MIUI is a feature-packed skin and Xiaomi is known to keep adding useful features to it with regular updates. While MIUI 10 on the Redmi Note 7/Pro, Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi 7, and others have offered native app locking feature for a long time, Xiaomi recently updated the feature to add the option to natively hide installed apps as well.

If you are looking to hide some installed apps on your Redmi Note 7, Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi 7, or just about any other Xiaomi/Redmi device running MIUI 10, follow the steps below.

The hide apps feature in App Lock in MIUI 10 is not compatible with third-party launchers. If you use a third-party launcher on your Redmi Note 7 or any other MIUI 10-running device, the hide apps option is not going to show up in App Lock settings for you.  q

Hide Apps in Redmi Note 7 Pro, Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi 7, Redmi Y3, Redmi 6, and More

Step 1: Go to Settings -> App Lock. You will have to first setup App Lock before you can hide apps on any MIUI 10 running smartphone.

Make sure to use a different app lock pattern/password than the one you use for unlocking your phone. During the setup process, you will also be asked to connect your Mi Account to App Lock. This will help if you ever forgot the password and need to reset it.

You will be using the same app lock password/pattern to access your hidden apps as well. Thankfully, you can use face unlock/fingerprint verification to access the hidden apps folder.

Step 2: With App Lock setup, tap the settings cog icon you see on the top-right corner. Scroll down and you will see the Hidden apps option.

Step 3: Enable the Hidden apps toggle and then proceed to select the apps you’d like to hide from the Manage hidden apps option. The first time you enable the Hide apps options, you will be taken through a tutorial on how to access the hidden apps.

Step 4: To access your hidden apps, go to the home screen of your Redmi phone and pinch out using two fingers. You will be prompted to enter the app lock password. Confirm your identity by using the fingerprint scanner/face unlock or by entering the unlock pattern/pin. You should now see all the hidden apps inside one folder.

There’s one issue with how the Hidden apps feature has been implemented in MIUI 10. You cannot access the hidden apps folder while using any other third-party launcher. I am not really fond of the stock MIUI 10 launcher but to each their own. You can also use third-party launchers like Poco or Nova launcher which have their own implementation of hiding apps from the app drawer.