Search syntax
Plain words search everything. Prefixes narrow a word to one part of the message. Filters in the bar combine with whatever you type.
Words and phrases
| Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
budget report | both words, anywhere; the last word matches as a prefix while you type (rep finds report, reply, repair) |
"budget report" | the phrase, words in that order |
budget OR forecast | either word |
budget -draft | with budget, without draft |
budget -from:dana | any prefix below can be excluded the same way |
bud* | words starting with bud |
[email protected] | an address, or any part of it: dana, example.com |
quarterly-report-2025.pdf | a file name or web address, also when it appears only inside a link |
Prefixes
| Prefix | Searches | Example |
|---|---|---|
from: | sender name or address | from:dana, from:example.com |
to: cc: bcc: | recipients | to:alice cc:bob |
people: | anyone on the message | people:whitfield |
subject: | subject only | subject:"status report" |
body: | message text only | body:overdue |
att: | attachment file names and contents | att:budget |
attname: | attachment file names only | attname:xlsx |
inside: | text inside attachments only | inside:"total operating" |
category: | Outlook categories (also tag:) | category:"red category", -category:done |
has:attachment | messages with files (has:none for those without) | has:attachment from:dana |
folder: | folder name | folder:receipts |
store: | account or data file name | store:archive |
kind: | mail, appointment, contact, task, note | kind:appointment |
is:sent is:received | direction (Sent: filed in a Sent, Drafts or Outbox folder, or from one of your own addresses) | is:sent to:alice |
thread: | one conversation; filled in by the Show conversation button |
Dates
| Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
date:today date:yesterday | that day |
date:week date:month date:year | the last 7, 30 or 365 days |
date:3d date:2w date:6m | the last 3 days, 2 weeks, 6 months |
date:2025-03-05 date:2025-03 date:2025 | a day, a month, a year (also 3/5/2025, mar 2025) |
after:2025-01-01 before:2025-02-01 | from that day on, up to and including that day |
date:2025-01-01..2025-02-01 | an inclusive range |
What is searched
Subject, sender and recipients (including Bcc), categories, the message text, and the names and text of attachments: Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (old and new formats, with headers, footers, footnotes, comments and speaker notes), PDF, OpenDocument, text, HTML and RTF files, the files inside zip archives, and attached emails with their own attachments. Appointments include their location, contacts their company, phone numbers and addresses. With Read text in attached pictures and scanned PDFs turned on in Settings, pictures and scans are read with the text recognition built into Windows, on your PC.
Combining
Everything combines with AND: from:dana subject:budget has:attachment date:2025 means all four at once. The Received / Sent switch, the date picker, the account and type lists and the attachment tick box in the bar apply on top of the text.
Results
- Newest first by default; choose Best match to rank by relevance.
- A 📎 in the snippet means the match was found inside an attachment.
- Hide duplicates folds copies of one message (same Message-ID, or same sender, subject and time) into one row and says how many were folded.