diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/common/RSTreeWidget.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/common/RSTreeWidget.cpp
index 17273928e..c5c4cae45 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/common/RSTreeWidget.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/common/RSTreeWidget.cpp
@@ -71,3 +71,38 @@ void RSTreeWidget::mousePressEvent(QMouseEvent *event)
 
 	QTreeWidget::mousePressEvent(event);
 }
+
+void RSTreeWidget::filterItems(int filterColumn, const QString &text)
+{
+	int count = topLevelItemCount();
+	for (int index = 0; index < count; ++index) {
+		filterItem(topLevelItem(index), filterColumn, text);
+	}
+}
+
+bool RSTreeWidget::filterItem(QTreeWidgetItem *item, int filterColumn, const QString &text)
+{
+	bool itemVisible = true;
+
+	if (!text.isEmpty()) {
+		if (!item->text(filterColumn).contains(text, Qt::CaseInsensitive)) {
+			itemVisible = false;
+		}
+	}
+
+	int visibleChildCount = 0;
+	int count = item->childCount();
+	for (int index = 0; index < count; ++index) {
+		if (filterItem(item->child(index), filterColumn, text)) {
+			++visibleChildCount;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (itemVisible || visibleChildCount) {
+		item->setHidden(false);
+	} else {
+		item->setHidden(true);
+	}
+
+	return (itemVisible || visibleChildCount);
+}
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/common/RSTreeWidget.h b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/common/RSTreeWidget.h
index d5bdb39ad..3cda62a13 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/common/RSTreeWidget.h
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/common/RSTreeWidget.h
@@ -34,9 +34,14 @@ public:
 
 	void setPlaceholderText(const QString &text);
 
+	void filterItems(int filterColumn, const QString &text);
+
 signals:
 	void signalMouseMiddleButtonClicked(QTreeWidgetItem *item);
 
+private:
+	bool filterItem(QTreeWidgetItem *item, int filterColumn, const QString &text);
+
 protected:
 	void paintEvent(QPaintEvent *event);
 	virtual void mousePressEvent(QMouseEvent *event);