How to block apps on iPhone (without deleting them)

You can block apps on iPhone without deleting them, and most of the free tools are already in Settings > Screen Time. Which one to use depends on what you want the block to do:

• Spend less time in an app each day: a Time Allowance (iOS 27) or an App Limit (iOS 26).
• Close apps at certain times of day, like 10 PM to 7 AM: a Screen Time Schedule (iOS 27) or Downtime (iOS 26).
• Restrict built-in apps and, on iOS 26, websites: Content & Privacy Restrictions.
• Keep other people out of an app: Require Face ID, from the app’s Home Screen menu.
• Stop yourself from tapping past a block at 11 PM: a Screen Time passcode (plus Block at Downtime on iOS 26), or an app blocker.

Apple changed these tools in iOS 27 (every renamed Screen Time setting is mapped here), so the steps below cover iOS 27 and iOS 26, checked against Apple’s iPhone User Guide on October 11, 2026.

Which way to block apps on iPhone fits you?

It depends on whether you want a daily budget, set hours, or a lock on your settings. We make Calma, so weigh our row with that in mind.

If you are starting out, try the first two rows plus a passcode.

How do you set a daily time limit on an app?

Use a Time Allowance on iOS 27 or an App Limit on iOS 26. Both live in Settings > Screen Time. Not sure how much time to allow? See what your current minutes add up to first.

On iOS 27:

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Time Allowances. If you see Turn On App & Website Activity, tap it first.
2. Tap Manage Categories, tap the add button, and choose a category, like Social Media or Entertainment.
3. Back under Time Allowances, tap the category and drag the slider to set its daily time. A separate slider sets your total daily time on the device.

Apple says apps in a category run until they reach “either the category’s allowance or the daily total,” so they share one allowance. Its guide doesn’t describe a limit for a single app.

On iOS 26:

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits and tap Add Limit.
2. Tap a category’s name to see its apps, then select the app you want, like TikTok.
3. Tap Next, set the time, and tap Customize Days if some days need a different amount.

One catch: if you select several apps in one limit, Apple says “the time limit you set applies to all of them.” To give each app its own amount, make separate limits. Here is how shared and separate limits work.

How do you block apps at certain times of day?

To block apps at certain times of day, use a Screen Time Schedule on iOS 27 or Downtime on iOS 26. Once set, the schedule turns on by itself, for example every weeknight from 10 PM to 7 AM.

On iOS 27:

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Screen Time Schedule and turn on Schedule.
2. Tap Add Schedule and tap the days it should cover.
3. Tap the time window, then tap the start or stop time to change it. You can also rename the window.
4. Tap the Time Allowance categories that should stay available in that window. Leave out the ones you want closed.
5. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Always Allowed and add the apps and people you need at any hour.

To use Time Allowances during certain times in your schedule, turn on Match Screen Time Schedule in Time Allowances. Apple notes that Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances need iOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices.

On iOS 26:

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Downtime and turn on Scheduled.
2. Choose Every Day or Customize Days, then set the start and end times.
3. Add the apps you still need to Always Allowed. Apple says that during Downtime, only calls, messages and the apps you allow are available.
4. To make it a real block, set a Screen Time passcode, then turn on Block at Downtime.

With Block at Downtime off, Apple says “you see a reminder that it’s downtime, but you can choose to continue using the apps.” With it on, restricted apps can’t be opened and appear dimmed with an hourglass icon. More in what Block at Downtime does.

How do you block TikTok on iPhone at night?

You can block TikTok on iPhone without deleting it: a daily limit caps your minutes, and a schedule closes it at set hours. For nights, the simplest setup is a schedule that keeps TikTok closed from, say, 10 PM to 7 AM, plus a block on tiktok.com so Safari can’t stand in for the app.

• iOS 27: in Screen Time Schedule, add a 10 PM to 7 AM window and leave out the category that holds TikTok. The App Store lists TikTok under Entertainment (checked October 11, 2026), but tap that category under Manage Categories to confirm, because every app in it closes too. Apple’s guide doesn’t say what happens to apps outside your categories, so open TikTok once after 10 PM to check the block.
• iOS 26: Downtime closes every app except calls, messages and your Always Allowed list, so it can’t single out TikTok. Schedule it for 10 PM to 7 AM, turn on Block at Downtime, and add the apps you still want at night to Always Allowed. An App Limit can target TikTok alone, but it caps minutes per day, not the hours you use them.
• TikTok’s own settings: TikTok’s Help Center says Sleep reminders (the Sleep hours setting in the app) mute its push notifications once your sleep time begins and suggest a break in the app. When you reach your Daily screen time limit, you can keep watching by entering a passcode shown on the screen. Both are nudges, not blocks.
• Calma: Night Peace rests the apps you pick every day from 10 PM to 7 AM. During those hours, opening TikTok shows “TikTok is resting.” with one button, Back to calm. To use TikTok at 11 PM anyway, you open Calma and switch the routine off. That bedtime setup is the heart of Calma as an app to stop doomscrolling.

