{"id":23838,"date":"2025-07-17T03:01:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T03:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/insights\/uncategorized\/sharepoint-online-search-and-filters\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T05:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T05:32:15","slug":"sharepoint-online-search-and-filters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/insights\/geek-speak\/modern-workplace\/sharepoint-online-search-and-filters\/","title":{"rendered":"SharePoint Online &#8211; Search and Filters\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to mastering SharePoint Online Search &amp; Filters. Finding the right information quickly can make all the difference between staying on track and getting stuck. Whether you&#8217;re looking for a document, a conversation, or a colleague&#8217;s expertise, Microsoft SharePoint Online offers powerful tools to help you cut through the clutter.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This guide walks you through how to make the most of SharePoint\u2019s search and filtering features &#8211; saving you time, reducing frustration, and helping you work smarter, not harder.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1.1 Why Use SharePoint Search?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>SharePoint is more than just a place to store documents &#8211; it&#8217;s a powerful search platform that connects you to the knowledge and resources across your organisation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ever struggled to find a document, conversation, or site you just know exists?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using SharePoint\u2019s built-in search is often the fastest and most reliable way to find what you need, when you need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Microsoft Search<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Microsoft Search powers the search bar in SharePoint, Office, and even Bing. But how does it work, and what can it do for you?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Microsoft 365 offers multiple ways to search for files, people, and content within SharePoint. While having different search options can be useful, it\u2019s important to be aware of where you&#8217;re searching.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The results you see will depend on whether you are searching within a specific SharePoint site, across all SharePoint sites, or even using a broader Microsoft search that includes OneDrive, Teams, and Outlook. Choosing the right search location helps you find what you need faster and avoids unnecessary confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/image-12.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2384123839\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2.1 Searching for Information: SharePoint vs Bing Search for Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>ot all search bars are created equal. Below, we breakdown the difference between using the search bar inside SharePoint and using Bing for work searches &#8211; helping you choose the right tool for the job based on what you&#8217;re trying to find.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>SharePoint Search<\/strong>: The built-in search bar at the top of SharePoint helps you find documents, sites, and people within your organisations SharePoint environment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bing Search for Work<\/strong>: There is a \u2018<strong>Work<\/strong>\u2019 option available in Bing, which you can use to search across <strong>anything<\/strong> <strong>you have access to<\/strong> across SharePoint.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Depending on your settings, this may also provide search results from OneDrive, Teams, and even your Outlook emails.&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This can be handy for broader searches beyond just SharePoint (<em>i.e. How do I find that document someone shared with me last week?<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2.2 Searching within a Specific SharePoint Site<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, you know exactly where to look &#8211; but still can\u2019t find the file. Here\u2019s how to search within a specific SharePoint site to surface more accurate, relevant results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>Go to the site where the document or information is likely stored&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>Use the search bar at the top of the site (<em>this will only show results from that site first<\/em>)&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>If you can\u2019t find what you need, click \u2018<strong>Show more results<\/strong>\u2019 &#8211; this expands your search to the entire SharePoint environment&nbsp;<\/td><td><br><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/07\/image-13.png\" alt=\"\"><br><br><br><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/07\/image-14.png\" alt=\"\"><\/td><\/tr><tr><td colspan=\"2\"><strong>Tip!<\/strong>&nbsp;Bookmark frequently used SharePoint sites so you can quickly jump back to them when needed!&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2.3 Use Search Filters to Refine Results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Even a great search can bring back too many results. Here\u2019s how to use the filters effectively &#8211; by file type, author, date, and more, so you can narrow your results and find exactly what you&#8217;re looking for in less time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can filter by:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td>File Type:&nbsp;<\/td><td>Looking for a PDF or PowerPoint? Use filters to show only those file types&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Modified Date:&nbsp;<\/td><td>Need something recent? Filter by last modified date&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Author\/Owner:&nbsp;<\/td><td>Searching for a file from a specific colleague? Filter by the person who created or last modified the file&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Site Location:&nbsp;<\/td><td>If you know where the file is stored, filter by the site it belongs to&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u2018Modified by ME\u2019&nbsp;<\/td><td>Use the \u2018Modified by me\u2019 filter to quickly find files you\u2019ve recently worked on&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/07\/image-15.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2384125271\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Have questions or need help optimising your SharePoint search experience? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Contact us<\/a> today, we\u2019re here to help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>\nbody .blog-body h3, body .blog-body h4 {\n    text-transform: none !important;\n}\n<\/style>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Master SharePoint Online search &#038; filters to find files fast, cut through clutter, and boost productivity across Microsoft 365. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":23843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modern-workplace","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23844,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23838\/revisions\/23844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}