[Wildo6882]

When I go into my texts and use the search box, and search for one particular contact only, nothing shows up for him. Even though I know I have texts from him.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about, have the same issue, and/or know how to fix it?

Thanks!

[JustMe'D]

The message(s) from that particular contact *should* be located *if* it or they have not been deleted. Have you tried searching via the spotlight search? From the default homescreen, swipe the screen to the right. You will see a search field. Enter that person's name.

[Wildo6882]

Yeah, doesn't show up in the spotlight search or the search from the text message app itself. It's strange because it is just one friend. Even where another friend mentioned his name, that text thread shows up. Just not the thread where he has text me. It's odd.

[JustMe'D]

That is strange. Have you confirmed that the message is indeed still on your device? Is it an iMessage or a regular SMS message? If its an iMessage and if you have another device such as an iPad, iPod Touch or a Mac that is capable of sending and receiving iMessages, initiate the iMessage app and see if the message will display and be found via a search on that device.

[Wildo6882]

Yeah, it is still on the device. I made sure not to delete it so I could test it out. It is definitely still there. It is a regular text message, not iMessage. It's just really weird because he is the only one that I've noticed this with.

[Wildo6882]

Anyone ever seen this before or know of anything that could be causing it...or how to fix it?

[Wildo6882]

Just not the thread where he has text me. It's odd.

Huh?

[naviwilliams]

Wildo, as a test restart your phone and try again.

Also if that fails go to your contacts and verify EXACTLY how you have that person listed. Then perform a search for the first name of that person from the text message screen.

If that fails, ask your friend to send you a test text message and then try the search again.

I wonder if for some reason that message wasn't indexed.

[Wildo6882]

Wildo, as a test restart your phone and try again.

Also if that fails go to your contacts and verify EXACTLY how you have that person listed. Then perform a search for the first name of that person from the text message screen.

If that fails, ask your friend to send you a test text message and then try the search again.

I wonder if for some reason that message wasn't indexed.

I've done all of that. This has been going on for a month or so. It's just really strange that it's only one person. It isn't the biggest deal in the world, just enough to make me want to figure out how to fix it.

[naviwilliams]

Change that persons name in the address book. And have them send another message and perform said search.

[Wildo6882]

Change that persons name in the address book. And have them send another message and perform said search.

Roger. I'll check it out and report back.

[Wildo6882]

Ok, so I deleted all texts from him, deleted him as a contact, added him back in, had him text me and still nothing.

It's just enough to drive me crazy. Hate when I can't figure something like this out.

[Wildo6882]

Looks like I figured it out. Not sure why this affected one contact, but this is what I did:

Went into Settings>General>Spotlight Search and reorganized where things would show up, turned off and on Messages, and bam! Now it works again.

Strange but it worked.

[JustMe'D]

Looks like I figured it out. Not sure why this affected one contact, but this is what I did:

Went into Settings>General>Spotlight Search and reorganized where things would show up, turned off and on Messages, and bam! Now it works again.

Strange but it worked.

As always, the simplest of actions are the ones that fixes the problem. Anyway, I'm glad you got it figured out, my friend. Job well done. Take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

[Wildo6882]

Yeah, of course it was an easy fix. I've been messing with this for a month! Thanks to you guys who chimed in to help!

[naviwilliams]

Nicely done!

[JustMe'D]

Yeah, of course it was an easy fix. I've been messing with this for a month! Thanks to you guys who chimed in to help!

(Laughing)...That's usually how it is...

[Lexa Lopez]

I've been having the same issue, however what I'm finding is that the sms search box is only searching through the text found in my messages and not the contact names, it's been happening for a few weeks now. This is so strange and it's driving me crazy as I text with hundreds of people for work.

[John Porquez]

I actually have the same problem even the previous tip of resetting the spotlight search aint working

[fauzigarib]

Hi there,

Anyone get this issue figured out? A couple things that may help troubleshoot...

- I found that it happened sometime 6.1
- In the Messages app, I search for a message by the first name, and nothing shows up... even though I can see the message in the list. If that name is mentioned in the body of other messages, then those messages show up.
- There is no issue in Spotlight... the messages, while searching by the first name, show up just fine.
- Can't figure out why this happens in some cases and not in others. Haven't been able to narrow this down, but I think that it's having trouble searching for iMessage recipients. Almost like the index for all recipients that have iMessage in my phone is broken.

Any ideas? Been a couple frustrating months with this issue.

-Fauzi

[BENNAudio]

I've been having the same problem as above. I feel it has something to do with unified contacts but I can be for sure. But it is very annoying now that I can't search for a text message string from a friend and now have to scroll through and find that person in the messages list to reread a text message chain.

[spark032207#WN]

Having this exact same problem... Anyone have a solution? Resetting spotlight search options didn't work.

[Audrey Neil]

I just started having this problem last week, and I have been updated forever. Why now? Any fixes? I have an iPhone 4