Find your Evernote notes, notebooks, spaces, tags, and tasks straight from iOS Spotlight search — no need to open the Evernote app. Just swipe down on your home screen and start typing.
- Find your content wherever you use Spotlight — on your home screen, lock screen, or anywhere else Spotlight is available on your iPhone or iPad.
- Search across notes, notebooks, spaces, tags, and tasks — type a few letters and jump to what you're looking for.
- Get there in one tap — tapping a result opens it in Evernote.
- Works even when you're offline. Spotlight uses a local, on-device index, so you can search previously-indexed content without a connection.
This is sometimes called iOS search integration, Spotlight indexing, or system-wide search.
Search your notes from Spotlight
- On your iPhone or iPad Home Screen, swipe down to open Spotlight search (or swipe right to the Search screen).
- Type your search term.
- Scroll to the Evernote section to see your results.
Each result shows the item's title plus a short description: notes show a text snippet, notebooks and spaces show the number of notes inside, tags show the number of tagged notes, and tasks show the note they belong to. Tap a result to open it in Evernote.
What Spotlight can find
Spotlight matches your note, notebook, spaces, tag and tasks titles. Specifically, Spotlight keeps a local index of:
- Your 1,000 most recently updated notes.
- Your 1,000 most recently updated open tasks — completed tasks aren't indexed.
- Your notebooks, spaces, and tags.
- Note titles and a short text snippet of each note (the preview shown under the title).
The index is built and stored on your device. It refreshes in the background as you create, edit, or sync content.
To search the full contents of your notes — including note body text, attachments, PDFs, images, and audio or video transcripts — use search inside the Evernote app. See Search overview.
Spotlight will stop showing your content when you turn off Show content in Spotlight search or log out of Evernote.
Enable Evernote in iOS Spotlight
By default, the feature is enabled for everyone. If you disable it, here are the instructions to re-enable it.
Turn on the iOS permission
- Open the iOS Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Evernote.
- Tap Siri & Search.
- Turn on Show in Search.
- You can also turn on Show on Home Screen and Suggest Notifications if you want Evernote content to appear as Siri Suggestions on your home screen.
Turn on the Evernote setting
- Open the Evernote app.
- Go to Settings > More Settings.
- Turn on Show content in Spotlight search.
If you have a passcode set on the app, there's a related toggle: Settings > Passcode > Show content in Spotlight search. It controls whether your Evernote content appears in Spotlight at all. When it's off, Evernote removes your content from Spotlight entirely — no titles or previews — until you turn it on. When it's on, titles and content previews appear as usual.
The first time you turn the main setting on, Evernote builds a local index on your device. This usually takes a few seconds — Spotlight will start showing your results as soon as the index is ready.
Requirements
- Evernote for iOS or iPadOS, on a recent app version.
- Your notes must have synced to the device at least once so they can be indexed by iOS.
Frequently asked questions
Why don't I see my content in Spotlight?
First, make sure both settings are enabled:
- In iOS Settings > Siri & Search > Evernote, turn on Show in Search.
- In the Evernote app, go to Settings > More Settings > Show content in Spotlight search and turn it on.
If both are on but content still doesn't appear:
- Make sure the note or task has synced to your device.
- Only your 1,000 most recently updated notes and 1,000 most recently updated open tasks are indexed. Older or less recently updated items won't appear.
- Completed tasks are never indexed.
- If you have a passcode set, make sure Settings > Passcode > Show content in Spotlight search is on. When it's off, Evernote removes your content from Spotlight entirely.
- The Spotlight setting is a gradual rollout — it may not be available on your account yet.
- Try restarting your device — Spotlight sometimes needs a refresh to pick up new content.
Does Spotlight search inside note content?
Spotlight searches note titles and the first short text snippet of each note (the preview you see under the title in the result). It doesn't yet search inside longer notes, attachments, or scanned images.
How many notes and tasks are indexed?
Up to your 1,000 most recently updated notes and 1,000 most recently updated open tasks. Anything older, less recently updated, or completed (for tasks) won't appear in Spotlight results.
Are shared notes included?
Yes. Notes that have been shared with you, and notes in notebooks that have been shared with you, are included in Spotlight results — exactly as they appear in the standard Evernote search.
Does this work offline or when the Evernote app is closed?
Yes. Spotlight uses a local index on your device, so you can search previously-indexed content even when your phone is offline, in airplane mode, or when the Evernote app isn't running. Opening a note still requires its content to be available on your device (or a connection to download it).
Will my content still appear in Spotlight if I log out of Evernote?
No. Logging out of Evernote clears the local Spotlight index, and your content will no longer appear in Spotlight results. The index is rebuilt automatically the next time you log in, as long as the setting is still on.
How do I turn it off?
Open Evernote and go to Settings > More Settings > Show content in Spotlight search, then turn the toggle off. The local index will be cleared from your device. To also stop Evernote from showing in Spotlight entirely, turn off Show in Search in iOS Settings > Siri & Search > Evernote.
Does this work on iPad, Mac, or Android?
Spotlight integration is currently available on iOS (iPhone and iPad). It isn't available on macOS or Android yet.
Is my data shared with Apple or anyone else?
No. Spotlight integration uses a local index on your device — your content isn't sent to Apple or any other service. The only thing shared with iOS is the same metadata any third-party app exposes to Spotlight (title, a short description, and the last-updated date).
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