Has an app gone missing from your iPhone or iPad? Or are you looking for a specific app but just simply can’t find it? Or maybe you recently downloaded a new app but can’t locate it on your Home Screen or iPhone? If so, you are not alone!
Each week we receive comments and emails from our readers about locating lost and missing apps! And usually the fix is very simple–it’s just inside a folder!
After you update your iPhone’s iOS, apps sometimes move to new locations or folders. Sometimes you just lose sight of it due to all that screen clutter. Or deleted it to make space for a new iOS or app update.
Whatever the reason, we got some great tips to help uncover your missing apps.
So let’s get to it!
Contents
Apps Missing After iOS Update?
Sometimes after updating your iOS, apps go missing. It’s often that these apps reverted to the default position on the Home Screen–so if you collect your apps into groups and folders, check your Home Screens first.
Restarting or force restarting your iDevice after an update also helps to put apps back in place.
Haven’t Used An App in Awhile?
If you don’t often use that app that’s gone missing, it’s quite possible that it got offloaded using a feature first launched in iOS 11 called Offload Unused Apps. 
To check if this feature is on, go to Settings > iTunes & App Store > Offload Unused Apps. If it’s toggled on, toggle it off.
Then visit the App Store and search for your missing apps using App Store > Updates > Tap Your Profile Picture or Icon > Purchased > Not on This iPhone to re-download any missing apps.
Use Spotlight Search To Locate Missing Apps
- Get to your Home Screen
- Swipe down from the middle of the screen to open Spotlight Search
- Type in the name of the app you’re looking for
- In the results, look under the heading Applications
- If you don’t see the app under Applications, the app is not on your device
- Scroll down on the search results to choose Search App Store to download and install it
- Tap the app to open or look to the right to see what folder that app currently resides in
- If you don’t see a folder listed to the right of the app name, then the app is not in a folder. Check your Home Screen(s) to locate it
Look In Folders
If you organize your apps inside folders, missing or lost apps are usually there! 
Remember that all folders can have multiple pages or screens, so don’t forget to swipe through all the folder’s screens.
Folder icons only show the app previews of apps on the first page of each folder–so make sure you actually open and swipe through your folders.
Look for a series of small dots at the bottom center of each folder–these indicate how many different pages your folder has. 
Open The App Store To Find Lost Apps
Launch the App Store App
- Tap the Search tab
- Type in the name of the app you want into the search bar
- Your app appears in the search results
- Tap Open to launch it
- If it shows a cloud icon or says Get or anything other than Open, then the app is no longer on your device
- Tap the cloud icon or Get button to download and install
Alternatively, 3D Touch the App Store Icon
- Choose Search
- Follow steps 2-6 as listed above
Look Through Your Purchased Apps in the App Store
- Go to the App Store > Updates > Tap Your Profile Picture or Icon > Purchased > My Purchases (or Family Purchases)
- Choose Not on This iPhone
- Download any missing apps you or family members previously purchased by tapping the cloud icon
Ask Siri to Open Your Missing Apps 
Siri can open apps for you and it’s super simple. Just ask her!
- If you enabled “Hey, Siri,” simply say “Hey, Siri open my Apple Music App” (or whatever app you’re searching for)
- Or launch Siri using your iPhone’s Home or Side button and ask her to open your app for you.
- You may need to wait for Siri to appear before you ask
Surprisingly, Siri cannot tell you what specific folder houses an app. Not sure why, but we’d love to see this feature in future versions of Siri! 
Check Restrictions
If you use a company device or share a device with your children, parent, or others, there may be restrictions on the device preventing you from opening or locating an app.
When you turn on Restrictions, you can disable access to and hide certain apps, services, and content until Restrictions are turned off.
Check Restrictions on iOS 12 +
- Go to Settings > Screen Time
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions
- Enter your Screen Time Passcode (if asked)
- Toggle Content & Privacy Restrictions Off or change the settings
Check Restrictions for iOS 11 and lower
- Open Settings > General > Restrictions
- Enter restrictions passcode, if asked
- If you forgot your restrictions passcode, take a look at this article
- Tap Disable Restrictions to turn it completely off or change some of the restriction settings to unhide the apps you want access to
Reset Your Home Screen Layout
If you really have trouble locating apps, consider resetting your Home Screen’s layout. To do this, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Home Screen Layout. 
Performing a layout reset restores your native Apple apps to their original location on your top Home Screen and then places all the rest of your apps in alphabetical order, making them very easy to find.
Resetting your Home Screen Layout also delete all your app folders. So you need to create your app folders again.
For most of her professional life, Amanda Elizabeth (Liz for short) trained all sorts of folks on how to use media as a tool to tell their own unique stories. She knows a thing or two about teaching others and creating how-to guides!
Her clients include Edutopia, Scribe Video Center, Third Path Institute, Bracket, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Big Picture Alliance.
Elizabeth received her Master of Fine Arts degree in media making from Temple University, where she also taught undergrads as an adjunct faculty member in their department of Film and Media Arts.
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Thanks so much. This was very helpful!
I have hundreds of apps on my iPhone and would like to move a particular app to my front home screen. The swipe down search only tells me it’s in Applications.
I just bought a new gen 7 iPad 10.2.
I have setup a Visa card and have tried to download a few different apps and I do the “get and “installl buttons. I get the “Done” with a ding sound, but the app is nowhere to be found.
Siri or search can’t find them.
I am very frustrated!
I tried to install the Uber app 3 times and tried to open/use it for an entire afternoon…no success though it says done and dings but the app is nowhere to be found and Siri just wants to return me to the App Store.
I needed to get to the airport so I finally installed it on my Android phone in about 2 min.
I tried to install a calculator app 5 times…is says done and dings, but it isn’t there either (no calculator on an iPad????!!!! $30 dollar phones have one.!).
