Using Search in SharePoint

The Modern SharePoint search is personal, showing results based on previous activity, only for your access, and you can change search location. You can use the Search box that is at the top of each page of a SharePoint site to search for sites, pages, files or lists.

Overview

This Knowledge Base article explains how to use search in SharePoint. 

 

Using the Search Box

• Location:

  The Search box is typically located at the top of the SharePoint site, in the header bar. 

• Functionality:

It searches for content across all sites and its subsites, including files, folders, metadata, and content within documents. 

1. In the Search box, type in the word or phrase for what you are looking for. 

2. Press Enter or click on Show Results. You can narrow the results by clicking on the source filter bar to limit the scope of the search to files, sites, people, news, messages, images, videos or Power BI apps.  You can also filter by file type or last modified date. 

 

3. The results will appear like below. Site pages will always appear at the top of the list. 

• Refining your search:

  • Exact phrase: Enclose your search terms in double quotes to find the exact phrase. 
  • Exclusion: Use the minus sign (-) to exclude results containing a specific term. 
  • Managed properties: Use managed properties like filetype: to filter results by file type (e.g., filetype:pdf). 
  • Boolean operators: Use AND, OR, and NOT to combine or exclude terms. 
  • Wildcard characters: Use the asterisk (*) as a wildcard character to find variations of a word (e.g., hyperson* or *sonic).  

Benefits of Microsoft Search in SharePoint

• Easy to search - Microsoft Search suggests results based on users' previous activity in Microsoft 365, right in the search box. On the search results page the results are ordered by relevance.
• Find shared files - Microsoft Search uses advanced query understanding to make finding shared files simple. Users can easily find files they're collaborating on.
• Show relevant content - Promote the information and answers your users need to complete tasks, for example policies, benefits, resources, tools, and more. You can also target specific groups, like new hires or remote workers.
• Administer across all apps - Microsoft Search is on by default and any administration you do applies to Microsoft Search in all the apps.
• Easy to explore results - Users can explore results without leaving search. They can for example browse through a presentation directly in the search results page and quickly assess if it's the right result.
• Mobile friendly - The Microsoft Search results page is mobile friendly.
• User friendly interface - Microsoft Search offers a great user interface without a search administrator configuring anything. Learn more
• Microsoft Search evolves - The set of content types users can search for and the intelligence of the search box will grow over time. Learn what's coming next in Microsoft Search

Additional Resources

• Microsoft Search fundamentals - Training

  Learn about Microsoft Search including where users can search, the answers and results they'll see, and how you can tailor the search experience for your organization.