How to Lock Apps on iPhone with Face ID (iOS 18 and Later)

On iOS 18 and later, touch and hold an app's icon, tap Require Face ID, and authenticate. The app now asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode every time it opens. To lock it and remove it from your Home Screen, tap Hide and Require Face ID instead.

Below: what the lock actually hides (less than you'd think), which apps can't be locked, what to do on iOS 16 or 17, and the one thing a lock can't do.

Quick answer

• Lock: long-press the icon → Require Face ID.
• Hide: long-press → Require Face ID → Hide and Require Face ID. Find it in App Library → Hidden.
• iOS 16 or 17: use a 1-minute Screen Time limit with a separate passcode.
• Want to use it less? You need a block, not a lock.

How do I lock an app with Face ID?

These steps work on iOS 18, 26 and 27. With Touch ID the menu says Require Touch ID; with no biometrics, Require Passcode.

1. Find the app on your Home Screen.
2. Touch and hold the icon until the menu opens.
3. Tap Require Face ID.
4. Tap Require Face ID again in the sheet, then authenticate.

The app relocks every time you quit it. To remove the lock: touch and hold, tap Don't Require Face ID, authenticate.

How do I hide an app?

Hiding is locking plus disappearing: the app leaves your Home Screen, App Library and search, and goes into a locked Hidden folder.

1. Touch and hold the icon and tap Require Face ID.
2. Tap Hide and Require Face ID, authenticate, then Hide App.

To open it: swipe to App Library, scroll to the bottom, tap Hidden, authenticate, tap the app. To list hidden apps: Settings → Apps → Hidden Apps. To unhide: in the Hidden folder, touch and hold the app and tap Don't Require Face ID.

Which apps can't be locked or hidden?

In the EU, an app set as your default browser or app marketplace can't be hidden. In Family Sharing, children under 13 can't lock or hide apps; teens can, but a parent still sees the download and usage time (ages vary by country).

What can people still see when an app is locked?

Apple keeps a locked app's content out of notification previews, search, Siri suggestions, call history and CarPlay. A locked WhatsApp won't show a message preview on your Lock Screen.

What the lock does not hide:

• The icon. Anyone can see you have the app. Hide it if that matters.
• Its name in a few places, even when hidden: Screen Time, Battery and your App Store purchases.
• Anything from someone who knows your passcode. Face ID falls back to it.

It's also per device: locking Instagram on your iPhone doesn't lock it on your iPad.

How do I lock apps on iOS 16 or 17?

Require Face ID arrived in iOS 18, so update if you can (Settings → General → Software Update). If not, three workarounds:

1. A 1-minute Screen Time limit with a passcode

1. Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings (Use Screen Time Passcode on iOS 16) and set a code different from your phone passcode.
2. App Limits → Add Limit, pick the app, set 1 minute, tap Add.
3. Make sure Block at End of Limit is on.

The first minute each day is open, and you'll be typing the code yourself to get in. Clunky, but someone who knows your phone passcode still can't get through.

2. Guided Access, when you hand your phone over

This keeps someone inside one app. Turn it on in Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access, set a passcode, then open the app and triple-click the side button. Emergency calls and Crash Detection are unavailable during a session.

3. A Shortcuts automation that locks the phone (iOS 16.4+)

In Shortcuts → Automation, create an App → Is Opened automation for the chosen apps, set it to run immediately, and add the Lock Screen action. It locks the phone, not the app: the app flashes open first, and anyone who unlocks the phone lands in it. A deterrent, not security.

Locking vs blocking: which do you need?

• Locking is privacy. It checks who opens the app and keeps other people out.
• Blocking is self-control. It checks when and for how long, whoever holds the phone.

If you searched "how to lock Instagram" because you want to use it less, a lock won't help: Face ID opens it for you in a fraction of a second. You want a block:

• How to block apps on iPhone, every built-in method and its weak spots.
• How to block Snapchat on iPhone and Instagram on iPhone.
• How to remove Ignore Limit, Screen Time's biggest gap.

Detox is the block that holds without handing your passcode to a friend. Quick checks are fine; scroll an app continuously past your limit and it's blocked for a while. Schedules and strict mode (no editing the rule mid-block) do the rest. Paid, with a free trial.

The bottom line

Long-press and tap Require Face ID to lock an app; use Hide and Require Face ID to also take it off your Home Screen. It works on iOS 18+ for App Store apps and most Apple apps, but your phone passcode still opens it. And if the person you want to keep out of Instagram is you, skip the lock and set up a block.