Using the Simple Find Function

The easiest way to find information in Outlook is the Simple Find function. You can access this function by clicking the Find button in the toolbar, by selecting Tools, Find, or by pressing Ctrl+E on your keyboard. This places the Find row at the top of any folder you're currently viewing, as shown in Figure 22.4.

Figure 22.4. The Find row is placed at the top of any Outlook folder.

The Find toolbar is not active by default. When you activate the Find command, the Find toolbar remains active in all Outlook folders until you close it. You can close the Find toolbar by clicking the X on the right side of the toolbar or by repeating any of the steps you used to launch the Find toolbar.

In previous versions of Outlook, the Find function searched only the message header. In Outlook 2003, the Find function searches all text within the message by default. If you want to change this behavior so that you're searching only the message header, click the Options button on the Find toolbar and uncheck the Search All Text in Each Message box.

Enter the text you're searching for in the Look For box. This box remembers past search items. If you want to search for a phrase you've searched for previously, use the drop-down to select a past search phrase. Then use the Search In drop-down list to select the scope of your search. You'll see different options here depending on the folder you're currently viewing. If you're viewing a mail folder, you can choose to search the current folder, All Mail Folders, Mail I Received, Mail I Sent, or click Choose Folders to launch the Select Folder dialog shown in Figure 22.5.

Figure 22.5. Select the folders to search.

Use the check boxes to select the folder or folders that you want to search and click OK. Click Find Now to start your search.

If you're trying to search public folders in addition to your mailbox, see "Searching Across Stores" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of this chapter.

NOTE

If you have nested folders, as shown in Figure 22.5, checking the parent folder does not check the subfolders automatically. You need to check each individual folder that you want to search or check the box to search subfolders.

It might take a few minutes for Outlook to display the results of your search. These results are displayed in the main Outlook window, as shown in Figure 22.6.

Figure 22.6. Outlook displays the results of your search the main Outlook window.

To clear your search and display all items in your folder again, click the Clear button on the Find toolbar to clear your search and leave the Find window open. You can also simply close the Find window using the X on the right side of the toolbar.