diff --git a/projects/igniteui-angular/src/lib/grids/tree-grid/tree-grid-search.spec.ts b/projects/igniteui-angular/src/lib/grids/tree-grid/tree-grid-search.spec.ts
index c0dd0961d6d..7c8f6f65206 100644
--- a/projects/igniteui-angular/src/lib/grids/tree-grid/tree-grid-search.spec.ts
+++ b/projects/igniteui-angular/src/lib/grids/tree-grid/tree-grid-search.spec.ts
@@ -5,11 +5,16 @@ import { TreeGridFunctions } from '../../test-utils/tree-grid-functions.spec';
 import { IgxTreeGridSearchComponent, IgxTreeGridPrimaryForeignKeyComponent } from '../../test-utils/tree-grid-components.spec';
 import { NoopAnimationsModule } from '@angular/platform-browser/animations';
 import { configureTestSuite } from '../../test-utils/configure-suite';
+import { By } from '@angular/platform-browser';
+import { DebugElement } from '@angular/core';
 
+const HIGHLIGHT_CLASS = 'igx-highlight';
+const ACTIVE_CLASS = 'igx-highlight__active';
 
 describe('IgxTreeGrid - search API', () => {
     configureTestSuite();
     let fix;
+    let fixNativeElement;
     let treeGrid: IgxTreeGridComponent;
 
     beforeEach(async(() => {
@@ -26,7 +31,19 @@ describe('IgxTreeGrid - search API', () => {
         beforeEach(() => {
             fix = TestBed.createComponent(IgxTreeGridSearchComponent);
             fix.detectChanges();
+            fixNativeElement = fix.debugElement.nativeElement;
             treeGrid = fix.componentInstance.treeGrid;
+
+            treeGrid.getColumnByName('JobTitle').autosize();
+        });
+
+        it('Search highlights should work for tree cells', () => {
+            const searchCount = treeGrid.findNext('QA');
+
+            const spans = getHighlightSpans(fixNativeElement);
+            const activeSpan = getActiveSpan(fixNativeElement);
+
+            // TODO            
         });
 
     });
@@ -40,3 +57,11 @@ describe('IgxTreeGrid - search API', () => {
 
     });
 });
+
+function getHighlightSpans(parent: HTMLElement) {
+    return parent.querySelectorAll('.' + HIGHLIGHT_CLASS);
+}
+
+function getActiveSpan(parent: HTMLElement) {
+    return parent.querySelector('.' + ACTIVE_CLASS);
+}
diff --git a/projects/igniteui-angular/src/lib/test-utils/tree-grid-functions.spec.ts b/projects/igniteui-angular/src/lib/test-utils/tree-grid-functions.spec.ts
index 981efaf4f83..1d2ba3a4f1f 100644
--- a/projects/igniteui-angular/src/lib/test-utils/tree-grid-functions.spec.ts
+++ b/projects/igniteui-angular/src/lib/test-utils/tree-grid-functions.spec.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ export class TreeGridFunctions {
         return rowDOM.query(By.css('igx-tree-grid-cell'));
     }
 
+    public static getCell(fix, rowIndex, columnKey) {
+        const rowDOM = TreeGridFunctions.sortElementsVertically(TreeGridFunctions.getAllRows(fix))[rowIndex];
+        const rowCells = [TreeGridFunctions.getTreeCell(rowDOM)].concat(TreeGridFunctions.getNormalCells(rowDOM));
+        return rowCells.filter((DOMcell) => DOMcell.componentInstance.column.field === columnKey)[0];
+    }
+
     public static getTreeCells(fix) {
         return fix.debugElement.queryAll(By.css('igx-tree-grid-cell'));
     }