While it’s surprisingly bad, you can sometimes find messages in a message thread simply by searching for it. The Messages app can get really messy, especially with group messages going on. This can make it near impossible to find the message you were looking for. Follow along to learn how to search in the Messages app on iPhone.

How to search in the Messages app on iPhone

Many will reply to messages simply by tapping on its notification. This means that you’re almost never on the main conversations view that lists every conversation you’ve ever had. What most may not know is that you can do a quick search, which will search through all your message threads for a specific keyword.

To do this:

  • Go into the main conversations view.
  • Swipe down anywhere in the conversations view. A search menu will appear.
  • Tap on the search bar and search for what you’re looking for.

Unfortunately, searching in the Messages app is not the best experience. Not only does it take forever most of the time, but you’ll also need to be very careful with your keywords, especially with phrases. Messages is searching for the specific word or phrase you’re asking it to look for.

For example, searching “I am here” may not show any results if the specific keyword was “here I am”. Messages search will also only apply to the last known instance of the word. So, searching for “Apple” in a thread that talks a lot about Apple products will only show you the most recent message that contains that word.

For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:

  • How to add weather summary to your iPhone Lock screen
  • How to enable Home Screen Sync on Apple TV
  • How to turn off and restart iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max
  • How to set up Apple Pay on MacBook Air
  • How to enable Workout Do Not Distrub on Apple Watch
  • How to customize Apple Watch notifications
  • How to pair Bluetooth headphones on Apple Watch
  • How to sync music and podcasts to Apple Watch from iPhone
  • How to disable automatic app install on Apple Watch
  • How to update software on Apple Watch