How to Turn Off Spotlight Look Up on an iPhone

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: January 28, 2017 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to disable the suggestions and app searches that Spotlight provides when you look up a word or phrase on your iPhone. Disabling suggestions will help you save battery life, and it will make it easier to navigate the search results in Look Up.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:
Disabling Spotlight Suggestions

1
Open your iPhone's Settings. This is the gray gear icon located on your Home Screen.
2
Tap General.

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3
Tap Spotlight Search.
4
Slide the switch next to Suggestions in Look Up to off position. This will disable Spotlight Look Up from suggesting results from the Web, iTunes, App Store, movie showtimes, and nearby map locations when you search.
- Spotlight will still give you the option to search the web after you disable this feature, but it will not make automatic suggestions.
- Turning off Suggestions will also disable your iPhone from sending your search-related usage data to Apple, and limit all searches to the contents of your device.
5
Slide the switch to off position for every app listed under Search Results. It'll turn white. This will disable Spotlight from searching the content of the apps you have installed, and Spotlight will only search the contents of your device.
- Note that this applies to both of Spotlight's Look Up and Search functions. It is not possible to exclude an app from Look Up, but not Search, or vice versa.
6
Tap the back button at the top-left corner of your screen.

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Part 2

Part 2 of 2:
Disabling Location-Based Suggestions

1
Tap Settings at the top-left corner of your screen.
2
Tap Privacy.
3
Tap Location Services.
4
Scroll down and tap System Services.
5
Slide the switch next to Location-Based Suggestions to off position. This will disable your iPhone from keeping track of which apps you use the most in different locations and suggesting apps based on your current location in Spotlight.

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