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.

How to search for an email in Outlook

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.