Methods to Fix Can’t Find App on Android Phone
In this read, we have shared eleven ways to fix can’t find apps on your Android phone. So without any further adieu let’s get started.
Check If The App Has Been Uninstalled
Sometimes, while using the phone, users can uninstall an app unintentionally. To check if you have accidentally uninstalled an app, you can easily check if the app you’re looking for is still downloaded on your smartphone.
Go to Settings on your phone and scroll down to Apps.
Here, click on Manage Apps.
Search for the app you’re looking for. If you’re unable to find it, the app has likely been uninstalled.
If so, you can go to the Play Store and download it again.
Find the App in the App Drawer
Due to Android’s flexibility, different UI Skins work differently to show apps installed on the phone, like an app drawer or no app drawer. There is a possibility that you’re looking for the app on the home screen instead of the App Drawer.
Swipe up from your home screen, to access App Drawer, to find the app you are looking for.
If you are still unable to find the app, try Searching for the app you’re looking for on this screen.
Tip: Bring Your Favourite Apps to the Home Screen
If the app is present in the App Drawer, you can long hold the app and drag it to the home screen, for easy access.
Tip: Disable App Drawer
If you do not prefer to have a separate App Drawer consisting of All the Apps and wish to keep all your apps on your home screen itself. Follow these steps to disable the app drawer on your phone, we have used Redmi Note 10 Pro running MIUI 13.
Go to Home Screen under your phone Settings.
Under Settings, go to the Home screen Settings.
Choose Classic instead of ‘With App Drawer’. This brings all your apps to one screen, similar to that of iOS.
Reset To Default Launcher
Sometimes third-party launchers may be the root cause of the issue, of an app not being visible among installed apps. You can switch to your default launcher and check if the app is visible again.
From the same Home Screen settings as mentioned in the previous section, tap on Default Launcher.
Under Default apps settings, choose System Launcher. Now your phone will return back to the default launcher installed by the manufacturer.
Check All Folders
If the app is present on your smartphone but you’re unable to find it, there is a chance that you might have been mistakenly added to a folder. Here’s how to check it.
Locate the Folder icon on your home screen or App Drawer.
Open the folder and check if the app you’re looking for is present there. Make sure you check all the folders present on your phone’s home screen or App Drawer.
Once you found the said app, you can simply drag the app out of the folder if needed.
Use Universal Search to Find the App
Universal search is nowadays present on most phones. It is a quick way to search for anything you’re looking for, either online or also present locally on your phone. This includes apps downloaded on your phone.
Go to the App Drawer and locate the search bar.
Here, you can search for the app you’re looking for.
In case your phone does not have a universal search, you can read our dedicated guide to Get Universal Search on Any Android Phone.
Check If the App Is Hidden
Most Android UI offers a feature to hide apps if you will not be able to find an app on the home screen or App Drawer. Then there is a possibility that you might have hidden it probably by mistake. We have a dedicated guide to unhide apps on MIUI and Samsung OneUI. In the case of other phones, we have shared the steps below to unhide apps.
Hide and Unhide Apps on Oxygen OS
In the case of OnePlus phones, running on OxygenOS, you can follow the below-mentioned steps to hide and unhide apps on OxygenOS.
Go to Settings and tap on Privacy.
Under Privacy Settings, tap on Hide Apps.
Here, you can see all the hidden apps under this section.
You can change the access code from Settings.
This will help you set the access code to the app.
Once the code is set up, this access code needs to be entered on the dialer pad to access the hidden apps.
Hide and Unhide Apps on IQOO/Vivo Phones
In the case of VIVO or IQOO phones, running on FunTouch OS, you can follow these steps to hide and unhide apps.
Go to Settings on your VIVO or IQOO phone, and navigate to Security.
Go to Privacy and App Encryption.
Next, tap on App Hiding.
Now, check the list of Hidden Apps. You can unhide the apps from here by toggling them off.
Alternatively, you can swipe up twice on the home screen to view the hidden apps.
You can also modify the settings according to your requirements to configure how and when should the apps be hidden.
Turn Off the Game Launcher
Some smartphones like OnePlus, and Xiaomi, come with a built-in Game Launcher. Triggering it may hide most apps from your home screen and display only the gaming-relevant apps. However, you can easily turn it off, by following our article to disable Gaming Mode on OnePlus Phones.
Check the App Status from Play Store
Another way to check if an app is hidden on your phone is to check the app status, whether it is installed on your phone or not, from the Play Store. Here’s how it can be done:
Go to the Google Play Store app, and Search for the app that you’re looking for.
If you see the Install button, then the app is not installed on your phone and you need to install it again.
If you see the Open or Uninstall icon, then the app is already present on your phone.
Re-Install The App
If the app is already present on your phone and you’re still unable to see it, you can re-install the app, from the Google Play store. Once it has been uninstalled, you can re-install it and check if you’re able to view the app now.
Factory Reset your Smartphone
If nothing seems to work out, then as the lender of last resort, you need to factory reset your smartphone in order to rectify the error you have been facing with the app. Note: This will delete all your data in the smartphone permanently.
Go to Settings and tap on About Phone.
Here, tap on Factory Reset.
On the next screen, tap on Erase all data and follow the on-screen steps.
Bonus: Add New Apps to Home Screen Automatically
To avoid such issues in the future, you can enable a setting on your smartphone to automatically add new apps to your home screen when installed from the Google Play store. This prevents you from dragging and dropping it from the App Drawer every time, here’s how it can be done on MIUI.
Go to your App Drawer, on your Xiaomi Phone, running on MIUI.
Tap on the hamburger icon present in the top right corner of the screen.
Enable the toggle to place new apps on the home screen.
Now every time a new app is installed, it will be added directly to your home screen.
Wrapping Up: Find Your App on Android
This is how you can easily find an app on your Android phone. We hope the article helped you understand the same. If you found this helpful guide, share it with your friends, and check out more tech tips and tricks linked below. Stay tuned to GadgetsToUse for more such tips and tricks. Also, Read the following:
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