APRIL 2016
6
Outlook search features
By Carol D� Rice
Looking for an email attachment from a certain person or looking at all unread
emails from various folders can be challenging. Microsoft offers a couple search
features to assist with these tasks – the search bar and search folders.
Credit: tanuha2001/Shutterstock
The search bar is located above the list of emails. Once the mouse is clicked in the search bar, most users simply
type a key word to show a fi ltered list of emails. This fi ltered list may provide the particular email; however, there
is a better method to narrow the search to get more accurate results. Using the example above, look for an email
attachment from a certain person. Once the mouse is clicked in the search bar, the Search ribbon appears. On the
Search ribbon, click the 'From' command and type the person's name who sent the email. Then, click the 'Has
Attachments' command to narrow the search. The resulting list will likely be substantially smaller that the fi rst
method.
Note: By default, only
the current folder is
searched. If emails
are typically fi led
into various folders, I
recommend searching
'All Mailboxes.'
Try searching for emails from yesterday using the 'This Week' command. Go ahead and explore the other com-
mands on this ribbon, to assist in getting the needed results.
THE INSTANT SEARCH BAR
SEARCH FOLDERS
Search folders are likened to saved searches. Search folders are located near
the bottom of the Folder Pane or Navigation Pane (as it is also known).
Right click 'Search Folders' and select 'New
Search Folder …' – a dialog box appears.
Using the example above, to display all unread
mail, select the top option 'Unread mail.' All
unread mail, from various folders, will be
displayed. Notice the example shows seven
(7) unread emails from three (3) different
folders – Inbox (5), My Online Training Hub
(1) and ExcelJet – Dave Bruns (1).
