Ever wondered what your very first iPhone download was — or tried to find an app you deleted years ago? The App Store keeps a complete, chronological list of every app you have ever downloaded with your Apple ID, paid or free. It is just buried behind your profile picture. Here is where to find it.
1. Open the App Store and tap your profile
Launch the App Store and tap your profile avatar in the top-right corner. On the Account screen, tap “Purchased” (on some iOS versions it appears as “Apps” or “Purchase History”). You may be asked to sign in with your Apple ID first. If you remember the 2016-era layout, this used to live under the Updates tab — Apple moved it to the profile screen in later iOS versions, and it has stayed there since.
2. Browse “All” and “Not on this iPhone”
The list splits into two tabs: everything you have ever downloaded, and the subset not currently installed on this iPhone. Both are sorted chronologically, newest first. Scroll down far enough and you will reach apps you forgot existed — a practical way to reinstall something without searching the store. Apple Support documents the Purchased section, and MacRumors has tracked its moves across iOS redesigns.
3. Re-download anything with the cloud icon
Every entry carries a cloud-download icon. Tap it to reinstall the app — if it was paid, you will not be charged again as long as you use the same Apple ID. This is also the fastest way to recover apps that no longer appear in the store’s search results.
4. Hide purchases you don’t want listed
Swipe left on any app in the list and tap Hide to remove it from view. Hidden apps can be unhidden later from your Apple ID settings. Handy for decluttering — see also which built-in iPhone apps you can remove.
5. The one thing the iPhone won’t show you
For all its completeness, the on-iPhone list has one gap: it doesn’t show prices. If you want detailed purchase statistics — what you paid and when — you will need a computer: open the App Store on a Mac or iTunes on Windows, sign in, and view your purchase history there. For the Mac side of app wrangling, see how to open your installed apps list on macOS.
If it still doesn’t work
If the Purchased section is empty or missing, check that you are signed in with the correct Apple ID — purchases are tied to the account, not the device. Family Sharing purchases appear under the family member who bought them. A sign-out/sign-in cycle usually fixes a stubbornly empty list.
Frequently asked questions
Does the list include free apps?
Yes — every free download counts as a “purchase” with a price of zero, so free apps appear alongside paid ones in chronological order.
Can I see purchases made with a different Apple ID?
No. Each Apple ID has its own history. Sign out and sign in with the other account to see its list — just remember to sign back into your own afterward.
Conclusion
Your complete app history is always two taps away in the App Store — a chronicle of every download since your first iPhone. Whether you are hunting a long-lost favorite or auditing what you once paid for, the Purchased section is the archive you didn’t know you had.
