Blog · June 4, 2026 · Inbox Search Team

Every Outlook Search Operator & Syntax Command — 2026 Cheat Sheet

Q: What search operators work in Outlook?

Outlook supports these search operators: from: (sender), to: (recipient), subject: (subject line), cc: (carbon copy), bcc: (blind carbon copy), hasattachment:yes (attachments only), received: (date received), sent: (date sent), category: (category name), importance:high/normal/low (priority), read:no (unread only), and kind: (item type). In classic Outlook, you can also use AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses for Boolean logic.

Q: How do I search for emails from a specific person in Outlook?

Type from:name or from:email@domain.com in the Outlook search bar and press Enter. For example, from:sarah finds all emails where Sarah is the sender. You can combine this with other operators like from:sarah subject:budget to further narrow results.

Q: Can I use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) in Outlook search?

Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT work reliably in classic Outlook for Windows. For example, budget AND Q3 NOT draft finds emails containing both 'budget' and 'Q3' but not 'draft'. However, Boolean operators do not work consistently in New Outlook or Outlook on the web — Microsoft has not fully implemented them in the server-side search engine.

Q: Do Outlook search operators work in New Outlook?

Most basic operators (from:, to:, subject:, hasattachment:) work in New Outlook. However, Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), the kind: operator, and some date syntax like received:>=2026-01-01 do not work reliably. New Outlook uses server-side search, which has a more limited query syntax than the classic desktop version.

Key facts:

Outlook supports operators like from:, to:, subject:, hasattachment:, and received:
Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) work in classic Outlook but not reliably in New Outlook
You can combine multiple operators in one query: from:sarah subject:budget hasattachment:yes
New Outlook's server-side search supports fewer operators than classic Outlook

Outlook has a surprisingly powerful search syntax — but Microsoft doesn't make it easy to discover. Most people never get beyond typing a keyword and hoping for the best. This cheat sheet covers every search operator available in Outlook, with copy-paste examples, notes on which versions support each one, and the gotchas that aren't in the official docs.

Sender and recipient operators

These operators filter emails based on who sent or received them. They work across classic Outlook, New Outlook, and Outlook on the web.

Operator	What it does	Example
`from:`	Emails from a specific sender	`from:sarah` or `from:sarah@contoso.com`
`to:`	Emails sent to a specific person	`to:finance-team`
`cc:`	Emails where someone was CC'd	`cc:manager@contoso.com`
`bcc:`	Emails where someone was BCC'd (your sent items only)	`bcc:legal`
`participants:`	Anyone in From, To, or CC fields	`participants:sarah`

Tip: You don't need the full email address. from:sarah matches any sender with "sarah" in the name or email address. Use the full address when you need precision.

Subject and body operators

Operator	What it does	Example
`subject:`	Search only the subject line	`subject:quarterly report`
`body:`	Search only the email body (classic Outlook)	`body:action items`
(plain keyword)	Searches subject, body, and attachment names	`invoice`

When you type a keyword without an operator, Outlook searches across the subject line, message body, and attachment file names. Use subject: when you only want subject line matches — this is particularly useful for filtering out conversations where the keyword appears in someone's reply but not the original topic.

Attachment operators

Operator	What it does	Example
`hasattachment:yes`	Only emails with attachments	`hasattachment:yes from:accounting`
`hasattachment:no`	Only emails without attachments	`hasattachment:no subject:review`
`attachmentnames:`	Search for attachment file names (classic Outlook)	`attachmentnames:report.pdf`

Note that hasattachment:yes counts inline images and embedded signatures as attachments. If your company uses HTML signatures with logos, you may get more results than expected. The attachmentnames: operator is more precise but only works in classic Outlook — see our full guide on searching for attachments in Outlook.

Date operators

Date operators let you narrow results to a specific time range. The syntax differs between classic and New Outlook.

Operator	What it does	Example
`received:today`	Emails received today	`received:today from:boss`
`received:yesterday`	Emails received yesterday	`received:yesterday subject:urgent`
`received:this week`	Emails from the current week	`received:this week hasattachment:yes`
`received:last week`	Emails from the previous week	`received:last week project update`
`received:this month`	Emails from the current month	`received:this month from:hr`
`received:last month`	Emails from the previous month	`received:last month invoice`
`received:this year`	Emails from the current year	`received:this year budget`
`sent:last week`	Emails you sent in the past week	`sent:last week to:client`

Exact date ranges (classic Outlook only)

In classic Outlook, you can use comparison operators with specific dates:

received:>=2026-01-01 — emails received on or after January 1, 2026
received:<=2026-03-31 — emails received on or before March 31, 2026
received:>=2026-01-01 AND received:<=2026-03-31 — emails from Q1 2026

This precise date range syntax does not work in New Outlook or Outlook on the web. For more on date searching, see our guide on how to search Outlook by date range.

Status and category operators

Operator	What it does	Example
`read:no`	Only unread emails	`read:no from:team`
`read:yes`	Only read emails	`read:yes subject:action required`
`isflagged:yes`	Only flagged emails	`isflagged:yes`
`importance:high`	Emails marked as high importance	`importance:high received:this week`
`importance:low`	Low-importance emails	`importance:low`
`category:`	Emails with a specific category	`category:red` or `category:"Project Alpha"`

Category names with spaces need quotes: category:"Project Alpha". The isflagged: operator works in classic Outlook but is inconsistent in New Outlook.

