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Whatsapp message search not working after changing to new iphone

Hello, I recently changed phones and whatsapp search is not working properly, I transfered everything via icloud to my new phones including the chat backups for whatsapp, but when I try to search for a word in general search bar or contact sesrch bar in whatsapp it shows “Preparing Results 0%) and it gets stuck like that for hours, not a single message shows up (even the ones I recieved after the backup) I tried to backup the chat, delete whatsapp, redownload and restore chats 4 times! I tried restarting my phone and connecting to different wifis as well as celluar data. I’m just so lost. I tried everything online that I could find. Does anyone have a solution for this? Please help :(

iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 16

Posted on Dec 27, 2022 3:54 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 30, 2022 9:17 AM

In my case, thanks to the procedure explained in that thread, I’ve managed to obtain results when searching text! Finally I got rid of the ‘No results’ message. However it seems that new received messages are only updated in the search engine if I kill and re-open Whatsapp. I mean, I cannot search for a text which has just been received in a chat unless I kill and re-open Whatsapp. Anyone else experiencing this??

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Dec 30, 2022 9:17 AM in response to facufrastas

In my case, thanks to the procedure explained in that thread, I’ve managed to obtain results when searching text! Finally I got rid of the ‘No results’ message. However it seems that new received messages are only updated in the search engine if I kill and re-open Whatsapp. I mean, I cannot search for a text which has just been received in a chat unless I kill and re-open Whatsapp. Anyone else experiencing this??

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Jan 10, 2023 7:04 PM in response to Coolestfaun

I fixed it!!


I had the same issue and it takes like 20 minutes..


I started stucked in 1% then i went to icloud, apps using icloud, and deactivate whatsapp… came back to whatsapp and search something ans it was in 3%… the. go back to icloud and activate whatsapp… go back to Wsp and it was in 5%… back again to icloud, deactivate, and back again to whatsapp…. 7%…


and repeat the proces until 95% and it started to run alone…


now it works just like before..


try it!!

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Jan 11, 2023 8:57 AM in response to Coolestfaun

Found a solution:

Go to iOS Settings > WhatsApp

Disable the following:

  • Background App Refresh
  • Siri & Search > Learn from this App
  • Siri & Search > Show App in Search

Then close WhatsApp.

Open WhatsApp and search something. If it prompts message/permissions for background refresh just ignore it and close WhatsApp again. Reopen WhatsApp and search something again. Repeat this until you see the % going up. Repeat until it reaches 100%.

PS: When I say close/reopen WhatsApp I mean go to the opened apps and swipe it up. You need to force close the app for this to work.


(open WhatsApp / open a chat window / go to search / search something and force close the WhatsApp / open WhatsApp again / go to chat search / search anything / force close /. Each time the preparing percentage went up by 1 or 2. After about 70-80 tries it’s done)

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Jan 18, 2023 9:26 PM in response to Saqib015

Try this, it worked for me :


Go to iOS Settings > WhatsApp

Disable the following:

  • Background App Refresh
  • Siri & Search > Learn from this App
  • Siri & Search > Show App in Search

Then close WhatsApp.

Open WhatsApp and search something. If it prompts message/permissions for background refresh just ignore it and close WhatsApp again. Reopen WhatsApp and search something again. Repeat this until you see the % going up. Repeat until it reaches 100%.

PS: When I say close/reopen WhatsApp I mean go to the opened apps and swipe it up. You need to force close the app for this to work.


(open WhatsApp / open a chat window / go to search / search something and force close the WhatsApp / open WhatsApp again / go to chat search / search anything / force close /. Each time the preparing percentage went up by 1 or 2. After about 70-80 tries it’s done)

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Dec 27, 2022 4:25 PM in response to Coolestfaun

Coolestfaun wrote:

Hello, I recently changed phones and whatsapp search is not working properly, I transfered everything via icloud to my new phones including the chat backups for whatsapp, but when I try to search for a word in general search bar or contact sesrch bar in whatsapp it shows “Preparing Results 0%) and it gets stuck like that for hours, not a single message shows up (even the ones I recieved after the backup) I tried to backup the chat, delete whatsapp, redownload and restore chats 4 times! I tried restarting my phone and connecting to different wifis as well as celluar data. I’m just so lost. I tried everything online that I could find. Does anyone have a solution for this? Please help :(
https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/ea4380b2-34ad-4bbc-af8d-86a0831e54f3

https://faq.whatsapp.com/

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Dec 28, 2022 8:19 AM in response to Mariutz

Mariutz wrote:

Same thing here. Search feature does not work. I tried uninstalling Whatsapp but with no luck, and now instead of showing “Preparing Results 0%” it just shows “No results”.
Please help!

Tell whats app to help you with their product

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Dec 28, 2022 11:46 AM in response to razmee209

I wrote to the Whatsapp Support chat and they said they’ve forwarded the issue to the corresponding teams and that they’re working on it. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I’ll update you here if I have news.

Did you tell them too? Any feedback from Whatsapp Support team?

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Jan 18, 2023 5:59 AM in response to Saqib015

Still stuck no solution

i do all the steps what you guys tell me

but no any change

strange chat search working on desktop-Computer when i switch to my whatsaap on desktop there my chat search function properly working but in my phone not working i don't know why and Apple team saying this issue in whatsaap what to do

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Whatsapp message search not working after changing to new iphone

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