diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 75c663d..d9ac94b 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/k3a/html2text v1.2.1
 	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.16.7
 	github.com/leporo/sqlf v1.4.0
-	github.com/mattn/go-shellwords v1.0.12
 	github.com/mhale/smtpd v0.8.0
 	github.com/reiver/go-telnet v0.0.0-20180421082511-9ff0b2ab096e
 	github.com/satori/go.uuid v1.2.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 0d54902..03667ce 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -93,8 +93,6 @@ github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.19/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9/go.mod h1:H031xJmbD/WCDINGzjvQ9THkh0rPKHF+m2gUSrubnMI=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.15 h1:UNAjwbU9l54TA3KzvqLGxwWjHmMgBUVhBiTjelZgg3U=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.15/go.mod h1:Jdepj2loyihRzMpdS35Xk/zdY8IAYHsh153qUoGf23w=
-github.com/mattn/go-shellwords v1.0.12 h1:M2zGm7EW6UQJvDeQxo4T51eKPurbeFbe8WtebGE2xrk=
-github.com/mattn/go-shellwords v1.0.12/go.mod h1:EZzvwXDESEeg03EKmM+RmDnNOPKG4lLtQsUlTZDWQ8Y=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.16 h1:yOQRA0RpS5PFz/oikGwBEqvAWhWg5ufRz4ETLjwpU1Y=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.16/go.mod h1:2eHXhiwb8IkHr+BDWZGa96P6+rkvnG63S2DGjv9HUNg=
 github.com/mhale/smtpd v0.8.0 h1:5JvdsehCg33PQrZBvFyDMMUDQmvbzVpZgKob7eYBJc0=
diff --git a/storage/database.go b/storage/database.go
index 40aa219..88bd5b2 100644
--- a/storage/database.go
+++ b/storage/database.go
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/jhillyerd/enmime"
 	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
 	"github.com/leporo/sqlf"
-	"github.com/mattn/go-shellwords"
 	uuid "github.com/satori/go.uuid"
 
 	// sqlite (native) - https://gitlab.com/cznic/sqlite
@@ -367,9 +366,6 @@ func List(start, limit int) ([]MessageSummary, error) {
 		em.Read = read == 1
 
 		results = append(results, em)
-
-		// logger.PrettyPrint(em)
-
 	}); err != nil {
 		return results, err
 	}
@@ -379,96 +375,6 @@ func List(start, limit int) ([]MessageSummary, error) {
 	return results, nil
 }
 
-// Search will search a mailbox for search terms.
-// The search is broken up by segments (exact phrases can be quoted), and interprets specific terms such as:
-// is:read, is:unread, has:attachment, to:<term>, from:<term> & subject:<term>
-// Negative searches also also included by prefixing the search term with a `-` or `!`
-func Search(search string, start, limit int) ([]MessageSummary, int, error) {
-	results := []MessageSummary{}
-	allResults := []MessageSummary{}
-	tsStart := time.Now()
-	nrResults := 0
-	if limit < 0 {
-		limit = 50
-	}
-
-	s := escSearch(strings.ToLower(search))
-	// add another quote if missing closing quote
-	quotes := strings.Count(s, `"`)
-	if quotes%2 != 0 {
-		s += `"`
-	}
-
-	p := shellwords.NewParser()
-	args, err := p.Parse(s)
-	if err != nil {
-		return results, nrResults, errors.New("Your search contains invalid characters")
-	}
-
-	// generate the SQL based on arguments
-	q := searchParser(args)
-
-	if err := q.QueryAndClose(nil, db, func(row *sql.Rows) {
-		var created int64
-		var id string
-		var messageID string
-		var subject string
-		var metadata string
-		var size int
-		var attachments int
-		var tags string
-		var read int
-		var ignore string
-		em := MessageSummary{}
-
-		if err := row.Scan(&created, &id, &messageID, &subject, &metadata, &size, &attachments, &read, &tags, &ignore, &ignore, &ignore, &ignore); err != nil {
-			logger.Log().Error(err)
-			return
-		}
-
-		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(metadata), &em); err != nil {
-			logger.Log().Error(err)
-			return
-		}
-
-		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(tags), &em.Tags); err != nil {
-			logger.Log().Error(err)
-			return
-		}
-
-		em.Created = time.UnixMilli(created)
-		em.ID = id
-		em.MessageID = messageID
-		em.Subject = subject
-		em.Size = size
-		em.Attachments = attachments
-		em.Read = read == 1
-
-		allResults = append(allResults, em)
-	}); err != nil {
-		return results, nrResults, err
-	}
-
-	dbLastAction = time.Now()
-
-	nrResults = len(allResults)
-
-	if nrResults > start {
-		end := nrResults
-		if nrResults >= start+limit {
-			end = start + limit
-		}
-
-		results = allResults[start:end]
-	}
-
-	elapsed := time.Since(tsStart)
-
-	logger.Log().Debugf("[db] search for \"%s\" in %s", search, elapsed)
-
-	return results, nrResults, err
-}
-
 // GetMessage returns a Message generated from the mailbox_data collection.
 // If the message lacks a date header, then the received datetime is used.
 func GetMessage(id string) (*Message, error) {
diff --git a/storage/search.go b/storage/search.go
index c65e20c..c4398f7 100644
--- a/storage/search.go
+++ b/storage/search.go
@@ -1,14 +1,193 @@
 package storage
 