Item type operator

The kind: operator filters by Outlook item type. This is useful when your search returns calendar invites and contacts alongside emails.

Syntax	Matches
`kind:email`	Email messages only
`kind:meetings`	Calendar items and meeting requests
`kind:contacts`	Contacts
`kind:tasks`	Tasks
`kind:notes`	Notes

The kind: operator works best in classic Outlook. In New Outlook, you can use the filter panel to achieve the same result.

Boolean operators and grouping

Classic Outlook supports Boolean logic for combining search terms. These must be typed in uppercase.

budget AND forecast — emails containing both words
budget OR forecast — emails containing either word
budget NOT draft — emails with "budget" but not "draft"
(budget OR forecast) AND Q3 — parentheses for grouping

Important: Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) only work in classic Outlook for Windows. They do not work reliably in New Outlook, Outlook on the web, or Outlook mobile. In New Outlook, typing budget AND Q3 often searches for the literal words "budget," "AND," and "Q3" rather than applying Boolean logic.

Phrase and exact match

Wrap your search term in double quotes to search for an exact phrase:

"quarterly budget report" — finds this exact phrase, not the individual words scattered across the email
subject:"project kickoff" — exact phrase in the subject line only
from:"Sarah Johnson" — matches a sender with this exact name

Without quotes, Outlook treats each word as a separate search term and returns emails matching any of them (in New Outlook) or all of them (in classic Outlook). If you're looking for a specific phrase, always use quotes.

Combining operators — real-world examples

The real power of search operators comes from combining them. Here are practical examples you can copy and paste:

What you want to find	Search query
PDFs from accounting this month	`from:accounting hasattachment:yes received:this month`
Unread emails flagged for follow-up	`read:no isflagged:yes`
Emails about budgets from Q1	`subject:budget received:>=2026-01-01 AND received:<=2026-03-31`
High-importance emails with attachments	`importance:high hasattachment:yes`
Emails from Sarah or Mike about the project	`(from:sarah OR from:mike) project`
Emails sent last week to the client	`sent:last week to:client`

Operator compatibility across Outlook versions

Not every operator works everywhere. Here's what you can count on in each version:

Operator	Classic Outlook	New Outlook	Outlook Web	Mobile
`from:` / `to:`	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
`subject:`	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
`hasattachment:`	Yes	Yes	Yes	Filter only
`received:` (relative dates)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
`received:` (exact dates)	Yes	No	No	No
`category:`	Yes	Partial	Yes	No
`kind:`	Yes	No	Partial	No
AND / OR / NOT	Yes	No	No	No
`body:`	Yes	No	No	No
`attachmentnames:`	Yes	No	No	No
Exact phrase (`"..."`)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Known quirks and limitations

Even when you use the right syntax, Outlook search has some behaviors that can trip you up:

Prefix matching only. Outlook matches from the start of words. Searching budget finds "budgeting" and "budgets" — but searching dget returns nothing.
Short numbers are ignored. Numbers under five digits (like "4521" or "123") are not indexed. They won't appear in search results even with exact match syntax.
No wildcards. Outlook does not support asterisk (*) or question mark (?) wildcards in the search bar, despite what some older guides claim.
New Outlook silently drops results. If your search matches too many emails, New Outlook's server-side search stops returning older results without telling you.
Operator names are English-only. Even in non-English versions of Outlook, operators must be typed in English (from:, not de: or von:).

When operators aren't enough

Search operators are powerful for precise, structured queries — when you know the sender, the date, or a keyword in the subject. But they can't help when you're looking for an email by meaning. If you remember discussing "the revised timeline for the product launch" but can't remember the exact words used, no combination of operators will find it.

That's the problem Inbox Search solves. It's a free Outlook add-in that uses on-device AI to understand the meaning behind your search, not just the keywords. Search "expenses from the Berlin conference" and it finds the relevant emails even if none of them contain those exact words. All processing happens locally on your machine — no email data is sent anywhere.

Search your Outlook inbox by meaning, not just keywords.

Inbox Search is a free Outlook add-in with on-device AI. It finds emails even when you can't remember the exact words — something search operators can never do.

Install Free from Microsoft Marketplace

Frequently asked questions

What search operators work in Outlook? Outlook supports these search operators: from: (sender), to: (recipient), subject: (subject line), cc: (carbon copy), bcc: (blind carbon copy), hasattachment:yes (attachments only), received: (date received), sent: (date sent), category: (category name), importance:high/normal/low (priority), read:no (unread only), and kind: (item type). In classic Outlook, you can also use AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses for Boolean logic.

How do I search for emails from a specific person in Outlook? Type from:name or from:email@domain.com in the Outlook search bar and press Enter. For example, from:sarah finds all emails where Sarah is the sender. You can combine this with other operators like from:sarah subject:budget to further narrow results.

Can I use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) in Outlook search? Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT work in classic Outlook for Windows. For example, budget AND Q3 NOT draft finds emails containing both "budget" and "Q3" but not "draft." However, Boolean operators do not work consistently in New Outlook or Outlook on the web — Microsoft has not fully implemented them in the server-side search engine.

Do Outlook search operators work in New Outlook? Most basic operators (from:, to:, subject:, hasattachment:) work in New Outlook. However, Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), the kind: operator, and exact date range syntax like received:>=2026-01-01 do not work reliably. New Outlook uses server-side search, which has a more limited query syntax than the classic desktop version.