Close the website too (next two sections). The full walkthrough is on how to block TikTok on iPhone.

How do you restrict apps on iPhone with Content & Privacy Restrictions?

Content & Privacy Restrictions is where you restrict built-in apps, explicit content and, on iOS 26, store purchases and websites. For a downloaded app like TikTok or Instagram, the time limit and schedule tools above are the direct route.

On iOS 26, go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions. Then:

• Hide built-in apps: tap Allowed Apps & Features and turn off an app. Apple says it “isn’t deleted; it’s temporarily hidden from your Home Screen until you turn it back on.”
• Restrict purchases and redownloads: tap iTunes & App Store Purchases.
• Block websites: tap App Store, Media, Web, & Games, then Web Content. Select Limit Adult Websites, tap Add Website under Never Allow, and enter each address, like tiktok.com or instagram.com.

On iOS 27, Apple’s guide splits this screen into Content Restrictions (settings for Books, Movies, TV Shows and Music, among others) and Other Features (built-in apps and features, like AirDrop and Camera). Its iOS 27 page doesn’t list a website step.

Does blocking an app also block its website?

Not always. Blocking the Instagram or TikTok app can leave instagram.com or tiktok.com open in Safari.

• iOS 27: Apple says a Time Allowance also applies to an app’s website when the app declares one. To check, open the site in Safari after the allowance runs out.
• iOS 26: add the site to Never Allow, as in the steps above.
• Calma blocks apps, not websites. Use Screen Time for the web versions.

Our app pages below list the addresses to add, since some apps use more than one.

How do you lock Screen Time with a passcode?

Set a Screen Time passcode. Apple says you then have to enter the four-digit code before changing the Screen Time settings you chose for yourself.

• iOS 27: go to Settings > Screen Time > Passcode & Management > Lock Screen Time Settings, then enter a four-digit passcode twice.
• iOS 26: go to Settings > Screen Time, scroll down and tap Lock Screen Time Settings. On iOS 26, the passcode is also what makes Block at Downtime available.

Apple also offers Screen Time Passcode Recovery, which, if you set it up, lets you reset a forgotten code with your Apple Account. Either way, a code you set yourself is never fully out of reach, so the lock holds best when someone you trust chooses it.

Can you lock an app with Face ID?

Yes. Touch and hold an app on the Home Screen, tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), then tap Require Face ID again. Apple’s iPhone User Guide documents this from iOS 18 on. The app then asks for Face ID each time it opens, and Apple says it locks again automatically after you quit it. For WhatsApp’s own lock, hidden apps and the apps you can’t lock, see how to lock apps on iPhone.

Apple built this for privacy, for when you show someone something on your phone. For your own habits, though, your own face opens the app right away, so it adds a pause, not a block.

Can you hide an app without deleting it?

Yes, in two ways. Remove from Home Screen moves an app to App Library without deleting it, and Hide and Require Face ID moves it to a Hidden folder that needs Face ID (or your passcode) to open.

• Remove from Home Screen: touch and hold the app, tap Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen. Apple says the app “isn’t deleted” and you can still use it from App Library.
• Hide it: touch and hold the app, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID, authenticate, and tap Hide App. It moves to the Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. Only apps you downloaded from the App Store can be hidden.

Both help with the reflex tap from the Home Screen, but neither limits your time. Deleting, by contrast, removes the app and its data from your iPhone, Apple says.

Why do Screen Time limits get ignored, and what helps?

Screen Time limits get ignored because, by default, you can keep going once you reach them. Apple’s iOS 26 guide says it plainly: “By default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached.” When a limit runs out, the limit screen offers Ignore Limit, which lets you keep using the app. Apple’s iOS 27 guide doesn’t repeat that line, so check what your own limit screen offers.

An ignored limit isn’t a character flaw. Often the rule just doesn’t fit the moment. What helps:

1. Lock the settings. On iOS 26, a Screen Time passcode plus Block at Downtime means restricted apps can’t be opened during Downtime, instead of showing a reminder you can continue past.
2. Block the hour, not the day. A daily allowance can run out by noon, or still have time left at 11 PM. A schedule closes the app at the exact time you slip, like in bed.
3. Make the rule smaller. Two apps and one time window are easier to keep than a whole category all day. If you keep overriding a limit, use that as a clue to narrow the rule.
4. Keep what you need. Put messages, maps and work apps in Always Allowed, so the block never stands between you and something urgent.

