How to Remove Photos From the Spotlight Search Result on iPhone

The Spotlight Search feature on iPhones has been around for a while. It allows users to search for content on the web and devices just with one swipe simultaneously. The search covers content within Apple’s apps, non-Apple apps and Siri suggestions.

The Photos app is one of the included ones in the Spotlight Search by default. So images with details or tags similar to the search query will be part of the search results. And you might not want to reveal your photos in the Spotlight search. So, you can remove photos from the Spotlight Search results on your iPhone. Here’s how to do so:

How to Prevent Spotlight Search From Suggesting the Photos App

If you do not want the Photos app or any other app included in your Spotlight Search results, disable the app from your Settings. After you disable the apps, any search conducted on your iPhone for them in Spotlight will show photos in the results. Here’s how to prevent your iPhone from using the Photos app in Spotlight Search:

Step 1: Tap the Settings app on the iPhone’s home screen.

Step 2: Scroll down the Settings page and tap Siri & Search.

Step 3: Scroll down the Siri & Search page to the apps section.

Step 4: Tap the Photos app.

Step 5: Under the While Searching section, turn off the toggle next to ‘Show App in Search’ option.

That will only prevent the Photos app from showing up in your search results. To prevent the images from appearing in the Spotlight search results, follow the steps below.

How to Prevent Spotlight Search From Suggesting Images From the Photos App in Search Results

You wouldn’t want any of your photos to randomly appear in the Spotlight search results when you’re looking for something. It might contain private or confidential details. Luckily, you can prevent Spotlight search from suggesting images from the Photos app in its results:

Step 1: Tap the Settings app on the iPhone’s home screen.

Step 2: Scroll down the Settings page and tap Siri & Search.

Step 3: Scroll down the Siri & Search page to the apps section.

Step 4: Tap the Photos app.

Step 5: Under the While Searching section, turn off the toggle next to ‘Show Content in Search’ option.

How to Prevent Spotlight Search From Suggesting Certain Photos in its Results

Instead of completely shutting off the Photos app and its content, you can make Spotlight search pick up only select images to display in the search results. Of course, there might be certain images that you do not want showing up in the search results. To prevent that from happening, you will need to hide the photos from the Spotlight search. Here’s how to do so:

Step 1: Tap the Photos app on the iPhone’s home screen.

Step 2: Scroll through the photos gallery and tap a photo you want to hide from the Spotlight search.

Step 3: Tap the More icon (…) at the top right of the page.

Step 4: Tap Hide from the options shown.

Step 5: Close the Photos app.

Step 6: Swipe down on the iPhone’s Home Screen or tap the Search icon at the bottom of the Home Screen for models with Face ID.

Step 7: Type a search query in the search bar related to the hidden photo to confirm it’s been hidden.

How to Turn Off Photos Suggestions

Photos can also be suggested to you by Siri or widgets outside Spotlight Search. These suggestions can depend on your location or how you use the app among other things. To prevent these suggestions, you can turn them off using the following steps:

Step 1: Tap the Settings app on the iPhone’s home screen.

Step 2: Scroll down the Settings page and tap Siri & Search.

Step 3: Scroll down the Siri & Search page to the apps section.

Step 4: Tap the Photos app.

Step 5: In the Suggestions section, tap the toggle beside the following options to turn them off/grey:

• Show on Home Screen: prevents iPhone from suggesting the Photos app to you on your home screen.
• Suggest App: prevents iPhone from suggesting you check out the content in the Photos app.
• Suggestion Notifications: prevents iPhone from sending notifications on content in the Photos app.

Personalizing Siri’s Actions on iPhone

The Siri & Search setting on your iPhone can be used for other things apart from preventing the Photos app from turning up in Spotlight Search. You can also use it to personalize Siri’s responses and actions.