Your search stays on your Mac.
Your messages, emails, documents and WhatsApp media are never uploaded. How privacy works →
iSift for Mac
It’s on your Mac. Somewhere.
Find the message, email or document you remember.Export Messages conversations with their attachments.Take control of the media WhatsApp keeps on your Mac.
A Latin saying
Verba volant.Scripta manent.iSift.app invenit.
Words fly away.Writing stays.iSift.app finds it.
What iSift does
Find the message. Keep the conversation.
Search by words, people and dates. Export conversations with their available attachments.
Find the email you remember.
Search downloaded Apple Mail emails by words, people and dates.
Find it by what’s inside.
Search file names and text inside your documents.
See what WhatsApp keeps.
Browse, export and clean up the photos and videos stored on your Mac.
Features
Find it. Save it. Clear it.
Search Messages, Mail and your files by words, people and dates.Export conversations.Clear out WhatsApp photos and videos.
Made for the keyboard
- ⌘F
- Search
- ↑ ↓
- Move through results
- ↩
- Open context
- ⌘O
- Open in Messages
- Esc
- Clear
Search Messages
Search local iMessage and SMS messages by words, people, dates, links or attachments. Open a result in its conversation.
Search Apple Mail
Search downloaded emails by subject or body, sender, recipient and dates. Open results in Apple Mail.
Search your files
Find documents by name, folder or text in PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, RTF, HTML and plain text files. Uses its own encrypted index.
Messages and Mail at once
Choose All for Messages and Mail side by side. Words use AND; quotes and * wildcards work the same in Messages, Mail and Files.
Export Messages
Save matching messages or an entire conversation as text, with an optional ZIP of attachments.
WhatsApp photos and videos
Browse the media WhatsApp for Mac keeps on this Mac, find identical copies, export copies, or move the ones you choose to the Trash.
Choose how to search
Read Messages and Mail directly or use optimized encrypted indexes. Files always uses its encrypted index. Your searchable data stays on this Mac.
Keep indexes up to date
Update Mail and Files when you choose, processing only the differences. Pause and continue indexing, including after restarting the app.
Privacy and control
You decide what goes.
Choose which WhatsApp photos and videos to remove. Nothing moves to the Trash without your confirmation.
About WhatsApp cleanup →
Media moved to the Trash becomes unavailable in WhatsApp chats.
Pricing
Choose how to start.
The same iSift app and features in every option.
Free trial
Free
7-day trial
- Full access after email verification.
- No card required.
- Download the app and start the trial inside it.
Select your Mac
Prices exclude VAT. VAT or sales tax for your country is added at checkout. Europe pays in EUR; other countries pay in USD.
Paddle confirms your country and the final total before payment.
Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. Payments and invoices are handled by Paddle.
Included with your subscription.
Mac activations
Up to 2 active Macs; 4 different Macs per 12 months.
With verified iCloud
Up to 5 active Macs on the same verified iCloud account.
Search across your sources
Search Messages, downloaded Apple Mail emails and text inside your documents.
Export and clean up
Export Messages conversations with available attachments. Browse, export and clean up local WhatsApp photos and videos.
Questions
Good to know.
Messages, Mail and your files.
- MessagesWords, people, dates, links and attachments.
- MailEmails downloaded by Apple Mail: subject, body, sender, recipients, dates.
- FilesNames, folders and the text inside PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and text files.
Your content is searched on your Mac.
Messages, emails, files, WhatsApp media, contacts and searches are never uploaded. The network is used only for licensing, optional iCloud license verification and app updates.
Privacy and access in Help →Only what you choose to search.
macOS may ask for each kind of access; the setup wizard explains why first.
Permissions in Help →Nothing goes without your confirmation.
iSift asks before moving photos and videos to the Trash. Chats stay, but WhatsApp shows removed media as unavailable. Back up first.