Which is not valid search criteria when searching for messages in your inbox

2020. 10. 23.To find the Instant Search box in Outlook, click on the Menus tab > Tools menu > Select Search from the drop-down menu > At the top of the ...

2019. 9. 20.There is no search box in outlook. I have search the internet and no one has an answer. Any new updates here? I'm dying! I use the search box ...

Click Instant Search, it will add a Search tab in the ribbon. You can select a folder, a type or a category for the search. Or just enter the key words into the ...

2021. 5. 4.Fix for search ribbon missing in Outlook ; 2.1 Step 1: Open the Options window ; 2.2 Step 2: Go to Customize Ribbon and select Tool Tabs and Main ...

2022. 1. 19.Open your Outlook application and then go to File>>Options. Move to Search Section, click on Indexing Options and click on Modify. · A window ...

2020. 9. 15.How to add Search Bar in Outlook? · Open the 'Outlook' app and then click on File and navigate to "Options" · In the Options window, you will be ...

2022. 10. 31.Method 2: – Removing Outlook from Windows Indexing · Open Microsoft Outlook and hit on File >> Options · Go to Search Settings and then Indexing ...

http://www.Mhelp4u.com - The world's largest free Microsoft video-clip help library with over 4000 video-clips. http://www.mhelp4u.com has ...

YouTube · MHELP2U · 2009. 8. 11.

2020. 7. 23.Microsoft Outlook has a new Search box, which we quite like. ... With the arrival of the new Search box, this tab is now missing.

Turn On or Off Outlook Instant Search · On Tool menu, click Options · On Other tab, click Advance Options · Know in General setting, clearly show prompts to ...

Which is not valid search criteria when searching for messages in your inbox

If you’re anything like me, chances are high that you experience the overwhelming feeling of thousands of emails flooding your inbox on a regular basis. Want to remind yourself of what was said in a previous thread? Are you frantically looking for details you need for an important meeting that your boss sent earlier this week? Good luck scrolling through all the spam and newsletters to finally find those emails…

Wouldn’t some simple outlook search commands to help narrow your search criteria and find messages in seconds just be a dream?

Which is not valid search criteria when searching for messages in your inbox

Simplify your life by adding an Outlook search tool to your collection

You’ll be glad to know, there’s a way out of the chaos! These Microsoft Outlook search tips will help you to find exactly what you were looking for, using the most important commands. Perfect for less time-consuming and less frustrating everyday work.

How do you use the Outlook search field?

The instant search field in Outlook is what you’re probably used to using to enter simple terms to find an old message. You can improve that by using defined combinations of parameters for a more precise outcome. With the help of short commands, it is possible to narrow your search query to an area defined by you; like a period of time, a certain person, a defined file size, or even a combination of these elements.

The search bar is located at the top of your mailbox. Click on the search box to take full advantage of the built-in filters Outlook provides.

The most important Outlook search commands

The Outlook search commands are, amongst others, a combination of rather logical operators like AND, NOT and OR. It is important to note that they should not be typed in lowercase letters. The following table shows the most important parameters to help you simplify your email search:

Type……to find the items that…
max …contain max, MAX, max, mAx, etc. As Instant search is not case sensitive, you can use a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters.
max smith …contain max and smith, regardless of the order.
max AND smith …contain both max and smith, regardless of the order.
max NOT smith …contain max, but not smith.
max OR smith …contain max, smith, or both.
“max smith” …contain the exact phrase in between the quotation marks, not variations.
from: “max smith” …are sent by max smith.
hasattachment:true …contain attachments.
subject:”max smith” …have a subject including the exact phrase max smith.
subject:max smith …have max in the subject and smith is included anywhere in the item
cc:”max smith” …have a CC line including max smith.
cc: …have a CC line including the email address .
bcc:”max smith” …have a BCC line including max smith.
category:blue …contain a word with the term blue in it.
sent:yesterday …you sent or that were sent to you yesterday.
to:sam …contain emails you sent to sam (sent items folder).
read:false …you have not read, yet.

Outlook Search Syntax for Dates

If you are looking for a message from a certain date, the commands before and after can be quite helpful. Behind the chosen command follows the date statement you are searching for. Be careful to use the date format configured in Windows (e.g. mm/dd/yyy or dd.mm.yy).

Example 
before:21/04/2021

In addition to the date format it is also possible to specify a date or month using words:

  • Direct searches: yesterday, today, tomorrow
  • Searches for a specific day of the week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
  • Searches for a specific month of the year: January, February, March, April. May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Outlook search syntax for sizes

Another important Outlook Search command is the size command, so you can find items with the specific size you are looking for.

Specific size ranges
• Empty: 0KB
• Tiny: 0 to 10KB
• Small: 10 to 100KB
• Medium: 100KB to 1MB
• Large: 1 to 16MB
• Huge: 16 to 128MB
• Gigantic: >128MB
Example
size:medium - to find all items between 100KB to 1MB

Combination of Outlook search parameters

What also may be interesting is that it is possible to combine single Outlook search parameters. This way, you can narrow your search even more. To do this, you just have to separate the commands with a blank space. In doing so, you can find an email that is not only written by a specific person, for example, but you can also select a specific date.

Example
sent:yesterday  from:max

Outlook search tip – use smart subject headings

If it is part of your usual routine to attend several meetings, it may be difficult to find the message you are looking for when searching for the subject heading meeting. Therefore, choosing the right subject heading can be crucial for simplifying your Outlook search. It is as simple as this – if you think, you will ever need an email again, just use the opportunity to rename other peoples subject heading while responding to it.

Example 
Sam sent you an email with the subject heading "meeting". When replying, simply change the heading using specific keywords like "meeting marketing November 2021"

Simplify your Outlook by adding a search tool to your collection

If you only have to narrow your search down roughly, then you can focus on the more simple search parameters like today, tomorrow, this year, next year, Monday…Sunday, January…December. But even these simple terms have to manually be typed into the Outlook search field. On the other hand, there are professional search solutions like Lookeen, which generates a graphical timeline to simplify your Outlook search even more. In Lookeen, you can see the corresponding period and narrow your search down with just one simple click.

Now that you know the most important Outlook search commands, like in most areas of life: only practice makes perfect. Train regularly and you will quickly reach the point at which you don’t have to think too much about the right syntaxes to find what you need.

These Outlook tips should not only help you to find your messages faster but hopefully will make your life easier as well. Good luck!


Share with:



Other things you might find interesting:



Lookeen Newsletter

Subscribe to the Lookeen newsletter to get the latest updates and content first.

Which is not a valid search criteria when searching for messages in your inbox in Outlook?

Wildcards placed in the middle of a search string are not supported. Messages containing words that start with "red" (e.g. "redemption", "redacted"). Excludes a term. Messages containing "red" but not "green."

When you compose an email and click the To or CC button where does Outlook search first by default?

When you select the To, Cc, or Bcc buttons in a new message, Outlook will display your default address book. If you have an Exchange or Microsoft 365 account, that's your organization's Global Address List. If you're using a POP or IMAP account, you'll see your Contacts folder.

How can you search for specific text in the body of an email?

You can quickly search for every occurrence of a specific word or phrase using the Find option. In the email message or items you're creating, on the Format Text tab, in the Editing group, choose Find. In the Find what box, enter the text that you want to search for.

What allows Outlook to automatically flag forward move tag and respond to email messages?

Rules allow you to move, flag, and respond to email messages automatically. You can also use rules to play sounds, move messages to folders, or display new item alerts.