--- title: "How to Hide YouTube on iPhone: 5 Ways (iOS 27)" description: "Hide YouTube on iPhone in 10 seconds: Hide and Require Face ID moves it to a locked Hidden folder. Plus turn on Incognito, alerts and search." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/youtube lang: en published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # How to hide YouTube on iPhone > YouTube 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 YouTube 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. YouTube moves to a locked Hidden folder in App Library and drops out of search. YouTube also has its own option inside the app: Turn on Incognito. 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:** Turn on Incognito (Profile picture -> Accounts -> Turn on Incognito). - **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 YouTube can be hidden in about 10 seconds with the iOS Hidden folder, and YouTube has 5 privacy settings of its own. Below are 5 ways, fastest first, and the places YouTube still shows up afterwards. We checked the iOS steps against Apple's iOS 27 documentation and YouTube's settings against its official help pages in October 2026. ## Method 1: Hide YouTube with Face ID (iOS 18 and later) This is the only built-in way that hides YouTube from your Home Screen, App Library and search at once. 1. **Find YouTube on your Home Screen** Touch and hold the YouTube 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** YouTube leaves the Home Screen and moves to the locked Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. YouTube 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 YouTube from Screen Time, and it doesn't change iCloud backups. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden folder. ## Method 2: YouTube's own privacy settings iOS hides the app icon. YouTube itself can hide what's inside it. These settings work on any iOS version that YouTube supports. ### Turn on Incognito Go to **Profile picture -> Accounts -> Turn on Incognito**. Your searches aren't saved, and your subscriptions and watch history don't shape what you see. You have to be signed in to use it. ### Delete or pause search and watch history Go to **Profile photo -> Settings -> Manage all history**. Tap close next to an item, or tap DELETE to remove a date range; deleting this way removes both search and watch history. To pause, open the Controls tab and uncheck Include your searches on YouTube or Include the YouTube videos you watch. ### Make a playlist private Go to **Profile picture -> Playlists -> View all -> choose the playlist -> Edit -> Privacy -> Save**. Set a playlist you made to private so only you can see it. ### Keep your subscriptions private Go to **Profile picture -> Settings -> Privacy**. This is on by default, so your account doesn't show in a channel's subscriber list. ### Hide YouTube message previews Go to **Profile picture -> Settings -> Notifications**. Choose which YouTube notifications you get. ## Other ways to hide YouTube - **Remove it from the Home Screen.** Touch and hold YouTube, 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 YouTube. Apple says excluded apps aren't available to Siri, Search or suggestions. - **Hide its notification previews.** Go to **Settings -> Notifications -> YouTube -> 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 YouTube and tap **Hide**. ## Does hiding YouTube 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 YouTube 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 YouTube.** Touch and hold YouTube, tap Don't Require Face ID and authenticate again. YouTube goes back to App Library. Drag it to your Home Screen from there. ## Hide YouTube on iPad The same Require Face ID menu works on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. Hiding doesn't sync through iCloud, so hide YouTube separately on each device. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you hide YouTube on iPhone? Yes. On iOS 18 or later, touch and hold YouTube, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. YouTube 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 YouTube 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. YouTube keeps working from there, with all its data. ### Does hiding YouTube delete it or its data? No. Hiding or removing YouTube 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 YouTube account online is not deleted. ### Can someone tell that I hid YouTube? Possibly. The Hidden folder itself is visible at the bottom of App Library, though it needs Face ID or your passcode to open. YouTube 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 YouTube 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 YouTube 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 YouTube: about 10 seconds, and it's gone from your Home Screen and search. Add YouTube'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) - [YouTube Help: Browse YouTube while incognito on mobile devices](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9040743?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS) - [YouTube Help: View or delete your YouTube search history (iPhone & iPad)](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/57711?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS) - [YouTube Help: Change playlist privacy setting (iPhone & iPad)](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3127309?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS) - [YouTube Help: Take a break reminder (iPhone & iPad)](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9012523?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS) ## More YouTube privacy guides - [How to block YouTube on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/block-apps/youtube) - [YouTube privacy on iPhone: every setting](https://www.vaultforyou.app/apps/youtube) ## Hide apps for other apps - [How to hide Instagram on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/instagram) - [How to hide Snapchat on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/snapchat) - [How to hide TikTok on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/tiktok) - [How to hide Facebook on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/facebook) - [How to hide Reddit on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/reddit) - [How to hide Discord on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps/discord) - [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