Microsoft Outlook is a popular email and personal information management application created by Microsoft Corporation. It includes functions such as email management, calendar scheduling, contact management, task management, and more to make our life easier.
One of Microsoft Outlook's key advantages is its search functionality, which allows us to hunt for specific emails, contacts, or appointments.
In this post, we'll look at how to search several terms in Microsoft Outlook to save time and effort while seeking specific information.
Learning the Search Functions in Microsoft Outlook
Before we go into how to search multiple keywords in Microsoft Outlook, let's go over how the search tool works. Outlook searches for data using a search index built when we first used Outlook.
The search index provides information about Outlook's email messages, contacts, appointments, and other data.
When we search for information in Outlook, the search function searches the search index for the keyword(s) we enter and presents the results in the search results pane.
The search results in the pane display a list of all the items that fit the search criteria, as well as a preview of the content of each item.
The article can be opened immediately from the search results window, or we can perform different actions, such as removing or transferring it.
Multiple Keyword Search in Microsoft Outlook
Now that we've covered the fundamentals of how Microsoft Outlook's search engine works let's go through how to search for multiple terms.
We occasionally need to search for emails or other items with many keywords or phrases. Assume we're looking for an email with the words "budget" and "quarterly report."
In that situation, we can utilise the following procedures in Microsoft Outlook to search for several keywords:
Click on the Search Box
First, enter the search box to search for several keywords in Microsoft Outlook. To do so, click the search box at the top of the Outlook window. The search box is near the "Inbox" and "Sent Items" folders.
Fill in the First Keyword
Once it is open, we can enter the first keyword in the search box. In our example, we would type in "budget."
Include the Second Keyword
After inputting the first term, we may add the second keyword by clicking on the "+" icon adjacent to the search box. This will launch a new search box into which we may type the second keyword. In this case, we would order a "quarterly report."
Determine the Search Criteria
We must first select the search criteria before proceeding with the search. Outlook offers many search tools for finding specific objects such as emails, contacts, or appointments.
To choose the search criteria, click the drop-down menu next to the search box and select an option. In our example, we'd choose "All Mailboxes" to look for emails with the words "budget" and "quarterly report" in any folder.
Begin the Search
We can begin the search by clicking on the "Search" button adjacent to the search field after inputting both terms and setting the search parameters.
Outlook will then search for and present all things that contain both keywords in the search results window.
Using Microsoft Outlook to Narrow Search Results
When we search for various terms in Microsoft Outlook, we may acquire many search results. In such circumstances, we can use filtering tools to narrow our search results further.
We can use the filtering options to look for specific categories of objects, such as emails from a given sender, emails with attachments, or emails sent during a specified time.
Click the "Filter Email" button in the search results box to access the filtering options. This will create a new window with the filtering choices we want to utilise.
After we've chosen our filtering settings, click the "OK" button to apply the filter. The items that fit the filter criteria will subsequently be displayed in Outlook.
Using Microsoft Outlook to Create a Search Folder
Create a search folder in Microsoft Outlook to search for numerous keywords. A virtual search folder contains objects that match specific search parameters.
When we create a search folder, Office will automatically add any things that fit the search parameters to the folder. To make a search folder, go to the "Folder" tab of the ribbon and click the "New Search Folder" button.
This will create a new window where we can specify the folder's search criteria. We can choose from various parameters, such as keywords, sender, recipient, date, and more.
After we've chosen our search parameters, click the "OK" button to create the search folder. The search folder will then appear in the navigation pane; we may access it just like any other folder.
In Microsoft Outlook, use the Boolean Operators
In addition to searching for numerous terms, we can refine our search parameters by using Boolean operators. Boolean operators enable us to combine search phrases to form more complicated search queries. "AND," "OR," and "NOT" are the three leading Boolean operators.
Both search phrases must appear in the search results if the "AND" operator is used. For instance, if we search for "budget AND quarterly report," Outlook will only return results that have both "budget" and "quarterly report."
We can use the "OR" operator to look for objects containing either search phrase. For instance, if we search for "budget OR forecast," Outlook will return results that include either "budget" or "forecast."
We can use the "NOT" operator to omit things that include a given search word. For example, if we search for "budget NOT marketing," Outlook will display things containing "budget" but not items containing "marketing."
Refining Microsoft Outlook Search Results
While searching for several terms in Microsoft Outlook, we may acquire too many results, and we may need to limit our search parameters further to find what we are looking for.
The search syntax, which allows us to generate more complicated search queries, is one method to refine our search criteria. To use the search syntax, we can directly type the search phrases into the search box using particular syntax elements.
We can, for example, use quotation marks to find an exact phrase, parenthesis to group search terms, and wildcards to find word variations.
Takeaway
While seeking specific information, searching for numerous keywords in Microsoft Outlook might save us time and effort. We can rapidly find the objects we need using search capability, filtering settings, search folders, and Boolean operators.
Microsoft Outlook provides various options to help us manage our information successfully, whether we are searching for emails, contacts, appointments, or other objects.
With some practice, we may become professionals at searching for various keywords in Microsoft Outlook, making our work lives more productive and efficient.
Comments