--- title: "Search and organize your chats" description: "Find a message again in IoTFlows chat: the Search Messages box above the chat list searches every chat you belong to in the selected organization and waits for you to stop typing, the magnifier in a chat's header searches only that chat and fires on every keystroke, and either result jumps the thread to the message and flashes it blue for a second. A chat's unread count clears when you reach the bottom of the thread, not when you open it, and on web the list column drags between 300 and 500 px wide without remembering the width." category: "Send and find messages" source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/messaging/search-messages/" --- # Search and organize your chats Find a message you remember, and keep the unread count worth reading. Chat gives you one list and two searches. The list at `/chats` says what is waiting, the box above it searches every chat you belong to, and the magnifier in a chat's header searches only the chat that is open. All three read the organization selected in the header, so a message in another organization needs [a switch first](/docs/get-started/switch-organizations/). **Before you start:** have a chat to open. See [Start a direct or group chat](/docs/messaging/start-a-chat/). ## The chat list and unread counts The list runs down the left of `/chats`. Each row carries the chat's picture, its name, when the last message arrived (a time today, a date before that), one line of that message, and a gray pill counting what you have not read. A direct chat is named for the other person, a group for the group. The list is ordered by activity. A new message moves its chat to the top and adds one to the pill, unless you sent it or already have that chat open. Opening a chat with unread messages does not drop you at the newest one. The thread opens where you stopped reading, under an **Unread Messages** divider. ![The chat list column at /chats, with a gray unread count pill on the top row](/images/messaging/msg-search-01.webp) *The chat list at /chats, with a gray unread count on the right of the one row holding unread messages.* The pill clears when you reach the bottom of the thread, not when you open it. While you are scrolled up, a down-arrow button at the bottom right of the thread carries a blue count: select it to jump to the newest message, which clears the pill too. Leave a chat halfway and the pill keeps whatever is still below you. There is no mark-as-unread, no mute, and no archive, so the count stays honest only if you read a thread to the bottom or leave it alone. A work order's comment thread is a chat of its own, and the reliable way back to it is to open the work order. See [Chat versus work-order comments](/docs/messaging/overview/#chat-vs-comments). ## Search across every chat 1. Select **Messaging** in the navigation to open `/chats`. 2. Type into the **Search Messages...** box above the list. The results replace the list. Search covers every chat you belong to in the selected organization, direct and group, and it waits for a pause in your typing before it runs. Each result names the chat it came from, the time of the message, and the matching text. A file sent with no message of its own shows a paperclip and the file name, so `torque-spec-rev-c.pdf` is findable by name months later. ![The Search Messages box above the chat list, with message results from three chats listed below it](/images/messaging/msg-search-02.webp) *The Search Messages box above the chat list, with results from three different chats replacing the list.* Selecting a result clears the box, opens that chat, and scrolls the thread to the message, flashing it blue for about a second. A message older than what the thread has loaded is fetched with its neighbors first, so you land on it in context. A query that matches nothing returns "No search results found" in place of the list. Clearing the box brings the chat list back. > **Info:** > **Searched the wrong box?** > > The search box in the site header looks for records, not messages. Message search lives above the chat list and nowhere else. See [Global search](/docs/get-started/navigate-the-dashboard/#search). ## Search inside one chat 1. Open the chat. 2. Select the magnifier at the top right of the chat header, to the left of the **...** menu. 3. Type into the **Search Messages...** bar that slides down under the header. This search reads only the open chat, and it runs on every keystroke. Each result shows who sent the message, its text or file name, and its time. Selecting one jumps the thread to that message with the same blue flash. ![The search bar open under a chat header, listing matching messages from that chat with each sender's name](/images/messaging/msg-search-03.webp) *The in-thread search bar under a chat header, with matches from that chat listed by sender.* The bar stays open, so you can jump to one match and come back for the next. Select the **X** at its right to clear the text and close the bar. Unlike the list search, this one has no empty state: a query that matches nothing shows nothing. > **Info:** > **Which search do you want?** > > Search inside the chat when you remember who said it, and globally when you only remember what was said. Global search across a busy organization returns more than you can read, so a two-word query like `bearing arrived` beats `bearing` by itself. ## Resize the pane The border between the chat list and the thread is a drag handle 8 px wide. Hover it until the pointer changes, then drag sideways. The list opens at 300 px, which is also its minimum, and stops at 500 px. The width is not saved. Returning to `/chats` later puts the list back at 300 px. You do not need this. Widen the list only when the names you are scanning are cut off, for example when several chats start "Line 4 Changeover". On mobile the list and the thread each fill the screen and swap as you open and close a chat, so there is no handle to drag. ## See also - [Send, reply to, edit, and delete messages](/docs/messaging/send-messages/) - [Pin messages and add reactions](/docs/messaging/pin-and-react/) - [Navigate the dashboard](/docs/get-started/navigate-the-dashboard/#search) - [Manage chat members and settings](/docs/messaging/manage-a-chat/)