Search and filter email

Search and filter email

Search is a powerful tool to help find email messages anywhere in Outlook.

Search email

  1. Select the search bar.

  2. Type a name, subject, or phrase which is included in the email message that you want to find.

Refine your search results

  1. Select the search bar and type a name or subject.

  2. Select an option to refine or widen your search: All Mailboxes, Current Mailbox, Current Folder, Subfolder, or All Outlook Items.

  3. You can also select a category within the Refine group to further filter your search results:

    • From – only shows results from a specific person.

    • Subject - only shows results based on the subject.

    • Has Attachment – only shows emails that have attachments.

    • Categorized – only shows results that have a specific category assigned to them.

    • This Week - searches by when the email message was received: Today, Yesterday, This Week, Last Week, This Month, Last Month, This Year, or Last Year.

    • Sent To – searches messages Sent to You, Not Sent Directly to You, or Sent to Another Recipient.

    • Unread – only shows unread messages.

    • Flagged - only shows messages flagged by you.

    • Important - only shows emails marked as Important.

    • More - filters your results based on more advanced criteria, such as Cc or Sensitivity.

  4. Select Recent Searches to run recent searches again.

    Note: Outlook saves only the recent search query, not the results.

  5. Select Close Search to close the Search tab.


    • Related Articles

    • Create an email signature

      Create custom signatures that can be automatically added to your email messages. Email signatures can include text, images, your electronic business card, a logo, or even your handwritten signature. Select New Email. Select Signature > Signatures. ...

    • Organize email by using folders

      Create folders to organize emails, move messages, and add folders to your Favorites folder for easy access. Create a folder Right-click Inbox and select New Folder. Type a name for the folder and press Enter. Move messages into a folder Select an ...

    • Create and send email in Outlook

      Create and send email Choose New Email to start a new message. Enter a name or email address in the To, Cc, or Bcc field. If you don't see Bcc, see Show, hide, and view the Bcc box. In Subject, type the subject of the email message. Place the cursor ...

    • Retract or replace a sent email

      If you and your recipients are all on Microsoft Exchange and in the same organization, you can recall or replace an email message that you sent. Select File > Info. Under AccountInformation, make sure the account you sent the email from is selected. ...

    • Clean Up your Inbox

      Use Clean Up Conversation to tidy up your email conversations and reduce the number of messages in your inbox. Select an email conversation that you'd like to clean up. Select Clean Up > Clean Up Conversation. Select Clean Up.