Install Inbox Search
1. Add it to Outlook
Open Inbox Search on Microsoft Marketplace and choose Get it now. It adds itself to the Outlook account you sign in with.
Get it from Microsoft MarketplaceYou can also add it from inside Outlook: open the add-ins store (Get Add-ins or Apps › Add apps, depending on your version), search for “Inbox Search” and choose Add.
Marketplace shows the publisher as Folder Suggest. That's us: the same team makes both add-ins.
2. Open it from an email
Inbox Search opens next to an email, so select or open any email first. Then:
- Classic Outlook for Windows: on the Home tab, choose Search in the Inbox Search group. If your ribbon is short, look under Apps or the … button.
- New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web: choose Apps in the toolbar (or the … menu of the email), then Inbox Search.
- Outlook for Mac: choose Apps or the … button in the toolbar, then Inbox Search.
Don't see it? Check that you're in a supported account (step 5); Outlook hides add-ins in Gmail, Yahoo and other IMAP or POP accounts.
3. Sign in and allow access
The first time, Inbox Search asks you to sign in with the Microsoft account you use in Outlook. Microsoft then asks you to let it read your mail: that is what Inbox Search searches. Your emails never leave your device (Privacy Policy).
“Need admin approval”? Some organisations only let IT approve apps that read mail. Send your IT admin our guide for IT admins: they approve Inbox Search once for everyone, and then you sign in again.
4. Pin it and let the first index finish
Inbox Search builds its index on your device. You can search straight away, and results fill in as the index grows. Keep the pane open until it finishes: if your Outlook shows a pin at the top of the pane, select it, so the pane stays open as you move between emails.
A large mailbox takes longer the first time. After that, Inbox Search only adds new mail.
5. Which accounts work
- Works: Microsoft 365 work or school accounts, and Outlook.com, Hotmail and Live accounts.
- Doesn't work: Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud and other accounts added to Outlook by IMAP or POP; mailboxes on a company's own Exchange servers; the Outlook apps for iPhone and Android.
- It searches your own mailbox. Shared mailboxes and the Online Archive are not included.
Where is Inbox Search after I close it?
In the same place: select an email and open it as in step 2. Your index stays on your device, so it picks up where it left off.
Still stuck?
See Support, or write to hello@inboxsearch.app. What's free and what's in Pro is on the pricing page.