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Inbox search finds a conversation two ways at once, by matching the contact's name, phone number or email, and by scanning recent message text for the same query, then lets you click straight into the matching message rather than just opening the conversation. This article covers how it works and its practical limits.
Search the inbox: first 5 of 6 steps
- 1Click into the search box
- 2Type your query
- 3Wait a moment for results
- 4Read the results list
- 5Click a result
Before you start
- Search is available to every role that can see the inbox; results are automatically limited to conversations you are allowed to view, same as the rest of the inbox.
- Search works across every channel at once, not one at a time, so a query can return a WhatsApp result and an Instagram result together if both match.
- Message content search is bounded to your organisation's most recent messages rather than your entire history; contact detail search (name, phone, email) has no such limit.
- No separate permission or setting controls search; it is always available from the search box at the top of the conversation list.
Steps
- Click into the search box above the conversation list, which reads "Search conversations..." by default.
- Type your query. You can search a contact's name, part of their phone number, their email address, or a word or phrase from an actual message.
Wait a moment for results. Search runs a short delay after you stop typing to avoid firing a request on every keystroke, shown with a small spinner in the search box while it works.
Read the results list. Each result shows the contact, a snippet of the matched message with your search term highlighted (for message matches), or the conversation's normal preview (for a contact-only match), and a timestamp.
Click a result. If it matched a specific message, you land inside that conversation with the message scrolled into view and briefly highlighted, not just the conversation opened at its latest message. If it matched only the contact, you land at the conversation's current state as normal.
Clear the search with the small "x" in the search box to return to your normal filtered inbox list, including whichever tab, stage or channel filter you had active before searching.
Why message search is a bounded recent scan
Contact details like name, phone and email have a separate plaintext searchable index that VGraple CRM maintains specifically for fast lookups, even though the actual stored values are encrypted at rest. Message content gets no equivalent plaintext copy, on purpose: keeping a full-text, unencrypted index of every message ever sent would mean a second unencrypted copy of the single most sensitive data your customers share with you, which defeats much of the point of encrypting message bodies at rest in the first place. Instead, message content search scans the most recent messages across your organisation directly, decrypting only what it needs to check against your query, which is why it is a bounded recent-history search rather than an instant index over your entire message archive.
Example
A coaching institute's counsellor remembers a parent asked about "hostel fees" a few days ago but cannot recall the parent's name. Typing "hostel fees" into inbox search scans recent messages, finds the match, and shows a highlighted snippet with the parent's name attached, letting the counsellor open that exact message instead of scrolling through dozens of recent conversations by hand.
In practice this trade-off rarely matters for day-to-day work, since most searches are for something recent enough to sit well within the scanned window; it becomes relevant mainly for a business trying to find something from months ago, where searching by the customer's name or phone number, which has no such limit, is the more reliable path.
What you will see
Typing a query narrows results live, with a loading spinner replacing the search icon while a request is in flight, and results replacing the normal conversation list entirely for as long as the search box has text in it. A message match shows a short snippet of surrounding text with your search term highlighted in yellow, so you can judge relevance before clicking. Clearing the search box instantly restores whatever tab and filters you had selected; search does not reset your place in the inbox.
Settings and options
| Behaviour | What it does | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Contact search | Matches name, phone number and email | Uses a plaintext searchable index, no depth limit |
| Message content search | Matches recent message text | Scans the 2,000 most recent org-wide messages, up to 5 matches per conversation |
| Jump-to-message | Opens the conversation with the matched message scrolled into view and highlighted | Message matches only |
| Debounce delay | Waits briefly after you stop typing before searching | Prevents a request on every keystroke |
| Visibility | Restricted roles only see results from conversations they can already access | Same rule as the rest of the inbox |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A message I know exists does not show up in search | It is older than the 2,000 most recent messages across your organisation | Search by the contact's name or phone number instead, or open the conversation directly and scroll |
| Search shows no results at all for a contact I know exists | They may be assigned to a colleague and your role only sees your own and unassigned conversations | Ask an Owner, Admin or Supervisor to check, or reassign the conversation |
| Search is slow to return results | Message content search scans a bounded but still sizeable recent window; this is expected to take a moment, not instant | Wait for the spinner to finish, or narrow your query with a more specific phrase |
| Clicking a result opens the conversation but does not scroll to the message | This can happen if the matched message was deleted after the search index was built | Scroll manually or search again for a fresher result |
| Search returns unrelated conversations | The query matched a common word across many recent messages | Use a more specific phrase, or search by the customer's phone number instead |
Related reading
If search regularly turns up two separate conversations for what looks like the same person, see merging duplicate contacts. For finding conversations by status rather than content, see the inbox tour and unread, snoozed and resolved states.