How to Use SEARCH 🔎 in Outlook to Find Emails FAST!

How to Use SEARCH 🔎 in Outlook to Find Emails FAST!

How to Use SEARCH 🔎 in Outlook to Find Emails FAST!

Join 400,000+ professionals in our courses: https://www.xelplus.com/courses/

Use Outlook Search to find emails really fast. Search in Microsoft Outlook has improved in 2021.
You can now easily find exactly what you’re look for. In this video I’ll show you how to use Microsoft Outlook’s New Search Box properly. We will learn how to narrow your search criteria for better searches in Outlook. You can use Outlook search for words in attachments, search by email size, by date and a lot more.

We’ll cover the 2 ways to use Search in Outlook: Instant Search and Advanced Search. We’ll also look at important options for Search and why Indexing is crucial for Search to work properly.

00:00 How to Use Search in Microsoft Outlook
01:51 Instant Search in Microsoft Outlook
04:22 Advanced Search in Microsoft Outlook
06:17 Settings and Indexing for Search in Outlook
08:06 Outlook Search Syntax and Operators
10:09 Wrap Up

LINKS
Search Syntax and Operators: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/o…

More Outlook tutorials:    • Outlook \u0026 Email Tips  

Check out the complete article about Outlook search: https://www.xelplus.com/outlook-search
________

★ My Online Excel Courses ► https://www.xelplus.com/courses/

✉ Not sure which of my Excel courses fits best for you? Take the quiz: https://www.xelplus.com/course-quiz/

RESOURCES I Recommend: https://www.xelplus.com/resources/

Get Microsoft 365: https://microsoft.msafflnk.net/15OEg
Microsoft Surface: https://microsoft.msafflnk.net/c/1327…

More resources on my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/shop/leilagharani

Let’s connect on social:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lgharani
Twitter: https://twitter.com/leilagharani
LinkedIn: https://at.linkedin.com/in/leilagharani

Note: This description contains affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, we will receive a small commission if you make a purchase using the links. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for your support!

