Microsoft Outlook – Advanced Email Search Cheat Sheet
With the sheer volume of emails flooding our inboxes daily, it’s no wonder that tracking down that one important message can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.
I’m often asked how to make Outlook work for you, especially when you’re trying to locate a specific email buried in the chaos. This article is your cheat sheet to mastering Outlook’s powerful (but often overlooked) search tools, so you can stop searching and start finding.
Basic Search Descriptors
from: – Search by sender
from:John DoeWhat it does: Filters results to only show emails sent by a specific person.
You can search by partial names, email addresses, or even domains.
to: – Search by recipient
to:[email protected]What it does: Filters emails that were sent to a specific individual.
This is helpful when looking for messages you sent to someone, or messages forwarded to them.
You can combine this with “from:” to narrow conversations between two specific people.
cc: – Search in CC field
cc:[email protected]What it does: Filters results to show emails where someone was carbon copied (CC’d).
This is useful for finding emails where someone was kept in the loop, but not the primary recipient.
bcc: – Search in BCC field
bcc:[email protected]What it does: Filters emails where someone was blind carbon copied (BCC’d).
You can only search for BCC entries in emails you sent, because incoming messages don’t reveal BCC info.
subject: – Search in subject line
subject:"Quarterly Report"What it does: Filters based on words found in the subject line only, not the email body.
You can use quotes to search for exact phrases.
body: – Search within message body
body:"deadline"What it does: Searches only the main content of the email, ignoring the subject and headers.
Use this to find messages that mention specific projects, phrases, or requirements, even if the subject line is generic.
hasattachments: – Emails with attachments
hasattachments:yesWhat it does: Filters messages that contain any attachments (files, images, etc.)
This is great for locating contracts, spreadsheets, or presentations you received or sent.
category: – Filter by Outlook category
category:FinanceWhat it does: Finds emails that you have manually tagged with a specific Outlook category (e.g., “Finance”, “Urgent”, “Legal”).
Categories must match exactly (case-insensitive), and are only available if you’ve assigned them to messages.
Date and Time Descriptors
received: – When the email was received
received:yesterdayWhat it does: Filters emails based on the date they arrived in your inbox.
Accepted values:
- today
- yesterday
- this week
- last month
- YYYY-MM-DD (received:2025-01-01)
sent: – When the email was sent
sent:2024-10-01
What it does: Filters emails based on when you or someone else sent the message.
Useful for locating outgoing or historical emails you sent on a particular date.
received:>=date – After a certain date
received:>=2025-01-01What it does: Filters to show emails received on or after the specified date.
Helpful for filtering recent messages, or scoping to a period of interest (e.g., after the start of a project).
You can also use <, <=, and >with other dates.
received:2024-01-01..2024-01-31 – Between two dates
received:2024-01-01..2024-01-31What it does: Filters for emails received within a date range (inclusive).
Ideal for audits, quarterly reporting periods, or hunting for messages tied to a known timeframe.
Folder-Specific Searches
folder: – Limit search to specific folder
folder:InboxWhat it does: Restricts your search to emails within a single named folder.
Good for narrowing down your results when you know the email you’re looking for is in a specific folder like Inbox, Archive, Projects, or a custom folder.
- This works best in the Outlook desktop app (not always reliable in web).
- Folder names must match exactly.
- You can’t search multiple folders at once using this operator.
in:sent – Look in Sent folder
from:me in:sentWhat it does: A shorthand for filtering common folders like Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, etc.
Good for locating emails you personally sent, rather than received.
Common values:
in:inboxin:sentin:draftsin:deleted
Attachments and File Type Filters
hasattachments:yes – Emails with attachments
subject:budget hasattachments:yes
What it does: Filters to only show emails that contain one or more attachments (any file type).
Ideal for when you know an email included a file but you don’t remember the subject or sender.
attachmentname: – Search attachment filename
attachmentname:report.pdf
What it does: Filters for emails that contain an attachment with a specific file name (or part of it).
Very helpful if you’re trying to locate a specific file someone emailed you.
Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT)
AND – All terms must match
from:john AND subject:report
What it does: Shows results that contain all specified terms or criteria.
Useful when you want to narrow down to emails that meet multiple specific conditions.
OR – Any of the terms can match
from:john OR from:jane
What it does: Returns results that match at least one of the conditions.
Useful when you want to search across multiple senders, subjects, or keywords.
NOT / – – Exclude a term
subject:project NOT status / -status
What it does: Removes results that contain a specific word or filter.
Very helpful for filtering out noise, such as removing auto-replies, unrelated discussions, or repeated keywords.
Example Searches
Emails from John with Excel attachments in Feb 2025
from:john hasattachments:yes attachmentname:.xlsx received:2025-02-01..2025-02-28What it does:
- Finds emails sent by someone named John
- That have attachments
- Where at least one attachment is an Excel file
- And the email was received between February 1 and February 28, 2025
Emails with ‘budget’ in subject but not from manager
subject:budget NOT from:[email protected]
What it does: Finds emails sent by
- Finds emails that contain “budget” in the subject line
- But excludes any messages sent by your manager
Emails sent to or CC’d to a specific client
to:[email protected] OR cc:[email protected]
What it does: Searches for emails where the specified client was either:
- A direct recipient (in the To field), or
- A copied recipient (in the CC field)