iOS 26 search in iPhone Settings not working

mike_kr wrote:

I have the same problem on iOS26.2. None of the suggestions here worked for me. Toggling the settings in Search, toggling the beta on off. Or reset.

Fixed! Spotlight Search

After days of frustration (tried restarts, toggling settings, language change, even full erase & restore – nothing worked), I finally fixed the Spotlight bug where it only finds apps but nothing else (no deep settings, contacts, messages, photos, etc.).

The combo that actually worked:

1.  Changed iPhone Language to English (US) (Settings > General > Language & Region > iPhone Language).

2.  Went to Settings > Siri & Search.

3.  Turned OFF every single option at the top (Suggest Apps Before Searching, Allow Notifications, Show in App Library, Show When Sharing, Show Listening Suggestions).

4.  Then, for every individual app in the list below, turned OFF all options (Show App in Search, Show Content in Search, etc.).

5.  Restarted the phone.

6.  Spotlight immediately started showing deep results again (settings shortcuts, etc.).

7.  Turned all the individual app search options back ON (while still on US English).

8.  Restarted again and left it on Wi-Fi for a bit – everything still working perfectly.

9.  Finally switched language back to English (UK) – restarted – and it’s still 100% fixed.

This seems to fully force-rebuild the corrupted content index that gets stuck on some devices.

(iOS 26.2 iphone 16 Pro Max

Thanks to poster on page 2 andylew0 for suggesting turning off every setting app by app in Siri and changing language. This is the ONLY fix that worked for me short of a full reset or setting up phone as new. Thank you! It took hours to manually turn off every app in the list but that and switching language worked a treat.

recap:

Fixed! Spotlight Search

After days of frustration (tried restarts, toggling settings, language change, even full erase & restore – nothing worked), I finally fixed the Spotlight bug where it only finds apps but nothing else (no deep settings, contacts, messages, photos, etc.).

The combo that actually worked:

1.  Changed iPhone Language to English (US) (Settings > General > Language & Region > iPhone Language).

2.  Went to Settings > Siri & Search.

3.  Turned OFF every single option at the top (Suggest Apps Before Searching, Allow Notifications, Show in App Library, Show When Sharing, Show Listening Suggestions).

4.  Then, for every individual app in the list below, turned OFF all options (Show App in Search, Show Content in Search, etc.).

5.  Restarted the phone.

6.  Spotlight immediately started showing deep results again (settings shortcuts, etc.).

7.  Turned all the individual app search options back ON (while still on US English).

8.  Restarted again and left it on Wi-Fi for a bit – everything still working perfectly.

9.  Finally switched language back to English (UK) – restarted – and it’s still 100% fixed.

This seems to fully force-rebuild the corrupted content index that gets stuck on some devices.

Fixed! Spotlight Search

After days of frustration (tried restarts, toggling settings, language change, even full erase & restore – nothing worked), I finally fixed the Spotlight bug where it only finds apps but nothing else (no deep settings, contacts, messages, photos, etc.).

The combo that actually worked:

1.  Changed iPhone Language to English (US) (Settings > General > Language & Region > iPhone Language).

2.  Went to Settings > Siri & Search.

3.  Turned OFF every single option at the top (Suggest Apps Before Searching, Allow Notifications, Show in App Library, Show When Sharing, Show Listening Suggestions).

4.  Then, for every individual app in the list below, turned OFF all options (Show App in Search, Show Content in Search, etc.).

5.  Restarted the phone.

6.  Spotlight immediately started showing deep results again (settings shortcuts, etc.).

7.  Turned all the individual app search options back ON (while still on US English).

8.  Restarted again and left it on Wi-Fi for a bit – everything still working perfectly.

9.  Finally switched language back to English (UK) – restarted – and it’s still 100% fixed.

This seems to fully force-rebuild the corrupted content index that gets stuck on some devices

i tried advice above - didn’t helped

but, i was thinking - indexing stopped, what could be an issue.

i had English US as a language of the phone.

i changed to English UK and left it and it made indexing again and all things came back

I had this problem but was able to fix it by contacting Apple Support. The fix suggested was to Reset All Settings.

Kindly go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset, then tap "Reset All Settings

Frogmirth wrote:

I had this problem but was able to fix it by contacting Apple Support. The fix suggested was to Reset All Settings.

Kindly go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset, then tap "Reset All Settings

Did your Home Screen reset its layout?

What is your system language? What was the language on previous iPhone? I found that before back up it was English UK and I decided to make English US and that was the issue. It was not doing the indexing. I changed backed and it worked

I had success without having to reset settings!

General>Software Update>Beta Updates

Mine was toggled "off". I toggled "on" (which triggered a process that took many seconds) and then back "off"

Problem solved

After updating to 26.0.1 then toggling Show Recent Searches, Show Related Content off and on under Search per Soulsurvivorla66 post. I can now search settings. This didn't work under 26 but now does.

Been having the same issue with my 17 Pro.

What worked for me was the following.

Changed the Preferred language to English US. Change the Keyboard to English US. And then I just left it like that for an hour or so. No reboots.

Tried searching in settings and it worked. 

Changed all my settings back to English South Africa and all is still good.

This is the only thing in this list that worked. Update to 26.0.1, then turn off Show Recent Searches, Show Related Content, then turn them back on. Thank you!

sorry for that , if the device is unresponsive or any app is it , you should try to force restart the device to check , otherwise if the issue periste , i advice u to backup the device and restore it using a MAC or PC and it works , it can be issue with the software

It does the Indexing of words, so it takes time. Reset all settings work!

Toggling Beta updates off Or on worked for me as mentioned by others.

I’m happy to report that when you change the whole OS language from X to Y (delete X from the list) and let it rest for a day, like a normal day from 7 am to 9-10 pm and change it back for the desired language let it rest for the night on charger will (probably) fix indexing and searching issues. For me it worked. Have a great day.