Skip to content
AskVault Docs
Try Free →

Conversation search

Written by Joseph Russo, Principal Architect, Networks and Tech, AskVault · Reviewed by Allison Chan
Last updated: · 2 min read

The inbox search box. At the top of the conversation list. Type a word or phrase and, about 250 ms after you stop typing, the list switches to matching messages. Clear the box to go back to your conversations. While you are searching, the inbox filters are hidden: a search covers the whole workspace, not the filtered list.

Search conversations and customers. Click the search icon in the Help Desk side rail, or press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac) and choose Search conversations & customers. Type at least two characters. It has two tabs:

  • Conversations shows up to 20 matching messages. Click one to open its conversation.
  • Customers shows up to 20 customers whose name, email or customer ID matches, ignoring case. Click one to open their most recent conversation.

What search matches

  • The text of messages. Customer messages, AI answers, teammate replies and internal notes are all searched. Internal notes are only ever visible to your team; customers never see them. See internal notes.
  • Every conversation in the workspace, whatever its status: open, escalated, resolved or snoozed. There is no date window.
  • Part of a word. Searching refun finds messages containing "refund" and "refunded".
  • Exact letter case, today. Searching refund does not find "Refund". Case-insensitive message search is rolling out. Until then, try the capitalised spelling too.

Each result is one message, with the matching words highlighted. Results are listed newest first. They are not ranked by how well they match. The inbox search box shows up to 50 matching messages.

What search doesn't match

  • Tags, channel, status, priority or assignee. These aren't searched. Use the inbox filters.
  • Customer names and emails inside the message search. Use the Customers tab in Search conversations & customers.
  • File attachments. File contents are searchable in the knowledge base, not inside conversations.
  • Search operators. Quotes, AND/OR and prefixes like customer: or channel: are not supported. Everything you type is searched as plain text.

Filtering the inbox instead

The inbox has filters for status, channel, tag, priority and SLA state. You can also switch between all conversations, the ones assigned to you and unassigned ones. Filters narrow the conversation list; they are not part of search. You can save a set of filters as an Inbox View. See saved inbox views.

API

There is no public API endpoint for searching conversations. Search is available in the Help Desk only. To read conversations from your own system, see the Conversations API reference.

Common pitfalls

A message you know exists doesn't show up. Check the letter case: today, refund won't find "Refund". Also check you aren't searching for a tag or a customer's email. Tags aren't searched, and customers are found from the Customers tab.

Search shows only part of your results. The inbox search box shows the 50 newest matching messages, and the search window shows 20. Use a more specific word or phrase to narrow it.

FAQ

Can I search inside file attachments?

No. Search matches the text of messages only. File contents are searchable in the knowledge base, not in conversation attachments.

How quickly are new messages searchable?

As soon as they are saved. If you repeat the exact same search within 30 seconds, the inbox may show the earlier results until it refreshes.

Can I export search results?

No. Search results can't be exported.

Is search case-sensitive?

Today, yes, for messages: refund does not find "Refund". Case-insensitive message search is rolling out. Customer search by name or email already ignores case.

Not a search, but you can save a set of inbox filters as an Inbox View. See saved inbox views.

Was this page helpful?