Microsoft 365 (Outlook on the web) - Search for messages and people
Searching in Mail
Important Search shows the first 30-50 matches. You can scroll past the bottom of the search result to load more messages.
To search in Mail:
- Select Outlook at the top of Outlook on the web.
- Enter what you want to search for in the search box.
- Select Enter or select the search icon .
- For advanced search options, click on the three horizontal lines preceding the magnifying icon and enter the desired search criteria.
You can also use Advanced Query Search, or AQS, to refine your searches. To use AQS, type a keyword followed by a colon, and then what to search for in the search box. For example, to find any message with a subject that contains "tomorrow", enter subject:tomorrow in the search box. More search options/terms.
AQS keyword |
Description |
From |
Searches the From field. |
To |
Searches the To field. |
Cc |
Searches the Cc field. |
Bcc |
Searches the Bcc field. |
Participants |
Searches the To, Cc, and Bcc fields. |
Subject |
Searches the subject. |
Body or Content |
Searches the message body. |
Sent |
Searches the date sent. You can search for a specific date or a range of dates separated by two dots (..). You can also search for relative dates: Today, tomorrow, yesterday, this week, next month, last week, past month. You can search for the day of the week or month of the year. Important Date searches must be entered in month/day/year format: MM/DD/YYYY. |
Received |
Searches for the date received. You can use the same search terms as for Sent. |
Category |
Searches the Category field. |
Attachment |
Searches for the specified attachment by title. For example, attachment:letter.doc will find any message with an attachment named letter.doc. |
Has |
Use has:flag to find items that are flagged. |
When you use AQS, you can search on multiple search terms. When you enter multiple search terms, you can search on any, all, or an exact phrase.
- Subject: product plan will find any message with "product" or "plan" in the subject.
- Subject: (product plan) will find any message with both "product" and "plan" in the subject.
- Subject: "product plan" will find any message with the phrase "product plan" in the subject.
- Received<=2016-04-20 AND From:”Bucky Badger” will find any message prior to or equal to 4/10/2016 and from "Bucky Badger".
Searching in People
When searching in this context, search query will be performed against contacts, directory, and groups.
To search in People:
- Select People from within your Outlook view.
- Enter the desired search term within the search box.
- Select Enter or click the search icon .
- Refine your search by selecting one Search Directory.
- To clear your search results, click the left arrow located left of your search term(s).