Apple normally stores data on the apps, songs, movies, books, TV shows, and other items you’ve purchased with your Apple ID on all your devices. If you don’t want this data to show up anywhere for personal reasons, then in this post will show you how to hide it.
But I want to delete app history…
Apple doesn’t allow you to delete your purchase history for some reason. If you have sensitive data that you don’t want to show across devices that are using your Apple IDs, the simplest method is to hide it.
The other method you can use is to create another Apple ID for those devices then revoke their access from your current Apple ID. However, this will restrict you from sharing apps and media across apps on those devices.
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How to hide purchased App history from App Store
To hide or delete purchased app history from Apple Store on your iPhone or iPad, follow the steps below:
- Open the App Store
- Go to Updates or Purchases if on an iPad
- Swipe to the left and tap hide
If you are using the same Apple ID on multiple devices, find the device you purchased the app from and delete from its data. Similar data will be deleted instantly from the other devices sharing your Apple ID.
Remember to close and reopen the app store for the changes to take effect. This is the easiest method to delete purchases on the iOS devices by the way.
However, when searching the app store, these apps will just show as downloaded. Anybody trying to download them will be prompted that they are installed.
How to remove Apps from purchased list using iTunes
You can also hide delete app download history from iTunes. This method only works on iTunes 12.6 and earlier. If you have iTunes 12.7 and later, please use the other methods provided on this post.
Now that you have confirmed your iTunes version on your MacBook or a PC, follow these easy steps:
- Open iTunes and click the Apps icon
- Select App Store on the right side of the menu
- Select Purchased
- Tap All in order to view all apps under your Apple ID
- Hover your mouse over any app and click on the ‘x’ symbol
- Click hide on the pop-up dialogue box or cancel if you do not want to
How to restore your purchased apps history
- Log in to iTunes
- Select Account on the upper right corner and click account info
- Enter your passcode
- Locate iTunes in the cloud and click unhide any downloadable purchases from the cloud
- Click on ‘Manage’
- Select apps and you can see all your hidden purchases. Click unhide and the app history will appear on all devices.
How to delete App Store history on iPhone, using iTunes
Even better, you may want to know how to remove App store history too. To do this just log in to iTunes store whether on your Mac, PC or iPhone. Select all Apps and select purchase history. You should see delete history. Just tap or double click and then click delete on the pop-up dialogue box.
Read Also: iPhone apps not opening after iOS update? Here’s a fix
Final Word
Now that you’ve known everything when it comes to delete app history or hiding your apps, you shouldn’t have problems preventing your apps from showing up on your kid’s devices. If you encounter further problems, let us know!
Alex is an IT technician who shares his experiences with Apple devices occasionally. He has a collection of Apple devices (from iPhone 4) and has recently started trying out Android.
IG: @I M_Alex