diff --git a/tools/grep-string.sh b/tools/grep-string.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..22133bdc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/grep-string.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+TEXT=$1
+
+if [ -z "$TEXT" ]; then
+    echo "this script searches for the string key given as the first parameter."
+    echo "search is done in this repo and in ../deltachat-ios and in ../deltachat-desktop."
+    echo "usage: ./tools/grep-string.sh <STRING-KEY>"
+	exit
+fi
+
+echo "==================== ANDROID USAGE ===================="
+grep --exclude={*.apk,*.a,*.o,*.so,strings.xml} --exclude-dir={.git,.gradle,jni,obj,release,.idea,build,jni} -ri $TEXT .
+
+echo "==================== IOS USAGE ===================="
+grep --exclude=*.strings --exclude-dir={.git,libraries,Pods,deltachat-ios.xcodeproj,deltachat-ios.xcworkspace} -ri $TEXT ../deltachat-ios/
+
+echo "==================== DESKTOP USAGE ===================="
+grep  --exclude-dir={.git,_locales} -ri $TEXT ../deltachat-desktop/