How to Lock Individual Apps With Face ID on iPhone

Long-press the app icon, tap Require Face ID, tap it again to confirm, then authenticate. That's it — the app now needs your face (or a fallback passcode) to open, separate from unlocking the phone itself. It matters because an unlocked phone handed to a friend, dropped off at a repair counter, or shared on a family plan can still open every app on it unless you've gated the sensitive ones individually. This works on iPhone X and later running iOS 18 or newer.

Quick answer

Long-press the app icon on the Home Screen until the quick actions menu appears, tap Require Face ID (Touch ID or a passcode on models without Face ID), tap it a second time to confirm, then authenticate. From that point on, opening the app prompts for Face ID first. Hiding the app is a separate, optional step from the same menu — covered below.

Step-by-step

Locking an app

1. Find the app on your Home Screen or in the App Library.
2. Press and hold the icon until the quick actions menu opens.
3. Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID, or Passcode, depending on your hardware).
4. Tap Require Face ID again in the confirmation prompt and authenticate.

Once locked, the app's content stops surfacing in places you might not expect: notification previews, Spotlight search, Siri suggestions, and call or Maps history no longer show it, and Siri loses the ability to open or act inside it.

Hiding a locked app

Locking keeps the icon visible but gated. To make it disappear entirely, choose Hide and Require Face ID from the same menu instead. The icon moves into a Hidden folder in the App Library, and — for apps you downloaded yourself — it drops out of search too. Apps that came preinstalled with iOS can be locked but not hidden. For the fuller picture, see hiding an app takes it a step further.

Finding and unhiding it again

Swipe to the App Library, scroll to the bottom, and tap the obscured Hidden folder — it asks for Face ID before opening. To remove the lock entirely, long-press the app and tap Don't Require Face ID.

Common problems and fixes

The option isn't there for an app I want to lock. A short list of built-in apps is exempt on purpose — Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts, and Settings simply can't be locked. Nearly everything else can, including third-party apps.

I locked it but can't hide it. Only apps you installed separately can be hidden — apps that shipped with iOS can be locked but stay visible.

Face ID keeps failing and it just asks for my passcode. That's expected: after three failed Face ID attempts, iOS offers your passcode as a fallback. Anyone who's watched you type it can use it to get past a "locked" app. Turning on Stolen Device Protection closes that gap by removing the fallback in unfamiliar locations. If Face ID itself is misbehaving, here's how to go about disabling Face ID in an emergency.

It unlocked on my other iPhone without me setting it up there. It won't — the locked or hidden status of an app doesn't sync over iCloud. Set it up on each device separately.

Doing this with Privara

Require Face ID is genuinely useful, and worth turning on for anything you don't want a stranger casually opening. But it's an access gate, not encryption — the data isn't scrambled at rest, and the passcode fallback and lack of iCloud sync are real gaps for anything you actually need to keep private.

That's the boundary Privara sits behind. It's a single AES-256-encrypted vault — content is encrypted at rest, not just hidden from view — holding photos, videos, documents, and contacts together in one place instead of one app-level toggle each. From the outside it looks and works like an ordinary calculator; the vault opens only once you enter your PIN, and you can layer Face ID or Touch ID on top of that PIN. No account is required and nothing uploads anywhere by default — it's a local, zero-knowledge vault, and the more complete answer for anything you want genuinely protected, not just tucked out of sight. Download Privara on the App Store to get started.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does locking an app with Face ID encrypt its data?

No. Require Face ID gates the app from opening; it doesn't encrypt the data at rest. If someone gets past the prompt via the passcode fallback, there's no separate encryption layer behind it the way a dedicated encrypted vault provides.

Which apps can't be locked with Face ID?

Eight built-in apps are off-limits: Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts, and Settings. Everything else — including nearly every third-party app — supports it.

Why doesn't a locked app stay locked on my other devices?

Because Apple made it a per-device setting on purpose. Nothing about an app's locked or hidden state travels through iCloud, so if you use the same app on another iPhone or an iPad, you'll set it up there too.

What happens if Face ID fails when opening a locked app?

After three failed attempts, iOS normally offers your passcode as a fallback. Stolen Device Protection removes that fallback in unfamiliar locations, so biometric authentication is required even if someone knows your passcode.