#outlook


Content

0.38 -> One of the problems I have with Outlook
2.66 -> is the time I spend looking for stuff.
5.44 -> In the past, I used a multi-level folder structure
8.29 -> to archive the emails that I wanted to keep,
10.57 -> but I realized organizing it, like in the old days,
13.32 -> like a filing cabinet with lots of different drawers
16.28 -> is not how Outlook should be used.
19.33 -> So then I started to use Search in Outlook
22.38 -> but it didn't work the way I wanted it to.
24.93 -> I'd get hundreds of results back,
27.49 -> which I try to visually filter.
30.74 -> You can imagine the frustration there.
33.28 -> At some point, I realized there is much more to search
37.77 -> than just dropping a word into search box
40.76 -> and pressing enter.
42.13 -> You can actually find exactly what you want,
45.89 -> you just have to know how to ask it the right way.
49.586 -> (upbeat music)
54.61 -> Microsoft updated the search functionality
56.91 -> in 2019 for Office 365.
60.15 -> The search is now faster
62.45 -> and the search bar itself was moved
64.64 -> to the very top of Outlook to the title bar.
68.25 -> This is now the same for the desktop app
70.73 -> and Outlook for the web.
72.64 -> To use search, just click inside with your mouse
75.5 -> or use the shortcut key Alt + Q or Control + E.
79 -> This will open a dropdown where Outlook will make
81.64 -> some personalized suggestions based on your recent activity.
85.82 -> I don't find that particularly helpful,
88.4 -> but in case of when you repeat a search
90.53 -> this may be useful for you.
92.71 -> In the past, I typed my search words here
95.88 -> and get hundreds of results back
98.14 -> but that's like driving your car in first gear only,
101.17 -> it's going to take forever to get anywhere.
104.71 -> There are two ways you can use search.
107.3 -> Instant search and advanced search,
110.3 -> I'm going to show you both.
111.7 -> Let's start with instant search.
114.22 -> So let's see I'm looking
115.65 -> for something with the key word XelPlus.
118.61 -> I just type it in the search box, press enter
121.76 -> and get all these results.
123.87 -> To narrow down to results, I can go to the search tab
127.41 -> with these buttons and drop downs
129.55 -> I can refine my search step-by-step.
133.84 -> With Scope here on the left,
136.06 -> you can narrow or expand the scope of your search.
139.06 -> The default is current mailbox,
141 -> and I'm going to show you later how you can change
143.57 -> your default if you need to.
145.08 -> If you have more accounts
147.53 -> you may want to expand your search to all mailboxes.
151.68 -> Another option to restrict your search is to narrow it down
155.34 -> to just the Current Folder.
157.53 -> In my example here, this means inbox, excluding Subfolders.
161.73 -> If you select Subfolders, you include inbox
165.22 -> and every folder below it.
168.24 -> All Outlook Items is as broad as you can get.
171.93 -> It's going to search in all mailboxes and not just in mail
175.71 -> but also in your calendar and contacts.
178.59 -> Under Results, you get the option
181.34 -> to Include Deleted Items in your search.
184.01 -> Depending on your situation,
186.43 -> this could really inflate your results
188.62 -> so I don't recommend that.
190.6 -> Instead, you can always search
192.41 -> the deleted items folder separately.
195.34 -> If your search doesn't return, what you were looking for
199.07 -> you can select Include Older Results
202.08 -> your search may take longer this way though.
204.89 -> With Refine over here,
206.58 -> you get to really narrow down your search results.
209.78 -> Let's say the message I'm looking for was for me
213.91 -> I can click on From and type in Leila and hit enter.
218.09 -> This way it searches for everything with a keyboard XelPlus
222.4 -> where Leila is the sender, but let's not stop there.
226.53 -> I know that the message had an attachment,
229.23 -> so I select Has Attachments.
232.21 -> And maybe I also know that the word course was included
236.08 -> in the subject line,
237.46 -> I can click on Subject and add that to my search.
241.36 -> And here is the email I was looking for
243.93 -> also, if you categorize your emails
246.25 -> you can restrict your results
247.54 -> to a certain category with this dropdown
249.93 -> or with Send To, you get to search by recipients.
254.24 -> You can search for mail that you flagged
257.01 -> or marked as important.
258.8 -> These options will really help you find
261.2 -> what you're looking for.
262.51 -> Now, let's talk about advanced search.
265.21 -> The second method is to use advanced search,
267.777 -> now this is a more efficient way
270.27 -> and it's going to give you even more options.
273.21 -> Instead of sequentially narrowing down the search
276.01 -> like with it in instant search, you can do it all in one go.
280.54 -> To get it, click inside the search box
283.06 -> and then under drop down here on the side.
285.62 -> This will open a drop down with predefined search fields.
289.94 -> You can define where to search in,
292.64 -> if what you're looking for has an attachment or not.
295.62 -> Basically all the search options we saw
298.8 -> on the search tab, you can also find here
301.63 -> and you even have more choices.
303.54 -> For example, with Attachment Contains
306.7 -> you can directly look for keywords
309 -> that you know are in attachment of the message.
312.34 -> So let's say, I know that the message I'm looking
314.75 -> for had an attachment that contains the word set one.
