This guide explainsย how to search for messages on iPhones and iPads. With so many apps forย connecting with friends and colleagues, it isnโ€™t easy to keep track of all the messages and conversations you have on these apps.

Thankfully, all prominent apps, such asย Facebook, WhatsApp, and the iPhone text message app, have a search function built into them. This function enables users to search for any message by entering a few words. This guide demonstrates how to search for messages on an iPhone. You can also use the same steps to search for messages on an iPad.

1. Search Texts on iPhone in Messages App

Here is how to search for any message thread within dozens of messages you have exchanged with your contacts on the iPhone.

  1. Launch the Messageย app.
  2. Navigate to theย search field and type the contactโ€™s name or any relevant keyword you have learned from a message thread.
  3. Once you see some results in the search, you can tap on the thread if it is the relevant thread you are trying to access.
    search for messages within Messages app
  4. Otherwise, tap on See All to see more of the search results.

2. Search for Messages on the iPhone Using Spotlight

Spotlight is iOSโ€™s native search feature. It allows you to retrieve anything from the entire iPhone.

  1. Simply swipe down from the middle of the iPhone screen to invoke the Spotlight search.
  2. Tap the search field and enter the keyword, person, or app name, depending on your search.
  3. Once the search result appears, you can scroll further to the Search in Apps section to check for your desired result within various apps installed on your iPhone.
    search messages using iOS spotlight

3. How To Search for Messages in Facebook Messenger?

Even Facebook Messenger comes with a search function. It makes your work easier to retrieve messages you have exchanged with your Facebook friends.

  1. Launch Facebook Messenger.
  2. Tap on the search section.
  3. Type the search term, and several categories will pop up where the search term wasย found.
  4. If you want messages containing the search term, tap on Messages.
  5. All those message threads that consist of the search term will show up.
  6. Now, you can easily select the message thread you want to access.

Facebook Messenger will also specify how many times your search term was mentioned. You must select a message thread. Then, youโ€™ll be redirected to the point in the conversation where the search term is present, making it quicker to get to your conversations.

4. How to Search WhatsApp Messages on iPhone & iPad

WhatsApp is always ahead of other social media apps in terms of deploying an efficient search function. The process of retrieving a message from WhatsApp by searching is pretty swift. Here is how to do it.

  1. Launch WhatsApp and tap on Chats to see all the WhatsApp chats you have had till now.
  2. Navigate to the search field of WhatsApp, which will be at the top of the screen.
  3. The drill remains the same in WhatsApp. Once you reach the search field, type the search term.
  4. The search results will include all messages containing the search term, highlighted with the search terms present in each message.
    search messages in whatsapp
  5. Tap on the relevant message to the point in the conversation where the search term is present.

Unless you have deleted a particular message thread on any social media, you should be able to find it using any of the search methods mentioned here.

Wrapping Up

Over the years, the search function has improved significantly, making it easy to retrieve messages. The overall technique is similar on all platforms. Thatโ€™s a wrap for this guide on how to search messages on iPhone and iPad.

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