Global address list not working on iPhone after iOS 26: causes and fixes

Since iOS 26, many iPhone users can no longer find their colleagues in the Exchange global address list (GAL) from the Phone app: the search box has disappeared, or it returns nothing. Some lookups that worked yesterday stopped working the morning after the update. This guide separates the iOS 26 bug from the older, by-design limits of the GAL on iPhone, and gives the fixes for each, for users and for IT.

The symptoms after the iOS 26 update

The reports on the Apple Support Community describe the same pattern, for Microsoft 365 and on-premises Exchange accounts alike:

• In the new unified layout of the Phone app, the Exchange global address list opens without a search box: there is no way to look up a colleague.

• In the classic layout, the search box is back, but searching the directory returns no results.

• In the Contacts app, searching the same directory still works.

• Removing and re-adding the Exchange account does not change anything.

If that is what you see, the account is fine: the problem is in the iOS 26 Phone app, not in Microsoft 365.

Fixes for the iOS 26 bug

• Update iOS. According to user reports, the directory search came back with iOS 26.2 (some saw it with 26.1, others not). Go to Settings > General > Software Update. For managed devices, IT can push the update from the MDM.

• Search from the Contacts app. Open Contacts, tap Lists at the top left, choose the directory of your Exchange account and search for the name. Tapping the result lets you call the colleague.

• Switch the Phone app to the classic layout. In the Phone app, open the layout menu at the top and choose Classic. It brings the search box back; whether it returns results depends on your iOS version.

• Use Outlook for iOS. Its people search queries the directory directly and is not affected by the bug.

For IT teams with a fleet still on iOS 26.0 or 26.1, a short message to users with the Contacts app workaround avoids most of the tickets until the update is rolled out.

When the GAL never showed up in the first place

Not every “GAL not showing on iPhone” ticket comes from iOS 26. Check these points first:

• Contacts are turned off for the Exchange account. In Settings > Apps > Contacts > Contacts Accounts, open the Exchange account and make sure Contacts is on. Without it, the directory is not offered at all.

• The account is only in Outlook. If the mailbox is set up only in Outlook for iOS, the native Phone and Contacts apps have no Exchange account and therefore no directory. Outlook's “Save contacts” option copies the contacts of the mailbox, not the GAL.

• The colleague is hidden from address lists, or has no phone number in Microsoft Entra ID. The directory can only return what is in it.

• The phone is offline. The directory search queries Exchange live: no network, no results.

The limit iOS 26 did not change: no names on incoming calls

Even when the directory search works perfectly, it is only a search. The GAL is never synced into the iPhone: nothing is stored on the device. When a colleague calls, iOS looks for the number in the contacts stored on the phone, does not find it, and shows a bare number. Searching the directory after the call does not change that.

Showing colleagues' names on incoming calls requires the directory to be on the phone and kept up to date. The usual workarounds (CSV or vCard imports, scripts that copy the GAL into each mailbox) all need maintenance; the reasons are detailed in Why your Microsoft 365 directory doesn't show up in your iPhone contacts.

A fix that does not depend on the Phone app search

Calliente reads Microsoft Entra ID from the iPhone and keeps colleagues on the device, updated every day: arrivals, departures and number changes follow the directory without action from IT. Calls from colleagues show their name, whatever the iOS version and whether or not the directory search works.

• Two storage options. The colleagues in the native Contacts app, or Secure Call ID, which identifies calls without writing anything to Contacts, so nothing reaches personal iCloud accounts.

• Deployed by your MDM. With Intune, see Sync the Microsoft 365 GAL to iPhone contacts with Intune.

• No copy of your directory on our servers. The app reads Entra ID from the phone.

Try it on your tenant

The 30-day free trial runs on your own Microsoft 365 tenant, for 2 users and with no credit card. After that, Calliente costs €6 per user per year (€8 for the Business plan).