diff --git a/docs/api/openapi.yml b/docs/api/openapi.yml
index dcba3128..659336fd 100644
--- a/docs/api/openapi.yml
+++ b/docs/api/openapi.yml
@@ -2023,7 +2023,7 @@ paths:
                       type: number
                 - name: order
                   in: query
-                  description: Ordering of the records by insert date
+                  description: Ordering of the records by insert date. If no order is supplied, results are sorted by heir mongoDB ObjectId.
                   schema:
                       $ref: '#/components/schemas/Order'
                 - name: page
diff --git a/lib/api/messages.js b/lib/api/messages.js
index 7f678e4b..17a7eb30 100644
--- a/lib/api/messages.js
+++ b/lib/api/messages.js
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ module.exports = (db, server, messageHandler, userHandler, storageHandler, setti
             const schema = searchSchema.keys({
                 threadCounters: booleanSchema.default(false),
                 limit: Joi.number().default(20).min(1).max(250),
-                order: Joi.any().empty('').allow('asc', 'desc').default('desc'),
+                order: Joi.any().empty('').allow('asc', 'desc').optional(),
                 next: nextPageCursorSchema,
                 previous: previousPageCursorSchema,
                 page: pageNrSchema
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ module.exports = (db, server, messageHandler, userHandler, storageHandler, setti
             let page = result.value.page;
             let pageNext = result.value.next;
             let pagePrevious = result.value.previous;
-            let sortAscending = result.value.order === 'asc';
+            let order = result.value.order;
 
             let { filter, query } = await prepareSearchFilter(db, user, result.value);
 
@@ -611,8 +611,8 @@ module.exports = (db, server, messageHandler, userHandler, storageHandler, setti
                         flags: true
                     }
                 },
-                paginatedField: 'idate',
-                sortAscending
+                paginatedField: order !== undefined ? 'idate' : "_id",
+                sortAscending: order === 'asc' ? true : undefined
             };
 
             if (pageNext) {