 import (
+	"context"
+	"database/sql"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
+	"github.com/axllent/mailpit/utils/logger"
+	"github.com/axllent/mailpit/utils/tools"
 	"github.com/leporo/sqlf"
 )
 
+// Search will search a mailbox for search terms.
+// The search is broken up by segments (exact phrases can be quoted), and interprets specific terms such as:
+// is:read, is:unread, has:attachment, to:<term>, from:<term> & subject:<term>
+// Negative searches also also included by prefixing the search term with a `-` or `!`
+func Search(search string, start, limit int) ([]MessageSummary, int, error) {
+	results := []MessageSummary{}
+	allResults := []MessageSummary{}
+	tsStart := time.Now()
+	nrResults := 0
+	if limit < 0 {
+		limit = 50
+	}
+
+	q := searchParser(search)
+	var err error
+
+	if err := q.QueryAndClose(nil, db, func(row *sql.Rows) {
+		var created int64
+		var id string
+		var messageID string
+		var subject string
+		var metadata string
+		var size int
+		var attachments int
+		var tags string
+		var read int
+		var ignore string
+		em := MessageSummary{}
+
+		if err := row.Scan(&created, &id, &messageID, &subject, &metadata, &size, &attachments, &read, &tags, &ignore, &ignore, &ignore, &ignore); err != nil {
+			logger.Log().Error(err)
+			return
+		}
+
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(metadata), &em); err != nil {
+			logger.Log().Error(err)
+			return
+		}
+
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(tags), &em.Tags); err != nil {
+			logger.Log().Error(err)
+			return
+		}
+
+		em.Created = time.UnixMilli(created)
+		em.ID = id
+		em.MessageID = messageID
+		em.Subject = subject
+		em.Size = size
+		em.Attachments = attachments
+		em.Read = read == 1
+
+		allResults = append(allResults, em)
+	}); err != nil {
+		return results, nrResults, err
+	}
+
+	dbLastAction = time.Now()
+
+	nrResults = len(allResults)
+
+	if nrResults > start {
+		end := nrResults
+		if nrResults >= start+limit {
+			end = start + limit
+		}
+
+		results = allResults[start:end]
+	}
+
+	elapsed := time.Since(tsStart)
+
+	logger.Log().Debugf("[db] search for \"%s\" in %s", search, elapsed)
+
+	return results, nrResults, err
+}
+
+// DeleteSearch will delete all messages for search terms.
+// The search is broken up by segments (exact phrases can be quoted), and interprets specific terms such as:
+// is:read, is:unread, has:attachment, to:<term>, from:<term> & subject:<term>
+// Negative searches also also included by prefixing the search term with a `-` or `!`
+func DeleteSearch(search string) error {
+	q := searchParser(search)
+
+	ids := []string{}
+
+	if err := q.QueryAndClose(nil, db, func(row *sql.Rows) {
+		var created int64
+		var id string
+		var messageID string
+		var subject string
+		var metadata string
+		var size int
+		var attachments int
+		var tags string
+		var read int
+		var ignore string
+
+		if err := row.Scan(&created, &id, &messageID, &subject, &metadata, &size, &attachments, &read, &tags, &ignore, &ignore, &ignore, &ignore); err != nil {
+			logger.Log().Error(err)
+			return
+		}
+
+		ids = append(ids, id)
+	}); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if len(ids) > 0 {
+		total := len(ids)
+
+		// split ids into chunks
+		var chunks [][]string
+		if total > 1000 {
+			chunkSize := 1000
+			chunks = make([][]string, 0, (len(ids)+chunkSize-1)/chunkSize)
