Rules to Better Search - 4 Rules

SharePoint search is a powerful tool for discovering information. Here are some tips to make sure you are getting the most from it. There are two things to consider regarding SharePoint search; firstly, how you save information to SharePoint to be more easily discoverable; secondly, how to perform searches within SharePoint.

Here are some tips for performing searches:

Know how to navigate SharePoint search – watch this video

• Use the categories (top)
• Use the filters (right navigation / faceted search)
• Use the scope to go wider
• Use the specific properties (see below)
• People - Use Delve indexed properties (i.e. Skills)

Search a specific property

If you are familiar with the structure of the metadata in the content you're searching, you can restrict your searches to a property with the syntax <property>:<search term>. E.g. to search the filename field for the term "report", you would use "filename:report".

Example of properties you can use (common ones);

• Filetype:
• CreatedBy:
• ModifiedBy:
• Title:

More: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/securitycompliance/keyword-queries-and-search-conditions

Use Boolean OR and AND operators Similar to Google and Bing, you can use OR and AND Boolean operators. E.g. "sharepoint AND search".

Use an asterisk (*) wildcard for partial matches

This can be useful if you know that certain words are used together, e.g. Fire* will return results for FireBootCamp.

Use double quotes to find specific phrases

E.g. search for "social media" to make sure you get results for social media, as opposed to results that simply contain the words "social" and "media" in the same document.

Microsoft Teams search is designed to help you quickly find the files you are collaborating on.

From the main search box, you can search for:

• Teams
• Channels
• Messages
• People
• Files

Be aware of Teams Search limitations

If you start typing in the search box, you will see a dropdown with the main results that matches your query divided by type, prioritizing Teams and Channels:

Once you hit "enter", you will be directed to all results, separated by Messages, People, and Files tabs:

You may use built-in filters to refine your search under each of the tabs:

Some people are really good at using Outlook search to find the emails they need, while others have a hard time. Searching for emails can be a real struggle, sometimes you want to find emails from months ago but you aren't sure exactly what to search for.

Being able to find an email quickly in Outlook is an important skill. Here are some tips and tricks about how to find that email buried in your inbox...

Video: Searching Outlook Effectively with Ulysses Maclaren (9 min)

Scenario

Let's take an example scenario and see what tips we can use to search. Last month, you got an email in your inbox from your manager Bob about making changes to how you see data in his Northwind website.

Tip #1: Give the person you are talking to the focus

If you get 10 calls a day, you should be using this tip 10 times a day. When you get a call from Bob, before he has finished saying "how are you" you should have already typed in the search box and be looking at his most recent emails.

To get Bob's most recent emails the best thing to do, is to limit Outlook to only your inbox folder and only emails from Bob by:

• Change the folder to "Current Folder"
• Search for:    from:Bob

Note #1: You can change the folder scoping to fit your specific needs.

Note #2: You can change the default to always be "Current Folder".

Tip #2: Focus on the person (i.e. to: from: cc: bcc:)

There are many different ways to focus on people. If know that the email was sent to Adam, from Bob, Luke was CC'd and Chris was BCC'd then:

• Search for:    to:Adam from:Bob cc:Luke bcc:Chris

Tip #3: Focus on the subject (i.e. subject:)

If you have a good idea of what the email subject contains, then the "subject:" scope can help a lot. For example, if you know that the email had Northwind and Bob in the subject then:

• Search for:    "Subject: Northwind Bob"

Tip #4: Use negatives (i.e. –)

Negatives are a great way to remove results you know definitely won't be relevant. For example, if you know Luke and Adam frequently work with Bob but weren't involved in that email then:

• Search for:    -Luke -Adam

Note: Start with a broad search, and then, when you start seeing irrelevant results about invoicing, add -invoice to your search

Tip #5: Use quotation marks (i.e. “”)

You can search for a direct match in an email using quotation marks. For example, if you know that "days outstanding" was written in the email then:

• Search for:    "days outstanding"

Note: Particularly useful when using common words but you know they were written in an exact phrase. E.g. “on top of this”

Tip #6: Combine 2 searches into 1 (i.e. OR)

Sometimes you might know a specific thing was referred to, but aren't sure what terminology was used. For example, let's say you know the email mentioned either "web app" or "website". In that case:

• Search for:    "web app" OR website

Note: Must be upper case... lowercase “or” won’t work

Tip #7: Find a file (i.e. hasattachments:yes)

Emails can be filtered to only include ones with attachments. If you know the email has an attachment then:

• Search for:    hasattachments:yes

Tip #8: Find a file’s content (i.e. attachment:)

File contents can also be searched. If you know that there was an attachment that contained the text "20/07/2021" then:

• Search for:    attachment:"20/07/2021"

Note: You must enter dates in USA format #ouch

Tip #9: Focus on the date received (i.e. received=<>)

You can filter on a specific time period or date. For example, If you know that the email was received after 07/20/2019 then:

• Search for:    received>"07/20/2019"

Note #1: You must enter dates in USA format #ouch

Tip #10: Recent Searches

If you know you found an email before, but you can’t seem to find it again, try clicking on Recent Searches to scroll through your latest searches.

---

More Info: Outlook has a heap of other properties that you can filter on.

Learn more: How to search in Outlook.

In Bing, if you are logged in to your work account, you can easily see your recent files!The same works for your work colleagues.

Suggestion to Microsoft: Put a checkbox "Show thumbnails" like Delve.

In a slower way, you can go to Delve to see this information with a different UI with big images.