Photos album search not working iOS 18.7.2

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Level 1

6 points

Photos album search not working iOS 18.7.2

Hi I know when I first updated to ios18 it took ages for the indexing to take place and to be able to search and get album titles included in the search. It was working mostly ok (not 100 percent reliable but mostly) but not over the past week or so it won’t bring up any albums that I know are there. I use the feature a lot and it’s driving me mad. I have tonnes of albums I use for work so need to be able to find them quickly by name.

Any idea why it’s got even worse recently? iOS 18.7.2 iPhone 12 Pro

Thanks :)

iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Dec 6, 2025 11:57 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

azaksalmarzur28

Level 4

1,224 points

Dec 7, 2025 2:16 AM in response to DrNancyP

Force Photos to rebuild the album index

This doesn’t delete photos.

Go to Settings → Photos
Turn iCloud Photos OFF
Choose Download Photos & Videos (important!)
Restart iPhone
Turn iCloud Photos back ON

After a few minutes to a few hours (depending on library size), album search usually starts working again.

This is the most successful fix

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Answer 2

DrNancyP Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 7, 2025 3:16 AM in response to azaksalmarzur28

Thanks but I can’t download them to my phone as there’s far more in the cloud than I have storage for so is that an issue?

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