How to search iphone messages for words

Did you know the Messages app has a Search function for iPhone and iPad? Many people don’t realize that you can easily search through iMessages and text messages on the iPhone, you’ll be able to quickly find messages by name, word, phrase, or other search terms.

iOS Message search is fast and easy to use, but like many other iOS features it’s a little hidden so don’t be surprised if you have never seen it before. This guide will show you who to use the Messages search feature for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

How to Search Messages on iPhone

Messages search will look through and find all matching iMessages and text messages on an iPhone or iPad, here’s how this works:

1. Open the “Messages” app on iPhone or iPad


2. From the message thread screen, tap and hold on a message then pull down on the screen to reveal the hidden “Search” bar


3. Tap into the Search bar and type the term, name, or word to search messages for


4. Matching messages, conversations, and threads will appear below, tap any of them to open the matching message for the searched term

Clearing out the search box will make the message thread screen appear as usual, and you can pull down from the messages screen to search at any time.

You must be searching from the general iOS Messages thread screen, you can not search from within individual message conversations or threads, the search box is only available in the general Messages app screen.

Being able to find matching messages, words, and phrases in Messages is really useful, so if you’re trying to remember what someone said a few months ago, or what a particular topic or answer was, or what a recommendation was, or anything else, you can easily find out just by searching for something for a match. Currently the Messages app does not have an ability to search photos or pictures, but because image search exists in iOS it wouldn’t be surprising to see that feature introduced to Messages too. Note this is completely different from the ability to search for gifs in iOS Messages or the other various sticker features that have their own search functions.

The Messages Search feature could be a little easier to find, and it’s not entirely clear why it’s hidden the way it is, but much of modern iOS requires user discovery in ways that are less than obvious. But as many other iOS features, this one is helpful and handy, once you know that it exists anyway.

If you enjoyed this tip, check out our other Messages tips and tricks here.

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Messages are not just convenient when you don’t want to talk over the phone. They also come in handy as records of your conversations. Whether it’s important information you’re looking for or it’s nostalgia that has gripped you, you can easily find any old messages on your iPhone.

Before you go on to search for a message, know that you can only search for messages that are still on your device. Any old messages that were deleted won’t appear, even if you have iCloud backup on. There is no option to archive messages on iPhone, so once deleted, those messages are gone forever.

There are two ways to search for a message. Let’s get on with it.

Search from within the Messages app

Open the Messages app on your iPhone. With the list of conversation threads open, swipe down on the screen. It doesn’t matter which list you have open – all messages, known senders, or unknown senders. The search will be for all conversations regardless of where you’re searching.

Tap the ‘Search bar’ at the top and type the phrase or the word you’re trying to search for. The more words you remember, the quicker it’ll be to find the result you’re looking for. But even if you don’t remember the exact word and only a few letters, type those. The search will return any messages containing those letters.

A few top results will appear on the screen right away as you type. If you find the message you’re looking for among those results, tap it to open it. Otherwise, tap ‘See All’ to open the complete search results. Then, tap the chat you want to open.

The message you searched for will open in the chat and will be highlighted in a darker bubble for a split second to make it easier to find.

Use the Spotlight Search

You can also search for any message in the Messages app without even opening the app. Spotlight search has improved much over the years. It can even search for content from within the apps. And this entails searching for any iMessage or text messages on your device.

Swipe down on your home screen to bring up the spotlight search. Then, type the message you want to search.

Depending on the results in other places, you might have to scroll down a bit to get to the messages. If the message that appears in the spotlight is the one you’re looking for, tap it to open the chat. Otherwise, tap ‘Search in App’ to view more results.

The results will open in the app. Tap ‘See All’ to see all the results and tap the chat you want to open.

Can’t find the Message?

If you can’t find the message you were looking for, remember that this only works for messages that haven’t been deleted. “But I swear I didn’t delete those messages!” If you are saying this right now, chances are, your iPhone might have deleted those messages and a particular setting is to blame. To double-check, open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Then, scroll down and tap the option for ‘Messages’.

Scroll down in the message settings until you find the ‘Keep Messages’ option. Then, see the option next to it. If it says 30 days or 1 year, you’ve found your culprit. iPhone will delete all old messages after this certain period automatically.

Now, you can’t bring back any old messages but you can change this setting for the future. Tap the option to open it. Then, select ‘Forever’. But beware, selecting forever means you’re essentially going to be giving a lot of space to messages. Maybe selecting 1 year instead of 30 days is a better bargain in this case? That’s for you to decide.

The search option makes it extremely easy to find any old iMessage or text messages on your iPhone. Unfortunately, there’s no option to search for a message within a single chat to further reduce the clutter while searching. But the feature is still pretty great.

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