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Search messages & files

Find a conversation, a person, or something that was said or shared — using the search control in Letro.

Security note: Your messages are end-to-end encrypted, so the server never sees them in readable form. That's why searching inside message content happens on your own device rather than on the server — and why it works a little differently on each platform.

On Web & Desktop

  1. Select the search (magnifying-glass) icon at the top of your conversation list.
  2. Type what you're looking for — part of a person's name, a silo name, or a word from a message.
  3. Results are grouped as you type: people, silos, and messages.
  4. Select a result to jump straight to that conversation or message.
  5. To search only within one conversation, open it first, then use the in-silo search from the silo's header or options menu. Results stay scoped to that silo.

On Desktop, Letro can also search the text inside your encrypted messages. Because the server can't read your messages, the desktop app builds a private search index on your own computer. The first time you turn this on, it may take a little while to catch up on older messages; after that, message-content search stays up to date in the background.

On iOS

  1. Tap the search (magnifying-glass) icon above your conversation list.
  2. Type part of a person's name or a silo name.
  3. Tap a result to open that person's chat or that silo.
  4. To look through one conversation, open it first and use its in-silo search, then scroll the results.

On iOS you can search people and silo names and move quickly between conversations. Searching the full text inside encrypted messages isn't available here — that content search runs on Desktop, where the app can build a local index on your computer.

On Android

  1. Tap the search (magnifying-glass) icon above your conversation list.
  2. Type part of a person's name or a silo name.
  3. Tap a result to open that person's chat or that silo.
  4. To look through one conversation, open it first and use its in-silo search, then scroll the results.

On Android you can search people and silo names and move quickly between conversations. Searching the full text inside encrypted messages isn't available here — that content search runs on Desktop, where the app can build a local index on your computer.

Good to know

  • Why content search is desktop-only: it's a direct result of encryption protecting you. The server can't search words it can never see, so full message-content search relies on an index the desktop app keeps privately on your own machine.
  • On mobile and web, you can still find people, silos, and files by name, and navigate to any conversation — you just can't search the words inside encrypted messages.
  • To find a file or photo you know is in a particular conversation, open that conversation and scroll its media, or use in-silo search where content search is available.
  • Search only covers conversations your account can see. Messages sent before you joined a silo, or in silos you've left, may not appear.
  • If desktop message-content search seems to miss recent messages, give the local index a moment to finish updating in the background.

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