How to stop different characters appearing in Search.

When I search in spotlight on my iPhone parts of it come up in characters in other languages. It seems to only be the Top Hit section. I am not in Asia and neither are any of my phone settings set to Japanese/Chinese etc. How do I stop this from appearing?

iPhone 17 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Feb 8, 2026 11:15 PM

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3 replies

SravanKrA

Level 10

439,620 points

Feb 9, 2026 12:40 AM in response to odoodle

The Apple ID that you are using is set to Japanese / Chinese. Please change that.

None of the apps are on your device; they are still in the App Store. Also, check App Store may have another Apple ID that may be set to Japanese / Chinese.

odoodle Author

Level 1

18 points

Feb 9, 2026 1:09 AM in response to SravanKrA

my Apple ID wasn’t set to Japanese/Chinese.

resetting personalized recommendations seemed to fix it though. 🤷🏽‍♂️

YomoRg

Level 1

12 points

Feb 9, 2026 12:50 AM in response to SravanKrA

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How to stop different characters appearing in Search.