How do i get an app back on my iphone

Are you trying to open an app on your iPhone but can't find it anywhere? It can be worrying if it's a vital app you use for finance, productivity, or work.

Sometimes, we may intentionally hide an app, forget about it, and then struggle to locate it when needed. While other times, the app seems to have disappeared from the Home Screen of your iPhone.

Whatever the case, if you can't unhide apps, or if you notice that some apps are missing from the iPhone Home Screen, here's how to find them.

1. Drag the Missing App From the App Library to the Home Screen

In iOS 14, Apple introduced App Library, which places all your apps in proper categories. This feature has stayed in newer versions of iOS, like iOS 15 and iOS 16.

So, if you're looking to unhide apps, swipe left on the last Home Screen to reach App Library. You should find any missing apps here.

Or, the more straightforward solution is to swipe down while you're in the App Library, which will list all apps in alphabetical order. From here, scroll down or use the search box to find the hidden app quickly.

Once you find the app you're looking for, you can drag it left from the App Library onto the iPhone Home Screen. Alternatively, long-press an app icon in the App Library, and if this app isn't on the Home Screen, you will see an option to Add to Home Screen.

From now on, if you want all the new apps you download to show on the iPhone Home Screen, open Settings > Home Screen and select Add to Home Screen. This will put an end to new apps not appearing on the Home Screen.

2. Use Spotlight to Find the Missing App

Swipe down on your iPhone Home Screen to bring up the Spotlight search bar. Now, type the app name and tap to open it. From here, you can also press the app icon and drag it onto the Home Screen.

3. Ask Siri to Open the Missing App

You can use Siri to open apps that have disappeared from the Home Screen. Simply summon the voice assistant and ask it to "Open [app name]."

You can say "Hey Siri" or press and hold the Side button (on iPhones with Face ID) or Home button (on iPhones with Touch ID) to activate Siri. Besides opening apps, Siri can do much more than you probably realize.

Sometimes we put apps inside folders to hide them or keep them away from plain sight in case those apps aren't used frequently. After a while, it's possible to forget about them.

If this is your situation, open all the app folders on your iPhone Home Screen and look for the missing app inside them. Once you find it, you may want to drag the app icon out of the folder onto the Home Screen.

5. Check Screen Time to Unhide Restricted Apps

Using Screen Time, you or your guardian can restrict iPhone apps like Safari, Camera, FaceTime, Mail, and more. Similarly, Screen Time also lets you restrict apps by age limits.

As a result, you won't find the app icons for these restricted apps on the Home Screen or the App Library. They won't even appear in search results or be accessible via Siri.

To unhide these apps, open Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps and ensure all the apps are allowed. Next, tap Back, go to Content Restrictions > Apps, and select Allow All Apps.

After doing this, you should see the missing app icons on the iPhone Home Screen and App Library. Alternatively, you can also turn off Screen Time on your iPhone and iPad to remove all the restrictions at once.

6. Unhide Home Screen Pages to See All Your Apps

iOS allows you to hide Home Screens for a cleaner look, but if you did that accidentally, you might get confused, wondering where your apps have gone. Worry not! All your downloaded apps are in the App Library. And to avoid future confusion, you can learn more about hiding and unhiding the Home Screen pages.

7. Use the App Store to Check If an App Is Installed or Not

When you have an app downloaded on your iPhone, the app's App Store page says Open (or Update). If the app is not downloaded, it says Get (or shows the Download icon).

Using this information, here's how to find a missing app on your iPhone:

1. Head to the App Store from your iPhone and tap Search.
2. Type the missing app name.
3. In the search results, if the app says Open, tap it. If it says Get or shows a download icon, that means the app is not installed on your iPhone. You will have to download it.

8. Unhide Purchased Apps and Re-Download Them

After you hide a purchase, it doesn't appear in your or your family member's list of App Store purchases. Plus, the hidden app is not available for download to family members.

Please note that this doesn't hide the actual app if it's already downloaded on the device. Still, if you or a person added to family sharing cannot find and re-download the hidden app, here's how to unhide App Store purchases on your iPhone:

1. Open the App Store and tap your profile picture.
2. Tap your name and Apple ID.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Hidden Purchases.
4. Tap Unhide next to a hidden app.

9. Reset the Home Screen Layout to View All Apps Alphabetically

Finally, if you think you've had enough trouble and want every app to be listed alphabetically, you can reset the Home Screen and Dock layout. After this, the initial Home Screen will show all the Apple apps (just like a new iPhone). And the apps you have downloaded will be placed alphabetically in order.

Here's how to reset the iPhone Home Screen layout:

1. Open Settings and tap General.
2. Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Home Screen Layout.

Hopefully, You Found the Missing iPhone App!

These were the quick ways to find any missing or hidden apps on iPhone. Sometimes if you can't find an app, you likely deleted it. In this case, re-download it from the App Store.

Additionally, it's possible that the app was removed from the App Store by the developer or Apple (as was the case with Flappy Bird and Fortnite, respectively). In such situations, you will have to use one of its alternatives.

If it's often difficult to find apps or open them quickly, you should learn some creative ways to organize your iPhone Home Screen layout to help with that.