How To Find And Restore Deleted Apps On Your iPhone

We all have deleted apps by mistake at least once, whether while trying to explore the tap-and-hold options on the home screen orfrom the App Library. Sometimes, users even uninstall an app just to free up some space, intending to restore it later.

However, keeping up with the names of apps, especially the ones that aren’t pre-installed on the iPhone, could be arduous. Knowing how to find and restore deleted apps on your iPhone could be useful in such a scenario.

Apple’s App Store icon on an iPhone screen

Unfortunately, no dedicated section in iOS shows the recently deleted apps, at least not in chronological order. Instead, a hidden menu in the App Store contains a list of uninstalled apps.

Every app you install on your iPhone is linked to your Apple ID as an App Store purchase (even if you didn’t pay anything to download it). However, instead of showing you the date of removal, the hidden menu we’re talking about shows the date you first installed the apps.

Now, let’s dive into the steps involved in finding and reinstalling deleted apps.

Locate and download deleted apps via App Store

The list of deleted apps is hidden in the My Purchases menu in the App Store. Following the steps below, you can access the menu and find the app you’re looking for.

Some things to keep in mind

Restoring an app is easier if you remember its name.

It is worth mentioning that apps you’ve installed in the past (no longer on your iPhone) appear with a cloud download button. However, the ones you haven’t downloaded appear with a Get button to their right.

To keep apps from disappearing from your iPhone, turn off the “Offload Unused Apps” feature. The feature, designed to save space byoffloading apps you haven’t usedfor 12 days straight, removes the app’s file but keeps the crucial data. However, it can be frustrating, especially when the feature starts offloading apps that you might not use daily but regularly.