How do you hide certain Messages on iPhone?

• You can hide messages on your iPhone by using message filtering.
• You can also hide a specific message chain by hiding alerts in the Messages app.
• Another way to hide messages is by disabling notifications on your iPhone.

If you don't want certain messages popping up on your iPhone's screen, you can easily hide them.

We all hide messages for different reasons. It could be that you don't want your partner to see them because it can ruin the perfectly good surprise you've planned for them, or that your workplace strongly frowns upon receiving texts during work hours.

No matter the reason, it only takes a little effort to conceal your messages. You can hide specific messages from people, alerts from text chains, and even notifications from apps.

Here's how to do it all. 

How to hide messages on iPhone

You can hide text messages on your iPhone in two main ways: 

How to hide messages from a specific person

1. Open the Phone app.

2. Select Contacts on the bottom menu and then find and tap on the contact whose messages you want to hide.

3. Tap Edit on the top right corner.

4. Scroll down, and hit Delete Contact, then tap Delete Contact again on the pop-up window to confirm.

5. Open the Settings app and scroll down to and tap Messages.

6. Scroll down and turn on the toggle next to Filter Unknown Senders under the "MESSAGE FILTERING" heading.

The message sent from the person you removed (or anyone not in your contacts) will now go into a list kept separate from the rest of your messages. To access it, tap Filters on the top-left corner of the Messages app, and then tap Unknown senders.

How to hide message alerts in a specific chain

1. Open the Messages app.

2. Open the message(s) you don't want to be displayed as the chain continues.

3. Tap the icon of a face (or the person's picture).

4. Toggle Hide Alerts on the pop-up.

An alert will no longer display on your screen when a new text from this chain comes in, but you'll still receive the text.

How to hide message notifications on an iPhone

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Tap Notifications. This will open a long list of every app on your phone that generates notifications.

3. To stop all notifications, tap Show Previews at the top of the screen, then select Never. You can also select When Unlocked to only partially limit message displays — you'll still receive notifications, but you won't see their preview. 

4. To stop notification alerts from specific apps, like your text messages, scroll down on the notifications page and find the app in question, then tap it.

5. Toggle Allow Notifications off to stop all of the app's displays from popping up, or unselect the options you'd like just below ("Lock Screen" e.g.).

If you turn off all notifications, you will have to specifically open each app to read any messages sent to you, or you will have to open specific apps where you have restricted display options.

Steven John

Freelance Writer

Steven John is a freelance writer living near New York City by way of 12 years in Los Angeles, four in Boston, and the first 18 near DC. When not writing or spending time with his wife and kids, he can occasionally be found climbing mountains. His writing is spread across the web, and his books can be found at www.stevenjohnbooks.com.

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Can you hide messages on your iPhone? If you need to know how to hide text messages on your iPhone in Messages or a secret messaging app, we can help. You can lock or hide messages, and hide alerts for the Messages app, so your personal information stays private. There are even some secret text messaging apps for iPhones.

Related: How to Recover Deleted Text Messages from iPhone

If you are trying to figure out how to hide contacts, or how to hide iMessage conversations, this article will cover that. We'll also discuss how to lock iPhone messages and how to find hidden text messages, and we'll even go over how to hide your Messages app itself. For more ways to keep your information private and secure, check out our Tip of the Day.

Jump To:

• Best Private Text Messaging Apps
• How to Hide Your Secret Texting App
• How to Hide Messages on iPhone by Turning Off Message Preview 
• How to Save Text Messages but Not See Them Anymore 
• How Do I See Hidden Text Messages?

Best Apps to Hide Text Messages

If you need to figure out how to hide a message on your iPhone, this post will show you your options. It’s not always easy to hide text messages and it can be equally hard to find hidden text messages so let’s dive in and see how it’s done! It's easier than you might think to keep a text message secret with these apps. This is also the best answer to the question of how to lock messages on an iPhone. These apps can lock your text messages under an extra layer of security.

Keep in mind that many scammers also prefer encrypted messaging services, so make sure you don't send any personal information to anyone you don't know and trust using these apps.

Wire - Secure Messenger (Free)

This is a great option if you are looking for a way to hide messages on your iPhone or lock messages from being seen. It is encrypted from end to end, so only you and the receiver can see the messages and communications that you are sending.

Wire is great because it offers you the ability to do more than just hide text messages on your iPhone. You can also send and receive files, FaceTime, call, and chat. It’s a more sophisticated secret texting app than some of the other options available.

Signal - Private Messenger (Free)

Signal is an awesome option for iPhone, and you can get the app on your iPad as well by following this tip. You can use Signal for private one-on-one or group chats, and everything is end-to-end encrypted. Voice or video calls are also offered, and you can even share media and files.

How to Hide Your Secret Texting Apps on iPhone

If you find yourself using one or multiple secret texting apps on your iPhone to hide iPhone messages or lock your messages, you should consider learning how to hide apps on your iPhone. It’s a great way to hide secret texting apps for iPhones, or to simply declutter your iPhone Home screen.

How to Hide Text Messages on iPhone by Turning Off Message Preview

One of the easiest ways to hide text messages on the iPhone is to turn off the message preview that appears on the Lock screen. This does not hide messages or lock messages in your Messages app, but it will keep a preview of the content of the message from popping up on your screen. This way, you don’t have to worry about leaving your phone lying around. No one will be able to see your iPhone message preview if you turn off the settings!

How to Hide iMessages by Turning Off Message Preview:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on Notifications.
3. Scroll down and select Messages.
4. Under Options, tap Show Previews.
5. Now, tap Never.
6. If you don't want anyone to even know you got a message, you can return to Messages in the Notifications settings and first tap on Sounds.
7. Next, tap on Vibration.
8. Choose None.
9. Return to the Sounds page one more time and select None under Alert Tones.
10. Finally, return to the Messages Notifications settings and tap to turn off Lock Screen, Notification Center, and Banner alerts.
11. The final option is to toggle Allow Notifications off. You will need to remember to open your Messages app regularly to see if you have received any new messages because your phone will no longer alert you in any way.

Pro tip: If you have iOS 16, you can use the unsend iMessage feature to hide a message as long as you do it within 15 minutes of sending it.

How to Back Up a Text Conversation but Not See It Anymore

If you want to hide your messages on iPhone or save them without actually having them on your phone, you do have another option. You can save the text conversation to your computer and then delete it from your device. Another way you can save a text conversation but not see it anymore is to take screenshots of the conversation and save those to your computer, a disc, or a thumb drive; and then delete the conversation.

These options are helpful if you want to hide text messages or keep them private without having to use an app or different service.

How Do I See Hidden Text Messages?

Unfortunately, there's not a one-size-fits-all answer to this question, and that's simply because there are so many ways to hide messages.

If it's just that the message preview is hidden but the message wasn't deleted, the message will still appear in the Messages app and can be searched for even if it's not readily visible. If the message was hidden via a third-party app, the access method will vary depending on the app and the user's settings. If a user deleted the message or conversation, unfortunately, it won't be accessible on the device anymore but may be recoverable if messages are being synced to iCloud. Next, learn how to find hidden or missing apps on your iPhone.

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