Search syntax for Advanced Search

Last published : Apr 17, 2026
Table: Search methods and their syntax for Advanced Search describes the search methods that are available in Advanced Search.

Table: Search methods and their syntax for Advanced Search

Search method Syntax Example and more details
Phrase search Use double quotation marks around one or more words to search for the exact phrase. "cloud computing" finds archived messages with this phrase.
See Phrase searches .
AND operator search Use the AND operator between two search terms to find items that contain both search terms. cloud AND computing finds archived messages with both of the search terms cloud and computing .
See Boolean operator searches .
OR operator search Use the OR operator between two search terms to find items that contain at least one of the search terms. cloud OR computing finds archived messages with the search term cloud , or the search term computing , or both terms.
See Boolean operator searches .
NOT operator search Use the NOT operator between search terms to exclude specific search terms. cloud NOT computing finds archived messages with the search term cloud but not the search term computing .
See Boolean operator searches .
Single character wildcard search Use a question mark at the end of a search term to represent a single unspecified character. appl? finds archived messages with search terms such as apple or apply .
Note: You must enter a search term with at least three characters before the wildcard character. See Wildcard searches .
Multiple character wildcard search Use an asterisk at the end of a search term to represent one or more unspecified characters. comp* finds archived messages with search terms such as computing , computer , or company .
Note: You must enter a search term with at least three characters before the wildcard character. See Wildcard searches .
Proximity search Place quotation marks around two search terms, followed by a tilde and a numerical value to indicate the maximum word count between them. "cloud computing"~5 finds archived messages with the search terms cloud and computing within five words of each other.
Note: Personal.cloud limits the word count between the 2 search terms to under 50 words. See Proximity searches .
Note: Searches are not case-sensitive. Capitalizing a search term has no effect on the search results. Invalid search terms are shown in red; hover over invalid search terms to get additional help via Tool Tip.