How to Narrow Your Email Search

How many emails do you get a day? Between my seven inboxes (I know that is crazy in itself!) I received 142 emails today (and the day is not yet over). With so many emails coming in and going out it’s hard to keep track of each email, and find it again when you need it. All email providers have search bars, however at times the basic search functionality just isn’t specific enough and you need to narrow your email search further.

Sometimes emails are like socks in a dryer, you know it’s there, but you just can’t find it. Fortunately, I have an easy and efficient way to search and find emails using some simple search words in your search bar. I save SO MUCH time now using specific search keywords. I want to share this information with you so you can save time (and your sanity) too.

EXCLUSIVE TO SUBSCRIBERS! I also have a free printable that you can download with all of the keywords mentioned below. I keep this right next to my desk and refer back to it throughout the week. In addition, receive access to the Jac of All Things Resource Library for FREE! Simply enter your email address below and it will be sent to you immediately. You will receive a weekly email with the latest posts added to Jac of All Things, as well as a weekly “Did you know” tidbit of information or life hack to make your life easier! To receive this amazingly awesome information and email notifications of new posts, simply provide your email address below. By using this form you agree with this site’s privacy policy.

Disclaimer: These search tips work with Outlook, Gmail and Yahoo Mail. They may work with other email providers as well; however, I have not tested them personally.

HOW TO SEARCH EMAIL – TIPS TO NARROW YOUR SEARCH CRITERIA FOR BETTER SEARCHES

 

SEARCHING FOR AN EMAIL WITH AN EXACT PHRASE

 

How this may be helpful:

When you type a word into the search bar, most email providers use prefix matching which means they will match messages that begin with the word you have typed. Depending on the word you are searching, doing a basic search may cause additional, irrelevant emails to be displayed. For example, if you type in present your search will return you with all emails that contain present, presents, presentation, and presenter. You will need to put the word you are searching for in quotations in order to narrow your search to match the exact phrase.

Example – What to Type	Example – Your Search Results
present	All emails with the word present. (Search is not case sensitive.) Words that begin with present, such as presentation and presenter, will be included.
“present”	All emails with the exact phrase present. Words that contain present, such as presentation, will not be included.

SEARCHING FOR AN EMAIL FROM/TO A SPECIFIC PERSON OR COMPANY

 

How this may be helpful:

You may know part of a person’s email address or the company they are from, but can’t recall their exact email. Or, you may have cc’d or bcc’d someone on an email, but can’t recall the subject of the email.

Example – What to Type	Example – Your Search Results
from:Sue	All emails from Sue
from:Amazon	All emails from any email address that includes Amazon
to:Sue	All emails that have been sent to Sue
cc:Sue (Does not work on Yahoo Mail)	All emails where Sue was cc’d
bcc:Sue (Does not work on Yahoo Mail)	All emails where Sue was bcc’d

Helpful Tip: If you are looking for an email you sent rather than received, first go to your sent folder and then run the search.

 

SEARCHING FOR AN EMAIL WITH AN ATTACHMENT

 

How this may be helpful:

You received an attachment in an email, but do not recall who sent it to you. You can use these keywords to segment and display only emails with an attachment. With some email providers, you can also identify which type of attachment was sent.

Note, the search keyword varies depending on the email provider you use.

Example – What to Type	Example – Your Search Results
For Outlook
hasattachment:yes	All emails with an attachment of any kind
For Gmail
has:attachment	All emails with an attachment of any kind
has:drive	All emails with a Google drive attachment
has:document	All emails with a .doc extension
has:spreadsheet	All emails with a spreadsheet
has:presentation	All emails with a presentation
has:youtube	All emails with a YouTube video
For Yahoo Mail
has:attachment	All emails with an attachment of any kind
has:image	All emails with an image

SEARCHING FOR AN EMAIL WITH A SPECIFIC SUBJECT

 

How this may be helpful:

You want to narrow your search to only include emails with a specific subject.

Example – What to Type	Example – Your Search Results
subject:Disney	All emails with the phrase Disney in the subject line
subject:“Disney trip details”	All emails with the exact phrase of Disney trip details in the subject line

SEARCHING FOR AN EMAIL FROM A SPECIFIC DATE/TIME OF YEAR

 

How this may be helpful:

You may have a general idea of when an email was sent, but not sure of the exact date. Or, you may want to pull all emails that you sent on a specific date.

The search keyword varies depending on the email provider you use.

Example – What to Type	Example – Your Search Results
For Outlook
received:2017	All emails received in 2017
received:=1/15/18	All emails received on January 15, 2018
received:yesterday	All emails received yesterday
received:thisweek	All emails received this week
received:lastweek	All emails received last week
received:pastmonth	All emails received in the past month
received:Monday	All emails received on Monday
received:>=6/15/17 AND received:<=7/15/17	All emails received between June 15, 2017 and July 15, 2017
received:> 6/15/17 AND received:< 7/15/17	Emails that were received after June 15, 2017 but before July 15, 2017
For Gmail
after:2017/06/15	All emails received after June 15, 2017
before:2017/06/15	All emails received before June 15, 2017
older_than:2m	All emails received more than 2 months ago
older_than:5d	All emails received more than 5 days ago
newer_than:2m	All emails received less than 2 months ago
newer_than:5d	All emails received less than 5 days ago
For Yahoo Mail
after:“2017/06/15”	All emails received after June 15, 2017
before:“2017/06/15”	All emails received before June 15, 2017

SEARCHING FOR AN EMAIL THAT IS UNREAD

 

How this may be helpful:

You want to narrow your search to show only emails you have not yet read.

Example – What to Type	Example – Your Search Results
For Outlook
read:no	All emails you have not yet read
For Gmail
is:unread	All emails you have not yet read
For Yahoo Mail
is:unread	All emails you have not yet read

COMBINING KEYWORDS, EXCLUDING KEYWORDS, AND USING “OR”

 

How this may be helpful:

You may have multiple criteria that you want to use to narrow down your search. The possibilities are endless.

Example – What to Type	Example – Your Search Results
from:Sue AND “Disney”	All emails from Sue that contain the phrase Disney
from:Sue AND subject:Disney	All emails from Sue with a subject of Disney
from:Sue OR from:Sally	All emails from Sue or Sally
from:Sue OR from:Sally AND “Disney”	All emails from Sue or Sally that contain the phrase Disney
from:Sue NOT “Disney” (Does not work on Yahoo Mail)	All emails from Sue that do not contain the phrase Disney

Note, AND, NOT, and OR must be capitalized.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PRINTABLE WITH ALL KEYWORDS/TIPS MENTIONED ABOVE

 

I have outlined all of these tips in an easy to read table that you can download for your reference. Provide your email address below for your free printable on how to narrow your email search.

Have I missed any tips? Please comment below if you have any tips to share!