Teams messages search function does not show full conversation

[Jason Drew]

When using the search function in Teams chat, is there a way to see more than just one specific message (I would like to see the response to the message)? For example, I searched for a question that I asked someone but I want to know what their response was. Right now I can only see the question I asked. Here is a screenshot.

In my opinion, we should be able to navigate through the conversation after searching.

[#2]

To spare you from further disappointment - search in Teams is currently almost useless. The good news is that Microsoft has heard our complaints loud and clear and is working on an improved search experience.

[#3]

@Jason Drew I have just came up against this issue as well and found this post whilst searching for a solution. Has anyone any indication of what is happening or a link to a uservoice? Really is annoying that I cans see part of the conversation but can't see the rest which contains what I am looking for.

[#4]

@Scott Preston The search now works properly for me. I can search a keyword and it just takes me to that place in the conversation.

[#5]

@Jason DrewCan you please share what you did to correct this? I'm having this problem currently. 

Thanks. 

[#6]

@TimRiel The issue just fixed itselft. I wish I had a solution for you. My user is set to "Targeted release" and my Teams version is 1.3.00.362 (64-bit).

[#7]

Weird. I was encountering this issue where there is zero context shown around the chat message search result.

I then went to the chat log with that person and scrolled for 5 minutes until I found the date with the message.
Then I did the exact same search again, and this time when going to the result, it showed the full chat context.

It's like the search result has to be in recent cache in order to properly navigate to it.

[#8]

This is absolutely horrible, I chat with a colleague everyday and I am looking for a message from more than 6 months ago. The scrolling is taking forever.

[#9]

That's a bummer because it works for me now. Have you tried both the desktop version and the web app?

[#10]

@Jason Drew  Very far from a perfect solution, but I did find a way to use Keyword Query Language that returns results in a way that's a bit more meaningful.  After you're able to identify the person and date of the conversation you want to review, perform a search like this: (Sent:2019-11-13 From:Karen) OR From:Brian Sent:2019-11-13 

The returned results on the left include all messages from me (Karen) or Brian on 11/13/19, in order of message timestamp.  Not perfect, but better than scrolling through months' worth of chats.

[#11]

@KarenKim Thank you! This really saved me some time.

[#12]

Looking at this in late August of 2020. Searching should be a day one feature. I would like to like Teams, but...

[#13]

@VasilMichev MS heard us loud and clear and working on improved search function for over 1 year now. **bleep**, I miss S4B.

[#14]

@lukas77 Hey, for what it's worth a new search experience in Teams (powered by Microsoft Search) is going to be available later this year. It will improve the search experience and make things less complicated.

[#15]

It looks like this has been fixed.

[#16]

@lukas77 I understand your frustration but I think Teams is still way better than S4B.

[#17]

it still only shows the conversation by itself instead of showing the conversation before/after. It was working flawlessly a couple of months ago. 

[#18]

@cozkan Same problem here! I am trying to get the whole conversation but it only shows the message. I didn´t test the scrollback yet because of 1,5 year message way 😞 

[#19]

@Markules Have you tried using the Keyword Query Language tip I posted above? It should at least save you from having to scroll through a year's worth of chats 🙂

[#20]

@KarenKim Yes, it worked. So I got at least 50% of the conversation, which means the answers of my partner 🙂 Thanks for the hint. Maybe there is an easier and complete chat history available.