spotlight search doesn't work on iPhone 6 iOS 9.2.1

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Level 1

13 points

spotlight search doesn't work on iPhone 6 iOS 9.2.1

When swiping the home screen right, it displays Siri suggestions, nearby restaurants, etc., and news. However, when I type in a query I basically get no results. Once in a while some random suggested app from the Apple App Store will show up – I can't figure out why that particular app and not others that might also match. But I get no apps or contacts or notes that are on my iPhone, and no web search results, as well as no ability to send the query to a web search engine. It's been this way for months now, through a couple of updates to the iOS. I have tried turning off all spotlight options and turning them back on again, restarting, cursing. Nothing works.

iPhone 6, iOS 9.2.1, spotlight

Posted on Mar 9, 2016 2:43 PM

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Answer 1

ckuan

Level 10

120,686 points

Mar 9, 2016 2:46 PM in response to Yigal Arens

Have you done these:

Restore from backup

Restore as new

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201252

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Answer 2

Yigal Arens Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 9, 2016 2:50 PM in response to ckuan

Thanks for your response!

No, I haven't done either, for fear that this would take a long time without guaranteeing a solution. I would do it if I thought this would take care of the problem. Do you have reason to believe it will?

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Answer 3

ckuan

Level 10

120,686 points

Mar 9, 2016 2:53 PM in response to Yigal Arens

Well there's no guarantee, but these are the basic troubleshooting steps.

But first, you might want to try

Force Restart

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201559

There will be no data lost doing force restart.

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Answer 4

Yigal Arens Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 9, 2016 2:58 PM in response to ckuan

I have already tried a restart (more than once) and a forced restart. Didn't help.

I guess I'll try a restore. I should note that I've gone through a couple of updates to the OS – including most recently 9.2.1 – which have had no effect.

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Answer 5

ckuan

Level 10

120,686 points

Mar 9, 2016 3:03 PM in response to Yigal Arens

Then you have to try restore as new and test, do not use the backup.

You can restore from backup if there's no change.

If all is good restoring as new then your backup is the issue.

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Answer 6

Yigal Arens Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 9, 2016 3:12 PM in response to ckuan

Can I ask you a question, then? If I do a "restore as new", what do I lose that I'll need to re-enter or re-install? Is it the whole backup? And if I conclude that the backup is indeed the problem, any suggestions on how to recover? Thanks!

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Answer 7

ckuan

Level 10

120,686 points

Mar 9, 2016 3:20 PM in response to Yigal Arens

Restore as new means exactly that, like just got it out of the box.

Restore from backup is all or nothing thingy, you cannot selective choose.

If you restore as new and is working fine, then you need to manually sync back your music, books, apps.

Your calendar(s), contacts should be fine if you have iCloud on for these items.

Settings > iCloud > Contacts: ON, Calendars: ON and etc.

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Answer 8

Mar 9, 2016 3:21 PM in response to Yigal Arens

Yigal Arens wrote:

I have already tried a restart (more than once) and a forced restart. Didn't help.

I guess I'll try a restore. I should note that I've gone through a couple of updates to the OS – including most recently 9.2.1 – which have had no effect.

Restoring from back up solved the problem for me.

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Answer 9

Yigal Arens Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 9, 2016 3:24 PM in response to ckuan

I guess I'll try that, then. Thanks.

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Answer 10

ckuan

Level 10

120,686 points

Mar 9, 2016 3:32 PM in response to Yigal Arens

You're welcome.

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Answer 11

elcpu

Level 7

31,481 points

Mar 9, 2016 3:32 PM in response to Yigal Arens

There are several cooks on this already but I'll give you my 2 cents worth.

Restore from Backup first. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201252

If it now works you are home free, succes!!!

If restoring from backup does not help, then restore again but as New. If it now works you will know that there is an issue with the backup and would have no choice but to configure from scratch - time consuming to be sure...

Hopefully restoring from backup will take care of it. I have had to do both, from backup takes about 30-60 minutes, as new took me a day and a half since I had to reconfigure all settings and many heavily customized apps.

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Answer 12

Yigal Arens Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 9, 2016 3:36 PM in response to elcpu

The knowledge that this will take a long time is why I haven't tried that until now... I guess I know what fun stuff I'll be doing this weekend. Thanks.

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Answer 13

elcpu

Level 7

31,481 points

Mar 9, 2016 3:53 PM in response to Yigal Arens

I understand... and to be sure, there is no guarantee that it will work. Restoring is the standard recommended approach and I would do it, but it does not solve all issues. I have had an issue with my Photos App that has not been resolved, even by AppleCare Level 2...

While restoring from backup may take an hour, it is not an hour of work, most of the time is spent waiting for the download and then for the download to be installed.

In your original message you said "I have tried turning off all spotlight options and turning them back on again, restarting, cursing". if you have to restore as new and reconfigure all from scratch you will be doing a lot of the later. 😟

Good luck.

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Answer 14

Yigal Arens Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 11, 2016 5:07 PM in response to elcpu

Just an update. I did a "restore from backup" last night. Everything worked fine when I tested it right after, but it later returned to the way it has been: Entering text in the search bar returns nothing but a blank screen, and sometimes a single (apparently) random matching app as a "top hit". I don't have the time nor the inclination to do a "restore as new", given how cumbersome the process is and the lack of certainty about the results. I think it's ridiculous that Apple allows this situation to exist. Web searches indicate to me that I am not the only one suffering from one version or another of this problem.

Thanks to elcpu and ckuan who tried to help!

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Answer 15

ckuan

Level 10

120,686 points

Mar 11, 2016 6:07 PM in response to Yigal Arens

You're welcome.

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