How to search for an email in Outlook

Outlook offers a simple search field that allows users to search for emails. Follow our steps below to find the messages you need in Outlook.com.

The old Outlook

Step 1: Log into your Outlook account.

Step 2: Click the Search Mail and People box at the upper-left corner of the page.

Step 3: Enter the words you want to search for and press Enter on your keyboard.

You can click Search People after entering a name into the Search box.

Step 4: Outlook will return results by highlighting the words that match your search words. In order to narrow your results, you can select:

1. A folder under the In folders section to choose a specific folder to search.
2. A sender under the From section.

1. A date range to search for email messages received or sent after on a certain date or a time period.
2. With attachments to filter results to emails that contain a file attachment.

Step 5: Select to open a message.

Outlook beta

Step 1: Log into your account.

Step 2: Click the Search box at the top of the page.

Step 3: Click All folders to the far right of the Search box.

Step 4: Set your desired search criteria including folder, attachment, and date range.

Step 5: Type the words you want to search for in the Search box and press Enter.