Text message and notes search

I just updated to the new iOS a few days ago. Now, I’ve found that I can no longer search for anything in Notes. The search bar is there but doesn’t yield any results. I use my notes daily for work and personal notes. I keep usernames there as well and ever since I updated, I can’t search for anything. Scrolling isn’t the answer because I have over 600 notes. When I need to update certain ones I just search and go to it to update it. Now I’m screwed. Same with messages. It will only yield recent messages with the search criteria. I have messages that date back several years. I can no longer get to them by searching. What is going on???

Posted on Oct 8, 2023 6:32 PM

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2 replies

Mar 25, 2024 1:29 AM in response to dr.londyn2007

NOTES APP - SEARCH NOT WORKING - SOLVED!

(in my case)


These are the steps I followed (though they may not ALL be necessary)


  1. Scroll to Notes app from “Settings”
  2. Then on that page under “ALLOW NOTES TO ACCESS” tap on “Siri & search”
  3. Under “WHILE SEARCHING” turn on the switch “Show App in Search”
  4. The “Show Content in Search” switch option then appears - turn this on
  5. Go back a step and tap “Accounts”
  6. Under ACCOUNTS choose “iCloud”
  7. This takes you to “Apple ID”
  8. Choose “iCloud”
  9. Under “APPS USING ICLOUD” choose “Show All”
  10. Choose “Notes”
  11. On my iPhone “Sync this iPhone” was turned on but ”Manage Storage” had a spinning wheel
  12. Turn off the switch but STOP THERE and DON’T  tap “Delete from My iPhone” - tap “Cancel” instead
  13. Tap “Manage Storage”
  14. DO NOT “Delete from iCloud” but go back a step
  15. On my iPhone the amount of storage then appeared
  16. I stopped there and checked my Notes app and low & behold search was working again


Oct 9, 2023 3:39 PM in response to dr.londyn2007

Hey dr.londyn2007,


Does this occur when searching all folders in Notes? For example, iCloud, On My iPhone, or Notes synced from 3rd party accounts?


These support articles should help you test:



If it does occur when searching in any folder, we recommend reaching out to Apple Support. They have tools to investigate further: Get Support


Take care.

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Text message and notes search

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