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Samsung

Samsung: Remove Apps from Secure Folder

Apps inside Secure Folder run as separate copies, so deleting them there never touches the original app installed on your phone. Tapping and holding an app icon and hitting Uninstall looks like a shortcut, but it is easy to pick the wrong option or wonder why the app still exists outside Secure Folder afterward. Knowing what actually happens to that duplicate clears up the confusion.

3 min4 steps
VersionAndroid 11 · One UI 3

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Step 1 of 4: Tap on **Secure Folder**

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Tap on Secure Folder

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Android 11 · One UI 3
Remove Apps from Secure Folder – One UI 3: step 1 – Tap on Secure Folder
Tap on Secure Folder
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Samsung

Remove Apps from Secure Folder auf Samsung

Every app you add to Samsung Secure Folder gets installed a second time inside an isolated Knox container. That is why uninstalling it from inside the folder never affects the version running on your normal home screen, you are only deleting the container copy.

The confusion usually starts with the gesture itself. Tapping and holding the app icon inside Secure Folder opens a short menu that looks similar to the regular app switcher, but the Uninstall option here only targets the sandboxed copy and any data saved inside it.

How to remove an app from Secure Folder

Open Secure Folder, then tap and hold an App you want to remove. Tap Uninstall in the menu that appears, then confirm with OK. The app disappears from the folder immediately, while the original app outside stays untouched with its own data intact.

If you only want to hide an app from Secure Folder without losing its data, moving it back to the regular home screen is a better option than uninstalling, since that keeps the container copy and its settings. Uninstalling is the right call once you no longer need a separate, isolated instance of that app at all.

Deleting removes any data stored inside that sandboxed instance permanently, so back up anything important before you confirm.

Frequently asked questions

No. The Uninstall action inside Secure Folder only removes the isolated copy running in the Knox container. The regular app outside stays installed with its own data.

Compatible devices

Tap your device — opens its hub with matching guides.

Android 11 · One UI 3

No compatible devices are listed for this version.