How to fix an app not showing in iPhone Spotlight Search

When you pull down the iPhone Home Screen or Lock Screen, you get to Search, also called Spotlight Search. Type an app’s first letters, and it will show up in the results, letting you open that app immediately.

However, if a particular app isn’t appearing in Search, that’s because you or someone with access to your iPhone excluded that app from search results. Here’s how to reverse that.

Show app in iOS Search

Allow an app to show up in Search

  1. Open iPhone or iPad Settings.
  2. Tap Siri & Search.
  3. Tap the app that doesn’t appear in search results.
  4. Enable Show App in Search.
Enable Show App in Search on iPhone

From now on, this app will start appearing in Search once again. Simply swipe down from the middle of your iPhone Home Screen or Lock Screen and type the app name.

In case the app doesn’t show up, restart your iPhone.

Besides that, you can also enable or disable Show Content in Search, which is responsible for displaying that app’s content in iOS Search.

By default, you can find all apps in Search. But to increase your privacy, like preventing someone from seeing your contacts or hiding iPhone apps so that it’s difficult for others to open apps, you can disable the Show App in Search toggle for a few sensitive apps. If you do that, you will have to launch that app from the App Library, Home Screen, or ask Siri to open it.

Handy tips: