How to use the Advanced Search in Outlook?

Author: Kelly Last Modified: 2025-04-14

After you activate the Search Tools in Outlook 2010 and 2013, you can search items directly by "attachments", "subjects", "categories", "flags", etc. However, some things always go out of control and you cannot do it easily, such as searching messages between two dates, etc. The Advanced Find feature can help you customize your search criteria and make your special searching easily.

Utilizing Advanced Find in Outlook

Enhancing search capabilities with Kutools for Outlook’s Advanced Search 👍 (Supports saving custom searches)

Utilizing Advanced Find in Outlook

First of all, open the Advanced Find dialog box

In Outlook 2007, you can open the Advanced Find dialog box by clicking "Tools" > "Instant Search" > "Advanced Find".
In Outlook 2010 and 2013, the following steps will walk you through opening the Advanced Find dialog box:

Step 1: Put the cursor at the "Search box" to activate the Search Tools.

the steps of utilizing Advanced Find in Outlook

Step 2: Go to the "Options" group on the "Search" tab, and click "Search Tools" > "Advanced Find".

Add Search criteria to narrow your search results

In the Advanced Find dialog box, go to the "Messages" tab, and enter corresponding search criteria in each field, and then click the "Find Now" button.

Please note that the more search criteria you entered, the less and accurate result of messages it will find out.

Customize search criteria and make special searching

The Advanced Find feature allows you to define search criteria, and helps you search messages with special factors. Here we will walk you through it with the example of searching messages between two dates.

Step 1: Go to the "Advanced" tab in the Advanced Find dialog box.

Step 2: Click "Field" > "Date/Time Fields" > "Received". See the following screenshot:

the steps of customizing search criteria and make special searching

Step 3: Click the "Condition" box, and select "between" from the drop-down list. See the following screenshot:

Step 4: Enter two dates in the "Value" box, and then click the "Add to List" button.

Please note the two dates should be in the format of "<Value 1> and <Value 2>", such as "11/20/2013 and 12/30/2013".

After you click the "Add to List" button, the customized search criteria will be added to the "Find items that match these" box immediately.

Step 5: Click the "Browse" button to specify the folder in which you will search for messages.

Please note that the "Search subfolders" option is unchecked by default in the Select Folders dialog box. If necessary, please check this option.

Step 6: Select the customized search criteria in the "Find items that match these" box, and then click the "Find Now" button.

Then the searching results will be listed at the bottom of this Advanced Find dialog box in a minute.

Enhancing Search Capabilities with Kutools for Outlook’s Advanced Search 👍 (Supports Saving Custom Searches)

While the native Advanced Find in Outlook is powerful, Kutools for Outlook’s "Advanced Search" takes it a step further by offering more refined search options and the ability to save custom searches for future use.

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Step 1. Enable the Advanced Search feature

1. After downloading and installing Kutools for Outlook, navigate to the "Kutools" tab and click "Advanced Search".

2. The "Advanced Search" pane shows up.

Step 2: Add Search criteria to get your search results

Choose the search scope from the "Search scope" drop-down list.
Input text "comment" in the "Text" textbox.
Specify the sender's email address in the "From" textbox.
Choose the received time from the "Received" drop-down list.
Click "Search Now".

Result

All emails that match the specified criteria will be displayed in the List pane, where you can also view the total number of matching items.

Save the custom search for future use

Step 1. Save the custom search

Click the "Save Current Scenario" button.
In the Kutools for Outlook dialog box that appears, input the name of the scenario in the "Scenario name" textbox.
Click "OK". Then the scenario is saved successfully.

the steps of saving the custom search for future use

Step 2. Reuse the custom search

Click the "Open Saved Scenario" button and choose the scenario you want to reuse.

This functionality is invaluable for users who regularly need to perform the same complex searches or who wish to keep consistent track of specific types of communications or data within Outlook.

Note: To apply the "Manage Junk Email Filter" utility in Kutools for Outlook, firstly, you should download and install Kutools for Outlook.