Outlook Search Operators Cheat Sheet (Find Anything Fast)

Outlook search operators let you type a precise query and find one email in thousands — no scrolling, no guessing, no opening threads at random hoping the file is in there. Most users never learn them, so they type a single word, get 300 results, and give up. This cheat sheet covers every operator Outlook supports, with copy-paste examples built around the searches people actually run, plus a plain comparison of which operators behave differently in new Outlook and the web.

The underlying syntax is Keyword Query Language (KQL), the same query language Microsoft uses across SharePoint and Exchange. You do not need to know that name to use the operators — you only need to know that Outlook's search box accepts them, that they are case-insensitive, and that combining them narrows results far faster than any filter menu.

Outlook search operators: the complete cheat sheet#

Type any of these directly in the Outlook search bar. No quotes needed around single-word values. For multi-word values, use double quotes — subject:"project update" instead of subject:project update. Combine operators by adding a space between them. Outlook treats multiple operators joined by a space as AND by default.

Before you type your first operator#

Outlook's search box sits at the top of the app. Click it and the scope defaults to the current folder — usually whichever inbox or folder you are looking at. To search everywhere, click the scope dropdown that appears to the right of the bar and choose All Mailboxes or All Outlook Items. Operators work in both scopes, but if you are hunting for something in Sent Items while the scope is set to Inbox, it will not appear.

Two things cause unexpected results. First, the syntax requires a colon immediately after the operator keyword with no space: from:sarah works, from: sarah does not. For multi-word values, double quotes are required: subject:"budget review" finds exactly that phrase, while subject:budget review treats review as a separate body keyword. Second, Outlook maintains a local search index. If a mailbox was just connected or the index rebuilt after a crash, recent results may be temporarily missing.

Relative date words Outlook recognizes: today, yesterday, this week, last week, this month, last month, this year, last year. For a custom window, use received:>=YYYY/MM/DD AND received:<=YYYY/MM/DD. The ISO format is required for absolute dates — Outlook does not accept written month names like June in a range query.

How to use Outlook search operators for ten real jobs#

These are the searches people actually run. Each one uses the operators from the table above — copy, adjust the name or date, and run it directly in the search bar.

1. 1

   Find an email from a specific person

   Type from:name, where name is any part of the sender's name or email address. To narrow by subject at the same time, add subject:keyword after a space: from:sarah subject:contract finds emails from Sarah with the word contract in the subject. Both conditions must be true.

2. 2

   Find all emails with attachments from a client

   Combine the sender and attachment operators: from:clientname hasattachment:yes. To also limit by time, add received:this month. This returns every email from that sender with a file attached, received in the current month — useful for pulling together everything a vendor sent before a deadline.

3. 3

   Find an invoice, contract, or proposal

   Use subject: with the document type, then optionally narrow by sender or date: subject:invoice from:vendor received:last month. If the document name might be in the attachment rather than the subject, add attachment:invoice to the query to match by filename instead.

4. 4

   Find all unread mail from a person

   Combine the sender and read operators: from:[email protected] read:no. This surfaces every unread thread from that address, across all folders if your scope is set to All Mailboxes. Add received:this week to limit it to recent unread mail.

5. 5

   Find a large attachment someone sent

   Type hasattachment:yes size:>5000000 from:sender. The size value is in bytes — 1 MB is 1000000 and 5 MB is 5000000. Add attachment:*.pdf or attachment:*.pptx if you know the file type. Note that size: is not supported in new Outlook or on the web; use classic Outlook for this query.

6. 6

   Find a specific attachment by filename

   Type attachment:filename.ext with the name you remember. Partial names work: attachment:proposal finds any attachment whose name includes that word. This is faster than opening every email in a thread to see which one has the file attached.

7. 7

   Find all flagged emails from last month

   Type flagged:yes received:last month. To narrow to flagged emails from one person, add from:name. Flagged emails are those you marked with the flag icon to review later — this query collects all of them in one results view.

8. 8

   Find emails in a precise date range

   Use received:>=YYYY/MM/DD AND received:<=YYYY/MM/DD to set an exact window. For example, received:>=2026/06/01 AND received:<=2026/06/30 finds everything received in June 2026. The ISO date format is required; Outlook does not accept written month names in this syntax.

9. 9

   Find emails in a specific color category

   Type category:name, where name is the category label you assigned in Outlook. Use category:red for the red category, or category:"Follow Up" with quotes for a multi-word label. Combine with from: or subject: to narrow the results to one sender or topic within that category.

10. 10

    Find all emails from an entire domain

    Type from:@domain.com — for example, from:@microsoft.com returns every message where the sender's address ends in that domain. This finds mail from every person at an organization, not just one contact. Useful when auditing a vendor relationship or after a team member leaves.

How Outlook search operators differ across versions#

Not every operator works the same way in all Outlook surfaces. Classic Outlook for Windows has the most complete KQL support. New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web share a web-based architecture and support most operators, but the size: operator is missing and some date range syntax behaves differently. Outlook mobile has no raw query box at all — search there works through filters and basic keyword matching only.

This matters most when you are trying to save a Search Folder or automate a query. If a command works in classic Outlook but returns nothing in new Outlook, check the table below before assuming the index is broken.

What to do when Outlook search is not returning results#

If you type a valid operator query and Outlook returns nothing — or obviously wrong results — run through these checks in order before concluding that the email is gone.

Check your search scope first. Outlook defaults to the current folder. If you are in the inbox and searching for something filed in a subfolder or in Sent Items, it will not appear. Switch the scope to All Mailboxes before running the query again.

Check for syntax errors next. The two most common ones: a space after the colon (from: sarah fails, from:sarah works), and a missing closing quote on a phrase (subject:"budget review without the closing quote returns nothing or odd results). Read the query character by character if results look wrong.

If the syntax is right and the scope is correct, the search index may be rebuilding. This happens after adding a new account, after an Outlook crash, or when the index file on disk is corrupted. In classic Outlook, you can trigger a rebuild under File > Options > Search > Indexing Options > Rebuild. In new Outlook and on the web, search is server-side and typically resolves within a few minutes without intervention.

A faster way to search across every inbox#

Outlook search operators work within one mailbox. If your work runs across Outlook and Gmail — or two Outlook accounts, or an IMAP address — you run the same query in each app separately. The context you need is split across inboxes, and no operator bridges that.

We build AI Emaily, an AI-native email client that connects every account in one place. Its semantic search understands meaning rather than keyword matches, so you can ask in plain language — "the contract Sarah sent before the June close" — and get the right thread without knowing the exact subject line, sender address, or date. For searches that do match classic operator logic, it runs them across all your connected accounts at once.

AI Emaily offers a 7-day free trial on the Pro plan. See the full feature breakdown at aiemaily.com and trial pricing at aiemaily.com/pricing. If you spend real time each week hunting emails across multiple inboxes, the unified search alone is worth a week's trial.