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May 11, 2020  Apple’s operating system uses a variety of methods to launch apps, from Launchpad’s grid of app icons to Spotlight search. If you are using MacOS but prefer the Windows Start menu, try. Jul 12, 2018  The telltale sign of a corrupt Spotlight is when you try to search for an app you use frequently using Spotlight, and it's not the first result (it might not even be in the list!). Numerous times I'll try to open an app like TextMate, Evernote, or even Terminal, and the search results only show web pages, documents, and no apps.

Lots of people have found the Spotlight or Search is not working on their iPhone or iPad. This problem often starts after upgrading to a new device or updating the operating software. Without Spotlight or Search, it’s harder to find what you’re looking for on your device.

The Spotlight or Search function on your iPhone or iPad is a powerful tool. Use it to quickly find contacts, messages, apps, and other content from your device. Drag down from the Home screen or swipe right from the Notification Center to access it. You can even use it to search the web!

If Spotlight or Search stopped working on your iPhone or iPad, use the tips in this post to fix it.

Contents

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• 1 Quick tips
• 2 Why is Spotlight or Search not working on my iPhone?
• 3 How do I fix Spotlight or Search not working on my iPhone?
• 4 Did you find these tips useful?

Quick tips

• Close all apps and restart
• Update your iOS or iPadOS
• Temporarily change your device’s language
• Toggle off Siri Suggestions and learning
• Try removing the Shortcuts widget from your Home Screen

Related:

Why is Spotlight or Search not working on my iPhone?

There are two possible causes for Spotlight or Search problems: hardware and software.

If you have an older device, the processor might struggle to keep up with new software releases. Typically, Apple stops licensing software updates for older devices. But you still might find your iPhone is getting slow even if you can still update it.

More often, the Spotlight or Search function stops working because of a software problem. This might be a bug in iOS or iPadOS that Apple needs to fix. Or it might be an issue with the software on your device in particular.

Whatever the reason, you can fix Spotlight or Search problems using the troubleshooting solutions in this post.

Spotlight or Search may need to re-index your content after upgrading

When you upgrade your iPhone or iPad, the new device needs to index all your content before it turns up in the search results. Sometimes this takes a couple of days. You should leave your iPhone or iPad plugged in as much as possible during this period.

You might also find that your device needs to re-index your data after updating the software. Make sure you allow a couple of days before using the steps below to fix any underlying problems.

How do I fix Spotlight or Search not working on my iPhone?

Use the steps outlined below to troubleshoot Spotlight or Search problems in iOS or iPadOS. Test your device again after each step to see if the Spotlight or Search function is working. And let us know in the comments what fixes it for you!

1. Close every app and restart your device

This is the first thing to try if anything stops working on your iPhone or iPad. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen or double-click the Home button, then swipe every app off the top of the screen to close it.

After you close all the apps, press and hold the Sleep/Wake button with either volume button. Slide to power off your iPhone or iPad, then wait at least 30 seconds before restarting it.

2. Update to the latest release of iOS or iPadOS

A lot of the time, a problem like Spotlight or Search not working is the result of software bugs on your iPhone or iPad. When this happens, Apple eventually releases new updates to patch the bugs. You just need to wait for that update.

Make sure you update your device to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS so you get all the latest fixes. Connect your iPhone or iPad to a working Internet connection, then go Settings > General > Software Update.

3. Temporarily change the language on your device

This seems like a weird one, but it has proven to be an effective solution for a lot of people with this problem. Temporarily change the language on your iPhone or iPad, then change it back again.

To do this, go to Settings > General > Language & Region. If your language is set to English, change it to a different English-speaking region such as Australia, Canada, or the UK.

After you change the language, swipe up from the bottom of the screen or double-click the Home button and close the Settings app. Then change the language back to normal.

4. Turn off Spotlight or Search for individual apps

You might be able to jump-start Spotlight or Search by turning it off and on again. Do this for every single app on your device by going to Settings > Siri & Search. Tap your app names at the bottom of the screen and turn off all the following buttons:

• Learn from this App
• Show in Search
• Suggest Shortcuts
• Show App
• Show Siri Suggestions

After you turn everything off, try the Spotlight or Search feature again. Then return to the Siri & Search settings and turn on the above options for a couple of apps. Test Spotlight, then turn more apps on and repeat.

If you have an older device, you might want to limit Spotlight or Search to only the important apps.

5. Remove Shortcuts widgets from the Home screen

Shortcuts are a great tool for adding new functionality to your iPhone or iPad. Especially if you use those Shortcuts with the Home screen widget.

Unfortunately, some users found this widget made Spotlight or Search stop working. You should turn it off to see if it helps. Go to your Home screen and swipe right to see the widgets. Scroll to the bottom and tap Edit, then remove Shortcuts.

