If you frequently hand over your iPhone to someone else, ensuring apps don’t get deleted without your permission is important. Apple’s smart storage management feature, Offload Apps, is a great way to do that.
But what if you don’t want the feature enabled? Here are a few ways to disable it.
1. Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions
Whether your kids are using an iPhone or you want to prevent them from accidentally deleting apps without your permission, iOS 12 makes it pretty easy. This feature, which is a part of Screen Time, lets you place restrictions on an iPhone that can only be changed with a four-digit passcode. These restrictions can limit specific features or apps, as well as content types, ratings, privacy settings, and iTunes purchases, among others. You can enable the feature by tapping Settings and selecting Screen Time.
Then, tap on the green toggle switch next to the option that says Content & Privacy Restrictions, and you can start configuring your preferences. This is an especially helpful feature if you’re sharing an iPhone with someone else.
When you turn on this restriction, the app’s icon will be covered by a padlock. When you press and hold the app, it won’t jiggle. You’ll also have to enter a passcode when you try to change any of the settings in this menu. This will help keep children from changing any critical configuration on the device, and it’s a great way to monitor their usage.
To prevent your child from removing apps, scroll down and tap the option labeled “Deleting Apps.” It should be set to Don’t Allow. This will disable the ability to delete apps from an iPhone or iPad. You’ll have to enable this restriction again if you want to delete an app.
Another option is to use the Screen Time feature’s Offload Unused Apps option. This feature automatically removes unused apps from an iPhone or iPad to free up space. However, the app data and files will remain on the device until you delete them again.
This is the perfect solution for parents who don’t want to risk losing their child’s favorite games or educational tools. It’s also useful for anyone who shares their iPhone with family members or friends. It’s much easier to recover deleted apps on iphone if you’ve enabled this feature, but it’s not foolproof. A heavy-handed tap or button mashing could still cause an app to be deleted, so always watch out for that.
2. Turn on Screen Time Restrictions
Managing the limited space on an iPhone is something many users struggle with. Apps, pictures and other files all eat up memory and it’s fairly common to reach a point where you can no longer install new apps or iOS updates. To help free up space, the iPhone offers a feature called “Offload Unused Apps,” which automatically removes unused apps to free up storage. If you have children or someone else with temporary access to your device, though, it could be easy for them to bypass this setting and delete important apps.
One of the ways to prevent this is by enabling the Screen Time restrictions menu. In the Settings app, scroll down to and tap “Content & Privacy,” then tap “Restrictions.” When this is enabled, you’ll see a list of toggle switches, including one that disables the ability to delete apps on the iPhone. If you want to give your children or other family members the ability to delete apps, simply turn this switch back on.
Note, however, that this restricts the Delete App option in the Home screen and in Spotlight search. You’ll still be able to use this option in the App Store and through iTunes on your computer, but you won’t be able to delete apps from the Home screen or from Spotlight search.
Another way to prevent your children or other family members from deleting apps is by enabling the Screen Time Restrictions menu. This is found in Settings app > Screen Time, then tapping “Restrictions.” When this is turned on, the Home screen and App Store icon will require a passcode to be opened. This will prevent any accidental or malicious deletion of apps from your iPhone, whether they’re from the Home screen or in the App Store.
If you haven’t already done so, make sure to update your iOS device. This will fix a few bugs in Screen Time, such as incorrect date and time reporting, as well as issues with the Downtime feature not always working properly. Keeping your device updated also helps to prevent it from becoming obsolete when Apple releases a new version of the operating system.
3. Turn on Offload Unused Apps
If you have a lot of apps and are running low on storage, your iPhone may automatically delete unused apps. This is called offloading and is a useful feature for freeing up space without deleting your app data and documents. However, if you don’t want this to happen, there are a few ways you can prevent it.
The first way is to turn off the automatic offloading of unused apps in the Settings app. To do so, tap on Settings, then scroll down and tap on iTunes & App Store. Then, turn off the switch next to Offload Unused Apps.
Another option is to manually offload apps one at a time. This is great for removing addictive social media apps from your phone and can be done on the Home screen or in the iPhone Storage section of the Settings app. To do so, select an app and then tap on Offload App in the menu that appears. Once the app is offloaded, it will display on the Home screen with a puffy download cloud icon. If you ever need to redownload the app, simply tap on the icon and it will be downloaded from the App Store.
Finally, you can also try to force offload apps from the Settings app. To do this, press and hold on an app until it starts to shake. Once the apps shake, tap on Delete App to remove it from your device. This method will not delete any documents, files or settings associated with the app, but it will prevent the app from being deleted automatically by the system if you turn off offloading.
If you are still unable to resolve the problem, it may be worth trying a hard reboot or backing up and factory resetting your iPhone. If these steps fail to fix the issue, you may be facing a bug in iOS 11+ that could require an update from Apple. If you still have issues, we recommend contacting Apple support directly for help.
4. Turn on Passcode Lock
If you’re a parent who gives their iPhone or iPad to kids, you’ll want to make sure that your kid doesn’t accidentally delete apps. You can prevent this from happening by enabling a passcode lock on the device. This will prevent anyone from deleting or uninstalling apps on your iPhone unless they know your passcode.
To enable a passcode lock, you’ll need to go to Settings > General > Passcode Lock and enter your passcode. Then, you’ll need to enter the passcode again every time you want to use your phone. You can also turn on a screen lock to make it more difficult for someone to unlock your iPhone. This can help protect your data and personal information from unauthorized users.
In addition to enabling a passcode lock, you can also prevent your iPhone from deleting any apps that aren’t installed on it. This will save you space and make it easier to manage the app library on your iPhone or iPad. However, this method isn’t effective if you have native apps on your device that are part of the operating system, such as Messages, Safari, and Phone.
One way to solve this problem is to disable the “Offload Unused Apps” feature in the Settings app. This will prevent your iPhone from deleting any apps that you haven’t used for a long time. This is a great option for parents who don’t want their kids to delete their favorite apps or for people who are worried about data leaks from third-party apps.
Another solution is to limit the ability to delete apps on your iPhone using Screen Time restrictions. This will prevent your children, friends, or anyone else from deleting apps without your permission. To do this, open the Settings app and tap on Screen Time. Then, toggle the switch next to Content & Privacy Restrictions and iTunes & App Store Purchases to On. Then, change the Deleting Apps option to Don’t Allow.
Lastly, you can also try using an app that’s designed to automatically delete apps on your iPhone or iPad. However, be careful when downloading these apps because many of them aren’t well-reviewed and may have security issues.
