Install Reach: Get the browser extension from the Chrome Web Store.
When to use search
Most of the time, Reach detects the contact you’re viewing in your CRM automatically. Use the search tool when you need to:
Message someone who isn’t on your current CRM page.
Confirm whether a caller is already a contact.
Start a message to a phone number that might not have a full contact record yet.
Pick the exact person when multiple matches come back from the CRM.
Open the search screen
When Reach can’t detect a contact on the current CRM page (the Context Strip reads No contact detected), a search field appears on the home screen with the placeholder Search by name, phone, or email. Click it to open the Search screen with the search input autofocused and ready.
You can also reach the search screen from the merge workflow or any other screen that prompts you to find a contact.
Search by category
Just below the search input, four category chips let you tell Reach what kind of query you’re typing:
Name — Placeholder Search by name….
Phone — Placeholder Search by phone….
Email — Placeholder Search by email….
User ID — Placeholder Search by User ID….
The active chip is filled; the others show as outlines. Click a chip to switch categories — the placeholder updates and the input clears.
Pick a category above, then type at least 2 characters. You’ll see this hint if you try to search without picking a category first.
When the User ID category is active, Reach shows a short hint explaining where to find the ID: Paste the contact ID from the Intercom URL — e.g. /contacts/{ID}.
Read the results
As you type (with a short debounce to avoid running a search on every keystroke), Reach looks up matches and shows one of these states:
Searching… with the subtitle Looking up matching users while the query runs.
No users found with the hint Try a different query or switch category above. when the workspace has no match.
A results list headed with {N} result or {N} results when matches come back.
Each result row shows the contact’s name, any channels they can be reached on (SMS, WhatsApp, etc. as small badges), a Sent badge if you have prior message history with them, the last-seen timestamp (for example Seen 2 hours ago), and a chevron indicating the row is clickable.
Click a result to open that contact’s detail view, where you can start a message or dig into their history.
Send directly to a phone number
Sometimes you have a phone number but not a contact record. Under the category chips, the Or send to a phone number panel lets you message a number directly:
Type the phone number into the input. Reach formats it as you type.
The Send to [formatted phone number] button appears below the input.
Click it. Reach looks up any matching contact in your workspace. If one exists, it loads that contact’s profile. If not, it starts a message flow using the phone number only.
This is useful when someone calls in from a number that isn’t on a contact record yet, or when you want to text a number you’ve just pasted from another tool.
What happens when you select a result
Clicking a contact row opens the User detail screen within the search flow. From there you can:
View the contact’s profile — name, role, company, location, phone, email, channels, CRM ID, and last-seen date.
Click Merge to start the merge wizard with this contact as the primary record (see Merging Duplicate Contacts).
Start a new message on any of the contact’s channels.
Jump into the contact’s Sent history to see what you’ve messaged them before.
Tips for getting better results
Phone searches work best when you include the country code (for example +14155551234).
Email searches match on exact or partial email addresses.
Name searches match first and last names — including partial strings.
User ID searches require the exact Intercom identifier; you can copy this from the end of a contact’s URL in Intercom.
If your workspace holds a very large number of contacts, Reach may cap the number of returned results. The results list footer shows a message when the list is capped — narrow your query with a more specific term or different category if you don’t see the contact you expected.
What’s next