There is disclosed a system and method for presenting message search results at a wireless handheld device. In an embodiment, the method comprises conducting a search of local messages stored in the wireless handheld device using at least one search term to obtain a local search result; retrieving a search of remote messages stored in a message server using the at least one search term to obtain a remote search result; comparing the local and remote search results to identify any duplicate messages; and if the size of the local message is greater than or equal to the size of the remote message, then selecting the local message for presentation; else selecting the remote message for presentation.