I have tried also with no success to install my NORD VPN. It also says done and dings….same deal. Without my VPN service installed I am not comfortable using this iPad.
I had one of the first apples in the 80s but switched to windows and then android for business reasons.
I decided to give Apple a go again and try this latest 7th gen 10.2 iPad and to be honest, it has been 10 frustrating days since I bought it.
No manual on the Apple site or even the ability to load an iPad for dummies book?
BTW, I’m am a member of the 999 society since 1980 so I’m not short on the ability to understand and learn.
But without the ability to easily find solutions I just picked up my Samsung Android again.
I need some apps that are tools, not games and toys.
Can anyone steer me right?
Thanks in advance
To add to what I just wrote last night… I just opened the library app and found an iPad os 13.3 user guide.
After 3 attempts to download it the Done box appeared and ding sounded like before and a window popped up re I hadn’t set up my iTunes Store yet like before.
I log in after selecting “review” with the same and only password I use and the spinning symbol like it is downloading something goes on for about a minute and the same login window repeats again.
Please help me find a solution Elizabeth, or anyone.
Frustrated, Russell
Hi Russell,
We are so sorry you are experiencing all these issues with your new iPad. It must feel so frustrating and maddening, to say the least!
If you haven’t already done an update, try updating your iPad’s iPadOS, using a computer with iTunes or the Finder app if possible. Updating the iPadOS via iTunes/Finder can often fix other problems since the updates are full code replacements rather than just delta updates done over the Air. Learn more about iTunes/Finder updates here: How & why you should update iOS or iPad OS for your iPhone or iPad using iTunes or Finder
At this point, since we cannot see the iPad in the real world, we really advise you to schedule an appointment with your local Apple Store Genius so they can take a look at the actual device.
If that is not appealing or if there isn’t a store nearby, make sure your iPad is connected to WiFi and then let’s try the following:
1) Close all open apps:
1. On an iPhone or an iPad with no home button from the Home screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause slightly in the middle of the screen to show the app switcher
2. On an iDevice with a home button, double-click the Home button to show the app switcher
3. Swipe right or left to locate the app you want to close
4. Swipe up on the app’s preview to close it
5. Repeat for all apps in the app switcher
2) Power off the iPad completely and wait 2 minutes before powering it back on–the easy way to do this is via Settings > General > Shut Down
3) Once the iPad is on, go to Settings > iTunes & App Store and tap the Apple ID (if it’s listed–if not, sign in with your Apple ID). If the Apple ID is there, tap it and choose Sign Out. Once signed out, choose Sign In. Wait for your Apple ID to populate in these Settings.
4) Go to Settings > Apple ID and see if there are any messages about accepting terms and conditions or about updating your settings. If so, tap the message and follow the on-screen instructions
5) Go to Settings > Screen Time and turn it off, if it’s on
6) Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure Set Automatically is toggled on
7) Now go to the App Store and try to download and install a single app (any app you want)–see if it now works
If it still doesn’t work, let’s try one last thing: reset all settings.
Reset all settings
* This is usually the last resort since it resets all your personalized features back to factory defaults
* Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All
* This resets to default everything in Settings, including notifications, alerts, brightness, and clock settings like wake up alarms
* Resetting all settings also reverts all your personalized and customized features like wallpapers and accessibility settings back to factory defaults.
* Performing this action does not impact any of your personal device data, including photos, texts, documents, and other files
* You need to reconfigure these settings once your iPhone or iDevice restarts
Finally, if nothing worked please contact Apple Support either in-person via an appointment, via online chat, or via phone.
At that point, an inspection is likely required. You may have a lemon unit or there might be some other issue causing trouble.
If you have a moment, let us know how this is proceeding. We are keeping our fingers crossed that something listed here works for you. Best of luck Russell!
Liz
My iPhone apps missing face time and videos application all seting already checked an one time reset bt dont I found missing apps an update iso 13 done there also I am not found face time an video’s app how i can get missing apps plece
Nice article. I found it searching for a solution to a problem that might be similar to Erin’s.
I have many, many, apps, to the extent that I have filled up all of my home screens.
This means that when I download a new app, I can never find its icons because iOS can only display a max of 20 home pages.
I want to be able to move the icon of the newly downloaded app to a folder but can’t because I can never find the icon to move.
I can solve this problem on my iPad because it always displays the icons of the last 3 apps you’ve run in the dock.
I can then just drag that icon to a folder.
I haven’t been able to find a similar solution for my iPhone.
Any suggestions?
Howard,
Using spotlight search might be your best bet. Swipe down the middle of any home screen and type in the name of the app.
Or, if you use Siri, ask Siri to locate or open the app for you.
I can search it and find it but I cannot get the app back on my home screen.
If I go to the app store it says open, where has the app gone?
It was not deleted and it is something I used everyday?
Any help that can be provided would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Erin,
Sorry that you’re having trouble with getting an app to open.
Let’s try a couple of things:
1) Close your open apps
1. On an iPhone or an iPad with no home button from the Home screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause slightly in the middle of the screen
2. On an iDevice with a home button, double-click the Home button and swipe right or left to find the app that you want to close
3. Swipe right or left to locate the app you want to close
4. Swipe up on the app’s preview to close it
2) Restart your device by powering off, waiting 30 seconds, and powering back on
3) Open spotlight search by swiping down from the middle of your screen
4) Type in the name of the app you’re looking for in the search bar at the top of your screen
5) If iOS finds the app, look at the heading Applications and to the right of the app’s name, you should see the location where it is currently stored (i.e. inside a folder)
6) Instead of opening the app from spotlight, go to that folder and see if the app is there–if so, you can open it or press and hold it to move it to another location (i.e. another folder or on your home screen)
Let us know if this helps or not.
app missing