When does an app blocker help?

An app blocker helps when Screen Time is close but not quite right: you want one app closed at set hours, a few opens a day instead of a timer, or a block screen without Ignore Limit. Calma, like many iPhone app blockers, uses Apple’s Screen Time API, so iOS itself applies the block, as explained in how app blockers work on iPhone.

We make Calma, a gentle app blocker for iPhone. Here is what it does and doesn’t do:

• Rules: scheduled blocks by day and time, including across midnight (10 PM to 7 AM); daily time limits per app or category, from 15 minutes to 2 hours, after which the app rests until midnight; open limits of 3, 5, 10, 20 or 50 opens a day, 15 minutes per open; and focus sessions from 15 to 180 minutes that end on their own.
• Ready-made routines: Work Focus (weekdays, 9 AM to 5 PM), Night Peace (10 PM to 7 AM) and Social Detox (30 minutes a day), among others.
• The block screen: “[App] is resting.” Scheduled blocks and daily limits show one button, Back to calm. Open limits show Open app while you have opens left.
• The way out: you can switch a routine off in the app, or end a focus session early with a 3-second hold. It is a gentle blocker by design, not a lock you can’t undo.
• Limits and privacy: apps only, not websites. iPhone only (iOS 18.0 or later), with no iPad, Mac or Android version. No account, no ads, and your rules stay on your iPhone.
• Cost: free to download, and blocking needs Calma Pro, with a 3-day free trial for eligible new subscribers. As of October 11, 2026, the US App Store lists $3.99 a week, $9.99 a month or $39.99 a year.

If you want a block that is much harder to undo, a hard blocker fits better. Brick’s FAQ says you need to rescan its physical device to end a block, with five Emergency Unbricks in the app as a backup. On iOS, Opal’s strictest session level, “No way, I’m hardcore” (an Opal Pro option), says you “Can’t take breaks or leave early,” with one emergency pass a week.

To decide, compare Calma vs Screen Time, read our list of the best app blockers for iPhone (it includes free options), or answer a few questions in the which app blocker quiz. For how Calma sets up a rule, see the app blocker page.

How do you block Instagram, YouTube and other apps?

Each app has its own loopholes, so each one has its own step-by-step page:

• How to block Instagram on iPhone, including instagram.com in Safari.
• How to block TikTok on iPhone, including tiktok.com and TikTok’s own limits.
• How to block YouTube on iPhone, and why you can’t block only Shorts with Screen Time.
• How to turn off YouTube Shorts on iPhone with YouTube’s own Shorts feed limit, if Shorts is the only part you want gone.
• How to block Reddit on iPhone, since every Reddit thread also opens in Safari.
• How to block X on iPhone, with both x.com and twitter.com.
• How to block Snapchat on iPhone, and why a Social Media limit can miss it.
• How to block Facebook on iPhone, while keeping Messenger open.

Where should you start if you’ve never blocked an app?

Start with one time of day and two apps: the two you open without thinking, blocked from 10 PM to 7 AM, with messages and alarms left alone. For work, block the feeds, not every channel where someone might need you.

Give it a week. If you override it most days, change the time window or the app list rather than adding rules. A setup that survives an ordinary Tuesday beats a perfect one you drop by Friday. You can keep the apps. The goal is fewer automatic taps when you want to be somewhere else. If you’d rather build the rules up one day at a time, the free detox plan does that over a week.

Sources

All checked on October 11, 2026.

1. Apple Support, Set Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances in Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) and Set schedules with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 26).
2. Apple Support, Block features or content with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) and Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 26).
3. Apple Support, Set up Screen Time for yourself on iPhone (iOS 27).
4. Apple Support, Create, change, or remove a Screen Time passcode on iPhone (iOS 27, checked again November 2, 2026) and Create, manage, and keep track of a Screen Time passcode on iPhone (iOS 26).
5. Apple Support, Lock or hide an app on iPhone: iOS 27, iOS 26 and iOS 18.
6. Apple Support, Remove or delete apps from iPhone (iOS 27).
7. TikTok Help Center, Screen time (Daily screen time and Sleep reminders).
8. App Store, TikTok (category: Entertainment).
9. Brick, FAQ (rescan to exit, Emergency Unbricks), and Opal, How to use Sessions (Breaks Allowed levels).
10. App Store, App Blocker & Detox: Calma (prices, iOS requirement).