The Contacts page gives you a search box and a row of filters above the table. Both are useful on their own and better combined.
Search
The search box looks across name, email and phone at once, so you do not need to know which one you are typing. Matches are partial and ignore capitalisation, so a fragment of a name or the last digits of a number will find someone.
You can type several words. Every word has to match somewhere on the contact, but they can match different fields and the order does not matter, so "sara dubai" finds Sara whose company is in Dubai.
Filters
Beside the search box is a row of filters:
Source, how the contact arrived: Agent, Import, Form, Manual, API or Lead
Company
Email and Phone, for narrowing to contacts that have one
Added after, for a date
Lists
Clear filters appears once any filter is active.
Your filtered view is a link
Search terms and filters are kept in the page address. That means you can bookmark a view you use often, or send it to a colleague and have them see exactly the same list.
Acting on the results
Tick contacts to act on them together. You can Add to list, Remove from list or Delete, and create a new list from the add popover without leaving the page.
Selecting everything matching your filters is capped, and the link tells you honestly when it is selecting the first part of a larger set rather than all of it.
Deleting contacts does not delete their conversations. Your message history stays.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a contact I expected missing?
The list only shows contacts with an email or a phone number, whatever your filters say.
Can I search by company?
Company is a filter rather than part of free text search.
Do wildcards work?
No. Search is already partial, so typing part of a value is enough.