Key findings
- If you have hidden apps on Android and need to find them again, there are several places you can look.
- The app drawer lists all of your installed apps, and the All Apps list in Settings lists everything running on your phone.
- Once Android 15 is released, you should also check out the biometrically locked private space in the app drawer for your apps.
Android gives you many different ways to customize your home screen, from the usual widgets and folders to custom app icons and matching wallpapers (AI-generated or otherwise) from Google’s Material You design language. And when you consider that Android gives you the option to choose an entirely new launcher, you can fundamentally change the way your home screen works with little effort.
During this customization process—perhaps you’re setting up a new Pixel 9 to your liking—you may have hidden some apps from your home screen and now don’t know how to find them again. While the definition of “hiding” varies from launcher to launcher, and soon, Android version to Android version, there are a few surefire ways to find hidden apps on your phone. Here’s how to find the apps you’re looking for when they’re not on your home screen.
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How to find hidden apps on a Pixel phone
Search the app drawer for your missing app
Unlike other launchers, the Pixel launcher that Google uses on Pixel phones doesn’t offer a direct way to “hide” apps like you might find on a Samsung Galaxy S24 or through a third-party launcher like Nova Launcher. But that doesn’t mean that when you move an app, it’s not very easy to accidentally remove an app from your home screen by simply dragging it to the wrong place.
When this happens, the first thing you should do is check Android’s app drawer. This is the searchable list of all the apps that came pre-installed on your phone and that you downloaded from the Google Play Store. Here’s how to access it:
- Swipe up from the bottom of the home screen.
- Tap the top search bar (Your phone may have already selected it) and type the name of the app you are looking for.
- If you don’t know the name, browse through the app drawer until you see an app icon you recognize.
From there, you can add the app back to your home screen or launch it directly from the app drawer if you want to use it right away.
Browse the All Apps list to see everything installed on your phone
If the app you were looking for wasn’t in the app drawer, you’ll find an even more comprehensive list of applications installed and running on your Pixel phone in the Settings app. In it, you can see not only your installed apps, but also more functional system components you need to run your phone’s various helpful features, like Android System Intelligence, which handles things like generating live text captions and recognizing songs for the Now Playing feature on the lock screen.
To access the All Applications list:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Apps.
- Tap “Show all apps.”
- Tap the Search icon top right (a small magnifying glass) and enter the name of the app you are looking for.
- Alternatively, Scroll through the list until you see an app icon that you recognize.
- To see absolutely everything that is installed on your phone, tap the three dots in the top right corner and tap “Show system.”
Don’t accidentally delete apps that appear when you select Show System. They could be important.
If the app you’re looking for isn’t on this list, it’s probably no longer on your phone. Unless, of course, you’re using Android 15 and the app is in a completely different location.
How Private Space hides apps in Android 15
A biometrically locked folder in your app drawer
Once Android 15 is available for Android phones, there will be another way to hide apps with Private Space. Once you enable it in Settings, Private Space gives you a dedicated folder of apps that is invisible until you unlock it with your fingerprint, face, or passcode. Apps must be installed directly into Private Space, can only be accessed after unlocking, and their data and notifications are kept separate from the rest of your phone.
Private Space gives you a dedicated folder of apps that is invisible until you unlock it with your fingerprint, face or passcode.
While it’s a bit more involved than simply hiding an app on your home screen, Private Space is available on any phone running Android 15 without having to download a new launcher or separate app. That should make the whole process of hiding and finding hidden apps even easier.
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To find hidden apps, you need to know where to look
Unless you specifically uninstall an app (your phone will ask you to confirm that you want to uninstall it), no app ever truly disappears from your phone. That’s a comfort, especially considering how easy it is to find apps.
The beauty of Android, particularly Google’s variant, is that it tries to balance the ease of use of Apple’s iOS with the functionality and flexibility of a desktop computer. That means you might have to learn a bit more before you feel truly confident using your phone, but you’ll also probably be able to do a lot more.
