- In Outlook for Mac you can use the search bar at the top of the page to search for email messages and people. When you use search from your mailbox, the results will include messages, contacts, and files. Search for an email message, contact, or file. In the Search box at the top of Outlook, type what you want to search for (a contact, subject.
- Go to the Search field to find a message or another item. Clear the search results. Expand the search to include All Mail Items, All Calendar Items, or All Contact Items, depending on the module you are in. Use Advanced Find. Create a Search folder. Search for text within an open item.
Outlook 2016 for Mac provides searching at various levels of complexity. Here are two methods that many find useful.
Choose Mailbox Synchronize account. The Mail folder (located in your home Library folder) may be excluded from Spotlight searching. To check, choose Apple menu System Preferences, click Spotlight, then click Privacy. Open the Privacy pane for me. See also Search for emails in Mail on Mac Find text in an email in Mail on Mac.
Quick Search (one mail folder)
Advanced Find (multiple folders, more options)
Quick Search (one mail folder, but can be modified)
You can search for a particular message by clicking on the folder where the message is stored, then using the search bar in the upper-right corner of the Outlook window. This method searches only the folder you've selected. It does NOT include sub-folders of that folder (but see the bullets below).
- While typing in the search box, you'll be offered the option of specifying where in the message to search (from, to, subject, etc.). If you do not select any of these specifics, Outlook will search all the basic headers, the subject, and the body of the message.
- When the search results are displayed, a Search ribbon will appear, allowing you to further refine your results.
To return to a full view of all messages, click the X icon next to the search text box or click Close in the Search ribbon.
Advanced Find (multiple folders, more options)
Advanced Find offers more detailed options for locating items.
From the Edit menu, choose Find, then Advanced Find.
A Search row will appear at the top of your messages. Use the drop-down list to select a search criteria, then fill in the field or fields associated with that criteria.
To add additional criteria, click the plus sign at the right edge of the search row. Multiple criteria are treated as 'and' statements, that is, a message will be displayed only if it matches ALL the criteria you've specified.
The icons on the Search ribbon allow you to further refine your results.
To return to a full view of all messages, click the X icon next to the search text box or click Close in the Search ribbon.
Mail User Guide
You can search for email messages in any or all mailboxes by using your own words—such as “emails from John sent yesterday”—or by using Mail suggestions and search filters. Top Hits is listed first in the results, and reflects messages you’ve read and replied to recently, your VIP senders and contacts, and other factors.
Tip: If you know you want to search in specific mailboxes, select them in the Mail sidebar before you start.
Search for emails using your own words
- In the Mail app on your Mac, enter a search phrase in the search field.Type what you’re looking for the same way you’d say it (this is called natural language search). Here are some examples:
- from kelly
- from kelly yesterday
- to kelly
- to kelly about remodel
- flagged emails
- PDF attachments
- Press Return.
Outlook Search Mac No Results
If you don’t see the message you’re looking for, try clicking a different mailbox in the Favorites bar. If you selected specific mailboxes in the sidebar before you started, click Selected Mailboxes.
Search for emails using Mail suggestions and filters
- In the Mail app on your Mac, start typing a search phrase in the search field, then choose one of the suggestions Mail provides.Mail creates a search filter in the search field and lists the matching messages it found in the selected mailbox.
- Refine the results in any of these ways:
- Change search filters: If a search filter contains an arrow, you can click it to change the filter. For example, you can change a filter to search for messages to or from a certain person, or search subject lines or entire messages.
- Use multiple search filters: Place the pointer after the first filter, start typing search text, then choose a suggestion. Repeat as needed; the search field scrolls as you add more filters.Mail looks for messages that match all of the filters; the more you use, the more focused the search. If you don’t get expected results, remove some of the filters.
- Search message headers: Type the name of a message header field, followed by a colon and the value you’re searching for—for example, “from: susan park” or “priority: high”—then choose a suggestion.
- Search a mailbox that’s not in the Favorites bar: Type the name of the mailbox, choose the Mailbox suggestion, then type what you’re looking for after the Mailbox filter.
- Search a timeframe or range of dates: Type “date” followed by a colon and a date range, such as “date: 9/05/18-10/05/18.”
- Search using AND, OR, NOT (Boolean operators): Type your search text using the operators (in uppercase).For example, to search for messages that contain “yellowstone” and “cascades” but not “teton,” type “yellowstone AND cascades NOT teton” or “cascade AND yellowstone -teton.”
Save an email search
If you think you’ll search for a particular set of messages again, save your search.
- In the Mail app on your Mac, click Save below the search field.
- Change the name (and other settings), if you want.
- Click OK.
Your search is saved as a Smart Mailbox; when you receive new messages that match the search filters, they’re automatically included in the Smart Mailbox. See Use Smart Mailboxes.
When Mail searches all mailboxes, it searches in the Trash mailbox, but not the Junk mailbox; it doesn’t search encrypted messages, either. To change these options, choose Mail > Preferences, then click General.
When you search your Mac using Spotlight, emails are included in the results. You can exclude them by changing Spotlight preferences.
Indexing In Outlook For Mac
See alsoFind text in an email in Mail on MacCreate or delete mailboxes in Mail on Mac