Facetime Icon Appears to be Gone From iPhone or iPad

Wondering why the Facetime icon is missing from your Apple iPhone or iPad home screen? It’s a common problem, and probably the result of a restriction you or someone with access to the device set. Here’s how to solve it.

Note: Not all Apple devices support Facetime. Check this list to ensure your device supports it.

Check Everywhere

First, be sure the Facetime icon isn’t hiding somewhere in a folder. Swipe back and forth between each home screen and check each and every folder. For some reason it’s usually in the “Productivity” folder.
You may want to also consider resetting the home screen icons to their default settings if you still can’t find it.

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Find it with Search

1. From the Home screen, swipe all the way over to the left to reveal the “Search” box.
2. Type “Facetime” in the “Search” field.
3. The app should appear as a selection. Tap it to open it.

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Restore from Apple Store

1. Open the “App Store” on your device, then search for “Facetime“.
2. Tap the “Cloud”  icon to download the app.

Once downloaded and installed, the app should be once again available to open on your Home screen.

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Check Restrictions

Sometimes family members or anybody with access to your iPhone will accidentally change settings. If the restriction settings are changed, it can limit what icons are shown on the home screen, including the Facetime icon.

1. Select “Settings“.
2. In iOS12 and higher choose “Screen Time” > “Content Privacy & Restrictions” > “Content Privacy“. In iOS 11 and lower, choose “General” > “Restrictions“.
3. Type the passcode. If you didn’t set the passcode, ask anybody who had access to the device if they set one.
4. Set the “Facetime” restriction to “On“. It should look like it does in the image below.
   
5. Also ensure that “Camera” is enabled. Facetime will not work unless Camera is enabled.

This should unhide the Facetime button on the iPhone, iPad and the iPod Touch.