data**. Clears your private data, like history, cache, and cookies, in one step. This can't be undone. ## Other ways to hide Firefox - **Remove it from the Home Screen.** Touch and hold Firefox, 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 Firefox. Apple says excluded apps aren't available to Siri, Search or suggestions. - **Hide its notification previews.** Go to **Settings -> Notifications -> Firefox -> 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 Firefox and tap **Hide**. ## Does hiding Firefox 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 Firefox 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 Firefox.** Touch and hold Firefox, tap Don't Require Face ID and authenticate again. Firefox goes back to App Library. Drag it to your Home Screen from there. ## Hide Firefox on iPad The same Require Face ID menu works on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. Hiding doesn't sync through iCloud, so hide Firefox separately on each device. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you hide Firefox on iPhone? Yes. On iOS 18 or later, touch and hold Firefox, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. Firefox 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 Firefox 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. Firefox keeps working from there, with all its data. ### Does hiding Firefox delete it or its data? No. Hiding or removing Firefox 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 Firefox account online is not deleted. ### Can someone tell that I hid Firefox? Possibly. The Hidden folder itself is visible at the bottom of App Library, though it needs Face ID or your passcode to open. Firefox 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 Firefox 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 Firefox 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 Firefox: about 10 seconds, and it's gone from your Home Screen and search. Add Firefox'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) - [Mozilla Support: About private browsing in Firefox for iOS](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-firefox-ios) - [Mozilla Support: Clear browsing history in Firefox for iOS](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/clear-browsing-history-firefox-ios) - [Mozilla Support: Set Firefox as the default browser for iOS](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/set-firefox-default-browser-ios) - [Mozilla Support: Set up a passcode and Face ID in Firefox for iOS](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/set-passcode-and-touch-id-firefox) ## More Firefox privacy guides - [Firefox privacy on iPhone: every setting](https://www.vaultforyou.app/apps/firefox) ## Hide apps for other apps - [How to hide Google Chrome on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/chrome) - [How to hide Brave on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/brave) - [How to hide DuckDuckGo on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/duckduckgo) - [How to hide Google on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/google) - [How to hide YouTube on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/youtube) - [How to hide Instagram on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/instagram) - [All hide-app guides](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps) ## The full guide - [How to hide apps on iPhone, and where hidden apps still show up](https://www.vaultforyou.app/blog/hide-apps-on-iphone) --- 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