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This article will show you how to fix slow Spotlight Search on iPhone and iPad. Some iPhone users have said that Spotlight Search is especially slow and that it takes a long time to find anything. Spotlight Search is supposed to show you results that match as you type. Users have complained, though, that results don’t show up right away.
Instead, you have to type in the full name of an app (and sometimes wait a few seconds) before the results show up. It seems that this problem started after the iOS 16 update. Spotlight is a useful function. It’s supposed to be quick. We use it a lot to find files, apps, friends, and other things.
Without Spotlight, it can take a long time to find an app on your iPhone, especially if you have a lot of them. Spotlight Search is meant to help you find apps, contacts, emails, files, and do other simple things quickly on your iPhone or iPad. But if you notice delays when using Spotlight Search, here are all the ways to fix Slow Spotlight Search.
Ways to Fix Slow Spotlight Search on iPhone and iPad
Reboot iPhone
To Slow Spotlight Search iPhone first of all, if you’re having this problem with your iPhone all of a sudden, it could be a general glitch. So, in these cases, just restarting the device has worked miracles. So, if this is a new problem for you and you haven’t tried anything yet, you should try this first before looking into the other options.
Clear Spotlight History
No matter what gadget you are using, it will act strangely if there isn’t enough space. We mean slow when we say “weird.” Every job needs some space to run smoothly, and if we can’t give it the space it needs, the performance will drop dramatically. And the same goes for the Spotlight option. So, you should clear the Spotlight information every so often to make sure your device works well. Here’s how to clear your Spotlight history:
- Open device Settings. Go to Siri & Search.
- Click on Siri & Dictation History option.
- Click delete and follow the on-screen instructions to confirm the same.
- Next, check if that fixes the issue, and you can later re-enable them as per your requirements.
Re-enable Search For Individual App
Since you’re here, we hope that restarting the device hasn’t helped fix the Slow Spotlight search. Well, don’t worry, because we have more choices. So, the next thing we need to do is turn off and then back on search for individual apps. We all have some apps that we use more often than others in our daily lives. Not always, but sometimes, these tools might have problems. So, this method will help you check for those things and fix Slow Spotlight Search iPad.
- Open device Settings.
- Go to Siri & Search.
- Disable all the options under the “While Searching” and “Suggestions” section.
- Now, go back and check if it fixes the slow Spotlight search issue. (If yes, you can enable them back.)
Reset All Settings
Reset All Settings doesn’t sound like a good idea, since it resets all the settings we’ve changed to their original settings. But it is still a possible way to fix most iPhone problems caused by bugs. And the problem with Spotlight’s slow search speed is no different. If none of the other fixes work, you could try resetting all the settings to see if that helps. So, here’s how to restart all of your iPhone’s settings.
- Open device Settings.
- Go to General and click on Transfer or Reset iPhone.
- Next, click on Reset and select Reset All Settings.
Disable Siri Suggestion
To Fix Slow Spotlight Search: Siri is the heart of Apple’s intelligence, and it tells you exactly what it thinks you should do next. All of these ideas are made based on what you do every day. This is an important element, especially if you want your search to be easier and simpler. But it could also slow down the speed of your Spotlight searches. Also, many people have already said that the steps below helped them solve their problems.
- Go to device Settings.
- Open Siri & Search.
- Click on Suggestions From Apple.
- Disable the “Allow Notifications”, “Show in App Library”, “Show when sharing”, and “Show when Listening” options or any options available.
- Next, go back and test if the slowness still exists with the Spotlight search or not.
Update iOS
Last but not least, updating your iOS seems to be the last option if nothing else works. Since the problem seems to only happen with iOS 16, updating the firmware might fix it for good. Also, if you are using a different version of iOS and still have the same problem, look for iOS updates, install them, and see if that helps. If you want to know more information about this Visit Official Apple Support site.