6. Erase and restore your device using a computer

Failing all else, you can fix most problems on your iPhone or iPad by reinstalling the software and restoring it from a backup. We recommend you do this using a computer. Otherwise, your iPhone or iPad won’t reinstall the software properly.

Make a backup of your iPhone or iPad before you start. Connect it to a computer and select Back Up Now in iTunes or Finder. Then follow these instructions to put your device in Recovery Mode.

Select Restore Backup in Finder or iTunes and choose the backup you just made. It might take a little while to restore everything on your iPhone or iPad, but Spotlight or Search should work again after you do so.

Did you find these tips useful?

We use your feedback and comments to keep updating our posts, making them even better for future readers. Is Spotlight or Search still not working on your iPhone or iPad? Or did one of our suggestions help you fix it?

Please share your experiences in the comments!

Dan is a freelance writer based in South West England.

He spent two years supervising repairs as a Genius Admin for Apple Retail and uses that knowledge to keep our troubleshooting guides up to date.

Long before that, Dan turned to Apple products from a musical background. Having owned iPods for years, he bought a MacBook to learn sound recording and production. It was using those skills that he gained a first-class Bachelor of Science in Sound Technology.

On Windows 10, Windows Spotlight is a feature that downloads and sets Bing images as the background on the Lock screen automatically, which allows you to get a fresh look every time you sign in.

However, Spotlight is not a perfect feature and sometimes you may experience problems. For instance, you may see the image stuck in the Lock screen for a long time, or the feature may suddenly stop working.

Although the Settings app doesn't offer an option to reset Windows Spotlight, you can fix most common problems with two simple workarounds.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to fix common problems with Windows Spotlight on your device to keep the Lock screen showing fresh and beautiful images from Bing.

How to reset Windows Spotlight on Windows 10

If Windows Spotlight isn't working or it's stuck in with the same image, you can follow these steps to clean the downloaded images and reset the settings to get the feature working again.

Disabling Spotlight feature

To disable Spotlight on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Personalization.
3. Click on Lock screen.

4. Use the 'Background' drop-down menu, and select the Picture or Slideshow option.

Once you complete these steps, you can proceed with the instructions below to clear the assets, reset the settings, and re-enable the feature.

Cleaning Spotlight assets

To delete the images already locally stored on your device, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Run and click the top result.

3. Type the following path and click the OK button.

   %USERPROFILE%/AppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewyLocalStateAssets

4. Select all the files (Ctrl + A keyboard shortcut) and press the Delete key to clear the old images (if applicable).

After you complete these steps, proceed with the steps below to reset the Windows Spotlight settings.

Resetting Spotlight settings

To reset the Spotlight settings on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Run and click the top result.

3. Type the following path and click the OK button.

   %USERPROFILE%/AppDataLocalPackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewySettings

4. Inside the Settings folder, right-click the settings.dat and roaming.lock files individually, then click the Rename option and change their names to settings.dat.bak and roaming.lock.bak.

5. Restart your computer.

Once you complete the steps, the last step left to do is to re-enable the feature using the Settings app.

Enabling Spotlight feature

To enable Windows Spotlight, use these steps:

Macos Spotlight Search Not Working

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Personalization.
3. Click on Lock screen.

4. Use the 'Background' drop-down menu, and select the Windows Spotlight option.

After completing the steps, you can test that Windows Spotlight is working correctly by locking your device (Windows key + L keyboard shortcut) and making sure that new images rotate in the background every time you sign in.

How to reset Windows Spotlight settings using PowerShell

Alternatively, if you're still having issues with Windows Spotlight, you can use PowerShell to reset its settings with these steps.

Disabling Spotlight feature

To disable Spotlight on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Personalization.
3. Click on Lock screen.

4. Use the 'Background' drop-down menu, and select the Picture or Slideshow option.

Once you complete these steps, you can use PowerShell to reset the Windows Spotlight settings and re-enable the feature.

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Resetting Spotlight settings

To fix problems with Windows Spotlight with PowerShell commands, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command and press Enter:

   Get-AppxPackage -allusers *ContentDeliveryManager* | foreach {Add-AppxPackage '$($_.InstallLocation)appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode -register }

4. Restart your computer.

After completing the steps, Spotlight should start working again on your Windows 10 installation after re-enabling the feature using the Settings app.

Enabling Spotlight feature

To enable Windows Spotlight, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Personalization.
3. Click on Lock screen.

4. Use the 'Background' drop-down menu, and select the Windows Spotlight option.

Once you complete the steps, make sure the workaround fixed the issue by locking your computer and checking if new images appear in the background.

Updated February 19, 2019: This guide has been revised and updated to make sure it's current with the latest version of Windows 10.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

Microsoft Edge gets big update with better full-screen controls, more

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