319.8 -> I put it in quotation marks
321.72 -> because I want an exact phrase match.
324.73 -> We'll cover search syntax towards the end of the video,
327.61 -> so stay tuned for that.
329.22 -> Now let's click on search and I get two results.
332.41 -> When we open the attachment,
334.18 -> we see that it found the phrase set one in the PDF.
337.89 -> That's pretty cool.
339.53 -> Also you're not limited to the predefined search fields
342.92 -> that we signed a dropdown.
344.76 -> Let's close this search and go back to advanced search.
348.44 -> Notice the button, Add More Options in the corner here
352.76 -> when we click this, we get to the advanced search options
356.25 -> where we can enable additional search fields.
359.33 -> So let's say I want the option to specifically search
363.41 -> for recipients in BCC, check this box and click on apply
367.93 -> and now we have BCC available for search.
370.81 -> So remember these additional options,
373.12 -> whenever you can't find the fields,
375.27 -> you need to restrict your results to.
377.66 -> Now let's talk about options and indexing.
380.82 -> As always with office products
383.05 -> there are some standard application options
385.44 -> we should explore.
386.66 -> Go to File, Options and then select Search,
391.12 -> under Results you can define the default folder
394.01 -> for the instant search.
395.51 -> I usually have this on the second option.
397.76 -> You can choose to include deleted items
400.23 -> when you're searching in all items.
402.65 -> Typically I don't enable that.
404.91 -> You can also change the highlight color,
407.42 -> that's the color used to highlight
408.81 -> the search terms in the results.
411.24 -> On top here we have Indexing Options,
414.53 -> this is an important topic when it comes to search.
418.19 -> Indexing helps you get faster search results
420.95 -> and it's not just relevant for Outlook search
423.33 -> but any search that you're doing in Windows.
426.06 -> Essentially indexing is going through your files,
429.09 -> your messages, and any other contents on your PC
432.89 -> and it's cataloging the information.
435.78 -> And often when Outlook search doesn't find
438.41 -> what you're looking for
439.98 -> or it just gives you incomplete results,
443.11 -> indexing is not working properly.
446.32 -> There is a lot more to indexing on Windows 10
449.03 -> than I can cover in today's video
452.02 -> but two important things to remember.
453.94 -> When we click on indexing options on top,
456.35 -> you'll get the current status
458.25 -> make sure that indexing is complete.
460.77 -> And number two, make sure
462.51 -> that Outlook is included as part of indexing.
465.82 -> So under index these locations
468.1 -> you should see Microsoft Outlook,
470.16 -> if not choose modify and click to enable it.
474.5 -> As a last resort, if you're still having trouble
476.89 -> with accurate search results or indexing, doesn't finish
480.43 -> you may have to rebuild the search catalog.
483.67 -> This will restart indexing of your data files.
486.7 -> Finally, let's talk about search syntax.
489.88 -> Now that we understand the technicalities of Outlook Search
493.77 -> let's cover some basics about search syntax.
496.34 -> Outlook Search uses prefixed matching.
498.63 -> So if you type in plus in the search box
501.71 -> it will find messages that contain plus, plusses and plushie
506.67 -> but not XelPlus or surplus.
510.22 -> Also it's not case sensitive.
511.72 -> So it will find Plus in proper case
515.37 -> and PLUS in upper case as well.
517.74 -> We already saw that if you want to look for an exact phrase,
521.35 -> like set one you need to put it in quotation marks.
525.24 -> If you don't, it will return all variations.
529.83 -> You can also use logical operators like,
532.97 -> and, or, and not in your search
536.52 -> but you need to use upper case letters.
539.84 -> For example, if you search for Leila AND Gharani
544.21 -> it will return items containing both Leila and Gharani
547.97 -> but not necessarily in that order.
550.28 -> Leila OR Gharani will find items containing Leila,
554.88 -> Leila's, Gharani or any other combination of uppercase
559.23 -> and lowercase letters.
561.64 -> Leila NOT Gharani, will find all items
564.82 -> with Leila that don't include the word Gharani.
568.466 -> You can even use comparison operators
571.26 -> like greater than or smaller than signs.
574.39 -> For instance, if you type in message size
576.7 -> then put a colon and then the greater than sign 5MB
580.55 -> in the search box.
582.35 -> It will return items that are larger than five megabytes,
585.9 -> pretty cool, right?
587.76 -> If I use the syntax received greater than let's put
592.43 -> in February 6th, 2021, it will return all emails received
598.17 -> after February 6th, 2021.
600.75 -> There are many more possibilities.
603.2 -> I'm going to put a link in the description of this video
605.77 -> to a Microsoft Support page
607.3 -> that's going to give you a lot more ideas.
609.63 -> Now, I think you're going to agree
610.96 -> that there is much more to Outlook Search
613.77 -> than initially meets the eye.
616.18 -> I hope these tips will be helpful
618.24 -> for you to find what you need.
620.51 -> As always if you liked what you saw,
623.32 -> please give this video a thumbs up
625.47 -> and consider subscribing if you haven't already done so.
629.38 -> Thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
634.503 -> (upbeat music)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_-Zn5e7asQ