Find an old message in your mailbox

Use the quick search box and the advanced search panel to filter by sender, date range, size and attachments when you cannot recall the exact wording.

The search box at the top covers most cases. When it returns too much, use the advanced search panel.

Before you start

You can sign in to your mailbox on webmail

Quick search

Type into the Search mail box and press Enter. It considers sender name, subject and body alike — use it when you remember a distinctive phrase.

Open advanced search

Click Advanced Search to the right of the search box.

Fill in only what you are sure of and leave the rest empty. Filled fields combine.

The filter fields

Field	Use when
From	You remember who sent it. A partial address is enough
To	Looking for something you sent to someone
Subject	You remember a word from the subject line
Has the words	You remember a phrase from the body
Doesn't have	Cutting noise out — for example excluding invoice while looking for contract mail
Size	Choose Greater than or Less than and enter a size
Date	Narrow by time, see below
Search in	Restrict to one folder, or leave it on All Mail
Has attachment	Keep only messages with files attached

The Date field counts back from today: 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, or Anytime.

Advanced Search panel slid open with all filter fields — From, To, Subject, Has the words, Doesn't have, Size, Date, Search in and Has attachment

Click Search to run it. Click Clear filters to empty every field.

Three approaches that work

Situation	What to do
No memory of the wording, only the sender	Fill in From alone, set Date to 1 year ago — scanning by date is usually faster than trying to recall a keyword
Looking for a file you received	Tick Has attachment, set Size to Greater than 1 MB — that cuts out almost all ordinary mail
Still too many results	Use Doesn't have with a word that only appears in the noisy group; more effective than adding words to Has the words

Do not narrow Search in when hunting for a lost message

This field defaults to All Mail, which already includes Spam and Trash — the two places a "missing" message usually is. Choosing a specific folder excludes them.

The six options are All Mail, Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Spam and Trash. See also Mailbox folder and label reference.

Check the result

The list switches to Search results. Click Exit search to go back.

If nothing comes back, remove one filter and search again — one at a time, so you learn which field was excluding the message you wanted.

Common problems

Symptom	Cause
No results although the message definitely exists	One filter is too narrow, usually Date or Search in
Found the message but not the rest of its thread	Long threads spread across folders; set Search in back to All Mail
A full address in From returns nothing	The sender used a different address from the one displayed; try the domain part only