How to Search Text Messages iPhone (An Updated Guide)

Are you speculating about how to search text messages on your iPhone or iPad to find a particular conversation? No need to worry. We will show you the techniques to explore your conversation on the iPhone or iPad. You just need to enter the keyword, and a list will appear associated with that keyphrase. Now, you can select your desired conversation without performing a manual search. Thus, you may find the text messages through the messages app or the Spotlight search bar on iOS by spending a few seconds.

Usually, text messages seem like a historical record of chats with others as well as major events, links, or else. Few iPhone users think that they can easily search through their complete text message history on the iPhone. But you have to apply a couple of steps, and the task ends. In this article, you will learn how to find messages on an iPhone or iPad in the following section. Moreover, the search method for Facebook and WhatsApp conversations on iPhone or iPad will be described in the subsequent section.

Two Quick Ways to Find Text Messages on iPhone

how to search keywords on iphone text messages
how to search keywords on iphone text messages

There are two quick ways available to find the messages on your iPhone for your ease. So, let’s move to the next section to apply any method:

Explore Text on iPhone through the Messages App

The easiest way to search your messages is through the iMessages app, where you don’t need third-party services, and you will easily explore the whole history. Then, you may uncover the desired message from the search results through the below steps:

  1. Firstly, launch the Messages
  2. Secondly, scroll down to reveal the Search bar on the screen.
  3. Thirdly, enter the person’s name, keyword, or topic you want to see.
  4. Now, you will see the related thread(s). You may also click the See All tab if you want to view more threads or else click on the conversation to open it.
  5. Finally, you will view your search with that message.

Note:  The search function is not enough, but it has improved in an older iOS version, and currently, it allows you to search multiple relevant conversations. Though, you may also search the Messages app by using your iPhone’s search function without ever opening the app.

Explore Text on iPhone Messages through Spotlight

Additionally, you may also find text message history using Spotlight search. Follow the below steps to use Spotlight:

  1. Initially, go to the Home screen and swipe downward from the middle of the screen in a couple of steps.
  2. Type what you want to search for in the search bar. The items in the menu below will begin to regulate.
  3. Your message app will open when you select the message, and the chat will hop to the exact message that key phrase you have typed.

Note: If messages do not appear in your Spotlight search results, open Settings and move to Siri & Search. Then, click on the Show In Search option in the labeled section of the search tab until the switch is turned on. After that, roll down to the Messages app in the list, and click on the desired conversation.

How to Search Deleted Text Messages on iPhone or iPad?

Sometimes people want to find old text messages on iOS that have been deleted. Compared to Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, the Messages app does not permit you to archive iMessages ·

  1. Firstly, open the Facebook Messenger
  2. Secondly, click on the Search button at the top of the app. Remember that the Facebook app is updated most often, so that you may see a few different features on your phone.
  3. Enter your search term and a list of various categories that include messages, group messages, relevant Instagram accounts, and further people present in your contacts.
  4. Then, click on the See More tab under the Messages tab. It will list all the matched conversations for your related search term.
  5. You will notice that several sentences match the mentioned search term.
  6. Click on the relevant one message thread, and you will see your searched term highlights within that message. However, you may find those text messages on your iPhone that have not been deleted.

Hence, the same feature is used for Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, but you have another option that you can archive those deleted messages. So, you can effortlessly search for them again. Therefore, it is better not to delete text message threads if you think that they might not be valid anymore in the future.

How to Locate Facebook Messenger Conversations on iPhone & iPad?

The search method of Facebook conversation is straightforwardly easy, and you can apply it in a minute with the Facebook Messenger app.

  1. Firstly, open the Facebook Messenger app.
  2. Secondly, click on the Search button at the top of the app. Remember that the Facebook app is updated most often, so that you may see a few different features on your phone.
  3. Enter your search term and a list of various categories that include messages, group messages, relevant Instagram accounts, and further people present in your contacts.
  4. Then, click on the See More tab under the Messages tab. It will list all the matched conversations for your related search term.
  5. You will notice that several sentences match the mentioned search term.
  6. Click on the relevant one message thread, and you will see your searched term highlights within that message.

How to Locate WhatsApp Messages on the iPhone & iPad?

WhatsApp is one of the trendy messaging apps on the iPhone. Reviewers considered it the best search on the iPhone, like Facebook. It highlights the word that you are looking for, so it will be easy to explore in the thread. Similarly to iPhone deleted messages, you cannot find the deleted message in WhatsApp. Though, if you have archived the message; so, let’s go through the following section to see the exploring method of WhatsApp messages:

  1. Initially, open WhatsApp and sign in.
  2. Navigate to the Chats tab, and then find the Search bar at the top of the screen.
  3. Enter the keyword, person, event, or words that you want to match. Messages with the keyword will show up with the highlighted search terms in bold. Press enter on the related
  4. Finally, you will get the message thread with the highlighted term

Conclusion

We all get multiple messages over a few weeks or months, and it seems complex to find the specific one from a hundred conversations. So it’s better to search through keywords, and a list will appear, and you can select your needed conversation. Hope so; the above method is quite helpful for you to search out the text messages on your iPhone, whether iMessages or Facebook and Whatsapp conversations. We would like to see your views in the comment section regarding the article.