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How to Remove the Search Bar from the Lock Screen on the Apple iPhone 12

    This guide will show you how to remove the search bar – also known as Spotlight Search – from the Lock Screen so it no longer appears on your Apple iPhone 12.

    The Spotlight Search bar feature lets you quickly find anything on your iPhone (such as an App) and on the web (like a Google search) and appears when you swipe down from the top-middle of the lock screen. Search also provides various suggestions and updates the results as you type.

    While the feature can be useful, not everyone will want it appearing directly on their lock screen. This could lead to inadvertent searching, clutter, and other convenience issues. Good thing is – you can turn off the search functionality on the Lock Screen without removing it entirely from the device.

    Continue below for a quick set of steps on disabling Spotlight Search, in addition to steps on turning it back on or adjusting settings if you decide you want it back at another time.

    In This Guide hide
    How to Remove Spotlight Search from the Lock Screen
    How to Add Spotlight Search on the Lock Screen
    How to Use Spotlight Search from the Lock Screen
    How to Adjust Spotlight Search Settings
    Additional iPhone Support

    How to Remove Spotlight Search from the Lock Screen

    You can turn off spotlight search and the steps are simple – it might just be confusing as the setting is a little buried in a seemingly unrelated menu. Here’s how you can turn it off.

    1. From the device, open the Settings app.
    2. Scroll down and tap Face ID & Passcode.
    3. Enter your device passcode.
    4. Scroll down to the Allow Access When Locked section.
    5. Toggle off the Today View and Search setting.

    How to Add Spotlight Search on the Lock Screen

    If you realized you want to get search back on the lock screen, follow the steps below to re-enable Spotlight Search:

    1. From the device, open the Settings app.
    2. Scroll down and tap Face ID & Passcode.
    3. Enter your device passcode.
    4. Scroll down to the Allow Access When Locked section.
    5. Toggle on the Today View and Search setting.

    How to Use Spotlight Search from the Lock Screen

    If you’re unfamiliar with exactly how to use Spotlight search, you can check out how easy it is below.

    1) When on the lock screen and with face ID enabled, swipe down from the top center of the iPhone.

    2) Spotlight search will open – begin typing to search.

    spotlight search

    Notes

    If you swipe down from too close to the top-right, it will open the control center (which is another way to quickly do actions – check out our guide here if you’re unfamiliar: How to Use the Control Center on Apple iOS devices.

    If this isn’t working, Spotlight Search may be disabled on the Lock Screen – continue below if you need to turn it on.

    How to Adjust Spotlight Search Settings

    You can change settings to limit or increase the apps and results appear when you run a search on the iPhone:  

    1. From the home screen, open the Settings app.
    2. Scroll down and tap Siri & Search.
    3. Scroll down and select an App from the list.
    4. Turn on or turn off a desired setting for the app:
      • Show App in Search
      • Show Content in Search
      • Show on Home Screen
      • Suggest App
      • Suggest Notifications

    Additional iPhone Support