iOS: Contact Search Not Working on iPhone or iPad?

Several users have reported problems with the iOS Contacts app. Some users have reported an issue in which iPhone or iPad’s contact app freezes during a contact search.  Others have stated that conducting a search always yields “No Results”. Furthermore, some users stated that they started having this problem after updating their iOS software to the latest version.

See also: Spotlight Search problems?

This article explains what to do when Contact search is not working properly. These include, but is not limited to:

• Contact search does not work as expected
• Contact search does not show any results
• Contact search freezes and becomes unresponsive

If you are experiencing issues with your Contacts application, here is how you can troubleshoot:

Fix Contact search

See also: Messages Showing Numbers, Not Contact Names? Fix

Please after performing each step, please check to see if the issue is resolved.

1. Restart your device. You can do so by going to Settings > General > Shut Down

2. Force restart your device. Different models require different steps to do this:

• Phone 6s and earlier, iPad, or iPod touch:Press and hold the sleep/wake button and home button together until you see the Apple logo.
• iPhone 7 models: Press and hold the Side and Volume Down buttons together until you see the Apple logo.
• Other iPhone models (iPhone 8, X, Xr etc): Press and release the Volume Up button and then Volume Down button, and then press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo.

3.Launch the Contacts app, tap Groups, uncheck all contacts and re-check and tap Done.

4. Close the Contacts app and restart it. To do this, double press the home button quickly, swipe up on the Contacts app’s preview to close it. Then relaunch it.

Related: iOS Message Notifications: Contact Names Missing