Twitter Adds DM Username Search Tools to Android, Flags Coming Option to Search by Message Text

It’s been a long time coming, but Twitter has finally added its DM search bar on Android, bringing it into line with iOS, which has had the option to search DMs by username since 2019.

Note that last point – while searching by username is helpful, what would be really helpful in Twitter DM search would be being able to search by messaging content. Which Twitter says is now coming.

When, exactly, Twitter will look to expand its DM search capacity, it hasn’t said, but it’s something that Twitter has been working on for some time, with many users calling for more options to be able to scan through their past messages to find specific discussions and content.

Back in January, Twitter noted that it was looking at how it could improve DMs and called for public comments, while in March, Debugger reported that Twitter was planning to launch its updated DM experience in May. That seems unlikely now, given today’s comments – but even so, clearly, this is something that Twitter has in development, and given its more recent rate of product and feature launches, it could very well be coming, very soon.

Twitter has experimented with more advanced search features in the past, like searching in a specific DM thread for shared media and links. But the capacity to search message text is a whole other level, which could make Twitter’s DM tools more functional, and add more incentive for users to lean on DMs as a primary contact option.

It could also be a valuable addition for your Twitter customer service efforts.

The capacity to sort through DMs faster could enable you to streamline your DM response – for example, you could search for all users who’ve asked a specific question about a product, based on a certain keyword or term, then provide them all with relevant updates as they come to hand.

There’s no specific timeline from Twitter on the potential DM update, as yet, but we’ll keep you updated on any progress.