The App Store has a lot of free and paid apps for its users to choose from. Face ID or Touch ID needs to be verified the first time you download an app. When you uninstall and reinstall the same apps on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, you won’t have to do this again.
But what if you don’t want other people, especially your kids, to download those apps again on your devices? Then you need to hide what apps you’ve bought in the past. This short guide will show you how to do that with your Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
Hide Apps Purchase History
HIDE APPS PURCHASE HISTORY ON MAC
The App Store on your Mac works exactly like the one on your iPhone. The best thing about doing this on a Mac is that you can easily see a list of Mac apps and iPhone and iPad apps that are grouped together. You’ll need to connect the Mac to a stable Wi-Fi network, of course, so that the changes you make don’t get lost. Do these things.
Step 1: Press Cmd+Space to launch Spotlight, type App Store, and hit Return to open the App Store.
Step 2: Click on your profile icon at the bottom-left corner.
The Account settings page will open your screen.
Step 3: Scroll down to find the list of Purchased apps.
Step 4: Bring your mouse pointer next to the app you wish to hide. Then, click on the three dots.
Step 5: When a menu opens, select Hide Purchase.
Step 7: Click on Hide Purchase button on the prompt to confirm your action.
You will have to do this for each app you want to hide. There’s no way to choose multiple apps at once and hide them all at once. Also, your Touch ID or password will be needed if you or anyone in your family tries to download that app again.
When you buy a new Mac, this step will also help. Just sign in with your Apple ID, open the App Store, and download the apps you had on your old Mac without having to use Touch ID.
HIDE APPS PURCHASE HISTORY ON IPHONE AND IPAD
You can hide the history of apps you’ve bought on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad. This is helpful if a younger family member uses your device. For this method, we took screenshots with an iPhone. For iPad users, the steps are the same. Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Open the App Store.
Step 2: Tap on your profile icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the Account settings page, tap on Purchased.
You will see a list of all your purchased apps on your screen.
Step 4: From the list of all apps, look for those that you wish to hide.
Step 5: Swipe left to reveal the Hide option.
Step 6: Tap on it to Hide that particular app.
Step 7: Tap on Done to return back on the home page of the App Store.
You are also given a list of the apps that you downloaded on your old iPhone and iPad. Follow these steps if you want to hide the apps you’ve already downloaded.
Step 1: On the Purchased page, select the option of Not on this iPhone.
The apps that you were using on your previous iPhone will be listed on your screen.
Step 2: Choose the app that you wish to hide and swipe left.
Step 3: Tap on the Hide option.
Step 4: Tap on Done.
If you want to download an app that has been removed again, all you have to do is look for it on the App Store and download it to your device. If you’ve made your iPhone or iPad safer, you’ll need to use your Face ID or Touch ID to download it again.
EASILY HIDE APP PURCHASE HISTORY
With these steps, it’s easy to hide apps from your purchase history. You can do this on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad to keep them from showing up in the list of apps for that device. Apple has started making many of its own and third-party apps work on all three platforms. The best examples of the same are WhatsApp and Telegram. There are also a lot of other apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, like Slack and Basecamp. We hope that both free and paid apps for all three platforms keep coming out.