A friend sent you the name of a great hotel in Palm Springs, California, but you can’t find the message. Try searching your texts. Tap or click here for tips to find any message you’re looking for in seconds.

You can do the same with your photo album. Instead of scrolling forever, try searching for “sunset,” “Hawaii,” “dog,” or anything else you want to see. Tap or click here for pro tricks to hunt down any image in a snap.

Then there are the photos and videos you send out on your smartphone. Here’s how to find and search your shared media.

See a record of what you’ve sent and received

For better or worse, what we do online leaves behind digital clues. You can easily browse the photos and videos you’ve shared with a contract or group – and the ones they’ve shared with you. Here’s how:

• Open Messages.

• Tap on a conversation, then tap on the contact/group name or profile photo.

• Scroll down to the Photos section and tap See All to see your shared photos and videos.

You can also search for photos and videos you sent or received. Handy, right? Here's how it works on an iPhone:

• Open Messages.

• Type in a word or search term in the Search bar.

• Scroll down to Photos and tap See All.

More phone smarts: Having a hard time sending videos from your Android to an iPhone? Use this app

Use an Android phone? Follow these steps to see all your shared media.

• Open the Messages app.

• Tap the search bar at the top. Select images or videos.

• From here, you can scroll through all the photos or videos shared with you or that you have shared in text messages.

Did you lose an important text? Here’s how to get it back on your iPhone. Before that happens, make a backup of your messages. Tap or click for the easy options to get the job done.

Finding media in third-party messaging apps

Now that you know how to find shared media on your phone’s built-in messaging apps, here’s how to do the same with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

Browse the photos and videos you shared via Facebook Messenger:

• Open Facebook Messenger.