Show context around old Teams messages from search results

Anonymous
2020-09-29T18:45:59+00:00

Looking for help with a particular issue with searching for older messages inside of Teams.

When I search for a certain keyword - say, "hot dog" - I get results that are both old and recent from past conversations. If I look at the recent results I get the full message context that surrounds it - messages coming and going.

If I read older messages, however, I only get the single message result without any surrounding context. This is only marginally helpful, as the context is necessary to add, well, context to the conversation!

Has anyone figured out how to do this? Is it an admin side thing that needs to change?

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Chats | Search messages and conversations

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments

74 answers

Sort by: Newest
  1. Anonymous
    2021-11-24T00:16:42+00:00

    Incredible but true. Search within a Chat on Android works but apparently still has limits on how far back it can display the context of results. In my limited testing it looks like the last 90 days.

    In my situation I need access to the context of results of a former employee. While the Windows and Web versions still provide simple search for a "person" (contact) using first name, on Android it seems to require the last name!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2021-10-16T13:45:53+00:00

    If its not feasible in the way you have currently coded it then I suggest that you withdraw your software and come back when you have written it properly. This software is being marketed as suitable for professional use. It is not fit for purpose.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2021-10-15T20:54:07+00:00

    .., unfortunately, it is not feasible to show the chat history related to the specific search result. 

    ...I can understand to have the ability to see related chat history will be more convenience when searching in Teams...

    Best regards,

    Jennifer

    Not feasible? You have the text already because it was just searched and found to have a matching result.

    This also is intermittent. I've had it show the conversation around the search hit and also not. There isnt even a link that will take me to that message in a conversation.

    Its not a convenience by any stretch. This is making it harder to locate and refer to all types of business intelligence; recorded decisions, reasons, troubleshooting steps and resolutions, etc. Teams is supposed to be a communication platform, not a business impediment.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2021-10-04T19:38:49+00:00

    I never ran into this issue with Slack when using it in my previous job which is Team's obvious competitor. Currently urging my employer to switch to Slack for internal use since we already have it for some external communications.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  5. Anonymous
    2021-10-01T23:42:16+00:00

    It's absolute madness that there is no way to see the context of a search result, or jump to that point in a conversation. Did anyone working on this program actually TRY the search? I can't think of any other program that would work like this! It's AWFUL and it makes Teams nearly impossible to use for technical things!

    Was this answer helpful?

    7 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments