Proximity searches

Last published : Apr 17, 2026
Use a proximity search to find two words within a specified distance of each other. To create a proximity search, enclose the two words within quotation marks, and follow them with a tilde character (~) and a numerical value. For example:
"cloud computing"~5.
The numerical value specifies the maximum number of words that can exist between the words in quotes.
Note the following when using proximity searches:
  • The search terms in the proximity search results are highlighted in the Preview pane and Native views of the attachments. The exact number of words between the search keywords or the order of the keywords does not matter.
  • Insight Personal Archive limits the proximity word count to a maximum of 49 words.
  • Using wildcard characters in proximity searches is not recommended. When a proximity search includes wildcard characters, the application limits the search proximity value to a maximum of 10 to prevent performance degradation.
  • The results from a proximity search can contain stop words, but the stop words are excluded from the proximity word count.