How to Delete Messages in Spotlight Search History without Resetting or Syncing!!

It's a lot easier than it was first explained. And it does work. Go to- settings, then general, then spotlight search. Then uncheck everything that you do not want to come up on the search anymore. In most cases it's sounds like most people do not want their previous messages and mail to come up. UNCHECK THEM. then go to your search and look. They should be gone already.

Vinny, the email and texts should be gone once deleted, not just out of sight. Anyone may change those settings and one's private/secure information is once again available to see.

I have found that deleting texts or emails as soon as I read them, then emptying trash, does delete them and that they do not show up in Spotlight Search. It's not a perfect solution, but it works.

Thank you for helping me figure this out! I did exactly the steps that you listed and it worked! The only thing that happened a little different was- when I turned my phone off the first time I noticed that it rechecked the 'Messages' box in spotlight search settings. So once this was unchecked again I turned it off and on a couple times and Bingo! Gone! THANK YOU!!!

This is a way to delete old emails and messages that pop up on the spotlight search

ok i have found out how to fix every thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok what you have to do is get on your mobile device iPhone, iPod, iPad, etc.

READ IMPORTANT---->Make sure you BACK UP your device before doing these steps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Step 1: Go to Settings

Step 2: Go to General

Step 3: Go to Reset

Step 4: Go to Erase All Content and Settings

Step 5: Wait for device to delete everything (the device should turn off)

Step 6: Turn back on device

Step 7: Go through the device setup

Step 8: Your device will look like its brand new with no contacts, songs, apps, etc.( dont panic )

Step 9: Sync your itunes with your device to get your apps, songs, contacts, etc.

Step 10: Go to your spotlight search and check for the messages...I bet there isnt any...I garentee that ther eisnt any old messages or old emails

Hope this helped you all out...please reply if you have any questions.

Don't jailbreak if its a new iPhone you can void the warrenty on the device and can't get any physical damages fixed...if you are going to jailbreak your phone do it after the warrenty expires...which should be a year...

That does work, Bevus, and it is what I did awhile back, but then you are starting w/a fresh slate that will again be filled. So, once you have rid yourself of the old deleted emails and text messages, the only way I have found to avoid new ones appearing in SS is to delete them quickly. I know that does not sound like it would work, but it does. I am unsure how long they can be on your device before deleting them, but I read my mail and texts within a day, and then delete anything private after I have read it. Someone on this thread (or maybe another) told me this. I thought it sounded silly but I did try it and it works. Then you will not have to keep doing the reset and restore.

Also, if you save deleted drafts of emails they will show up on SS too, so I no longer save drafts which are private.

I cant find saved messages on the spotlight search but one day i didnt lock my phone after usage and it was laying on my lap. I had picked it up to use it and on the screen was old messages and a bunch of them. These had appeared after i had removed all my msgs from my inbox in hopes of freeing up memory for IOS 8. These messages where on a black back ground and were certainly old deleted ones. As a habbit i clicked the home button and that screen was gone. Maybe that is where the saved messages are! Does anyone know what im talking about? or how to recreate that screen? Please help!

Go check the box again, they're still there. They aren't deleted by doing that, they are simply not searched. I want mine deleted so when the checkbox is checked, they no longer show up. I have deleted the email account they were originally created in, and they still show up in this search even though the account that sent them no longer exists in the phone.

Hey Amonymous86 ... so I see that your method works for some but not for others.. Unfortunately I was one of the "others" who it didn't work for... BUT.. no worries I have found a solution.. it may seem like kinda a pain in the *** to some but for me it was worth it and really not a big deal.

1. Go to your current texts or emails, delete whichever ones you don't want to show in spotlight history. The ones you delete will be permanently gone as well as those ancient texts and emails that have been stuck in your spotlight for centuries.

2. Go to your settings > reset > reset all settings (as long as you press the right one - "reset all settings" you don't need to worry about any of your pictures, music, contacts, info, anything. All this does is reset your settings.. so you will have to reselect your wallpapers, reset your passwords, etc... YOU WILL NOT LOSE ANY DATA. and if you are seriously worried about it, backup your phone right before you take these steps.)

3. Your phone should bring up the apple logo and a bar while it is resetting. When your lock screen pulls up, unlock it like normal and search your spotlight history. The only texts or emails that should show up are the ones that you left in the history before you reset all settings.

🙂 hope this works for all you nervous wreck people having a hard time deleting your spotlight history. 🙂 it worked for me on my iPhone 4 as well as iPhone 6. Sorry you have to reset your passwords, Wi-Fi settings.. re-log into facebook or social media and wallpapers but it may be worth it if you were in the same situation as me 🙂 good luck my fellow apple lovers. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS HELPED YOU!!!

It took forever, but I figured out how to delete my iMessages. The problem is that Spotlight needs to reindex iMessages again after you delete your messages (it doesn't because of a bug).

1. Go to General Settings > Spotlight Search, and uncheck Messages.

2. Turn on iMessages and log in.

3. Send yourself some random text like, "asdf". Alternately, you can just send yourself a blank space, " ".

4. Go back to General Settings > Spotlight Search, and recheck Messages. This will force it to reindex your messages.

5. Do a search for the random text you entered if you want to double-check that this worked. All the other messages will be gone.

6. Go to General Settings > iMessages and turn it off to log out.

I think we should offer up feedback to Apple.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Didn't work for me. But nice try.

I'm curious if it works for anyone else.