If you have noticed your iPhone apps disappearing of their own accord. Often, this arises due to Apple’s included setting in iOS 11, ‘Offload Unused Apps.’ This aims to free up storage space by deleting apps you do not use very often, but it can get pretty annoying when unexpected apps get wiped out. Fortunately, there is an easy way to stop that from happening.
If it is been enabled, you can do the following to disable Offload Unused Apps and stop it from clearing up your apps automatically:
What is “Offload Unused Apps”?
We will discuss the possibilities of ‘offloading’ or moving unused apps to “the cloud” or another device of yours that can be used as a repository for files and app data that is not being actively used.
A setting that you can activate called “Offload Unused Apps” on iPhones kicks in and will automatically remove apps that you do not use very often if you set it. When an app is offloaded, it will still show up on the home screen with its icon, but it will be essentially uninstalled.
All of your data will remain intact, and you can easily reinstall it at a later time if needed. It saves you some space but can also confuse you when apps vanish without you knowing it.
How to Disable Offload Unused Apps on iOS 18
If you are using iOS 18, follow these steps to turn off the Offload Unused Apps feature:
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on Apps.
- Now click on App Store.
- Scroll down and disable the toggle for Offload Unused Apps.
If you turn this off, your iPhone will not automatically delete apps that have not been used for a while.
What if the apps are still disappearing?
If your iPhone is still clearing apps after turning off Offload Unused Apps, it is likely glitched. In this case, you would want to reset your iPhone.
Conclusion
Disabling App Offload Unused Apps means your apps will not clear from your device if you have not used them for a while. If this does not work, you can do nothing but reset, followed by a backup of all important data first.