+			for chunkSize < len(ids) {
+				ids, chunks = ids[chunkSize:], append(chunks, ids[0:chunkSize:chunkSize])
+			}
+		} else {
+			chunks = append(chunks, ids)
+		}
+
+		// begin a transaction to ensure both the message
+		// and data are deleted successfully
+		tx, err := db.BeginTx(context.Background(), nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		// roll back if it fails
+		defer tx.Rollback()
+
+		for _, ids := range chunks {
+			delIDs := make([]interface{}, len(ids))
+			for i, id := range ids {
+				delIDs[i] = id
+			}
+
+			sqlDelete1 := `DELETE FROM mailbox WHERE ID IN (?` + strings.Repeat(",?", len(ids)-1) + `)`
+
+			_, err = tx.Exec(sqlDelete1, delIDs...)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			sqlDelete2 := `DELETE FROM mailbox_data WHERE ID IN (?` + strings.Repeat(",?", len(ids)-1) + `)`
+
+			_, err = tx.Exec(sqlDelete2, delIDs...)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+
+		err = tx.Commit()
+
+		if err == nil {
+			logger.Log().Debugf("[db] deleted %d messages matching %s", total, search)
+		}
+
+		dbLastAction = time.Now()
+		dbDataDeleted = true
+
+		BroadcastMailboxStats()
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // SearchParser returns the SQL syntax for the database search based on the search arguments
-func searchParser(args []string) *sqlf.Stmt {
+func searchParser(searchString string) *sqlf.Stmt {
+	searchString = strings.ToLower(searchString)
+	// group strings with quotes as a single argument and remove quotes
+	args := tools.ArgsParser(searchString)
+
 	q := sqlf.From("mailbox").
 		Select(`Created, ID, MessageID, Subject, Metadata, Size, Attachments, Read, Tags,
 			IFNULL(json_extract(Metadata, '$.To'), '{}') as ToJSON,
@@ -71,7 +250,7 @@ func searchParser(args []string) *sqlf.Stmt {
 				}
 			}
 		} else if strings.HasPrefix(w, "subject:") {
-			w = cleanString(w[8:])
+			w = w[8:]
 			if w != "" {
 				if exclude {
 					q.Where("Subject NOT LIKE ?", "%"+escPercentChar(w)+"%")
diff --git a/storage/utils.go b/storage/utils.go
index 220aaab..6ca394e 100644
--- a/storage/utils.go
+++ b/storage/utils.go
@@ -186,8 +186,6 @@ func escPercentChar(s string) string {
 
 // Escape certain characters in search phrases
 func escSearch(str string) string {
-	str = strings.ReplaceAll(str, "(", " ")
-	str = strings.ReplaceAll(str, ")", " ")
 	dest := make([]byte, 0, 2*len(str))
 	var escape byte
 	for i := 0; i < len(str); i++ {
diff --git a/utils/tools/args.go b/utils/tools/args.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2cf1fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/tools/args.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package tools
+
+import "strings"
+
+// ArgsParser will split a string by new words and quotes phrases
+func ArgsParser(s string) []string {
+	args := []string{}
+	sb := &strings.Builder{}
+	quoted := false
+	for _, r := range s {
+		if r == '"' {
+			quoted = !quoted
+			sb.WriteRune(r) // keep '"' otherwise comment this line
+		} else if !quoted && r == ' ' {
+			v := strings.TrimSpace(strings.ReplaceAll(sb.String(), "\"", ""))
+			if v != "" {
+				args = append(args, v)
+			}
+			sb.Reset()
+		} else {
+			sb.WriteRune(r)
+		}
+	}
+	if sb.Len() > 0 {
+		v := strings.TrimSpace(strings.ReplaceAll(sb.String(), "\"", ""))
+		if v != "" {
+			args = append(args, v)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return args
+}