What you need to know
- Twitter has rolled out an update that lets users across various platforms search for specific keywords in direct messages.
- The new DM search functionality is available on the web first, with mobile devices to follow.
- Previously, the search bar only allowed users to search for the names of people or group chats.
Twitter added DM search to its Android app early last year, nearly two years after it was released to the iOS app. However, you could only use the search bar to look for the names of people or group chats in your DMs, making it a less useful content discovery tool.
That changes as of today with a new update to Twitter's DM search functionality. It is now a lot more handy than before thanks to a major upgrade that allows you to actually search for specific keywords in your conversations.
Twitter said the new content search feature is available on the web and is rolling out to mobile devices, including the best Android phones and iPhones.
We know you’ve been waiting for the option to search your DMs…Now you can use the search bar in your inbox to find specific messages using keywords and names. pic.twitter.com/A41G8Y45QIMarch 23, 2022
Of course, you can still use the search bar to find specific names like before. But it's much more useful now with the new update, pulling up specific messages that contain your search keywords.
It makes your content search a lot easier than having to individually open each conversation to find the specific words you're looking for.
The results are divided into four tabs: All, People, Groups, and Messages. This allows you to narrow down your search even further.
However, there is a catch. While the search feature can return results dating back two years, its scope appears to be limited. The Verge pointed out that it didn't show messages older than three years.
Still, it's a welcome improvement to Twitter's DM search bar after a few years of being almost useless.
