Build a search with visual filters
Sign in and select your mailbox, then open Mail search and Filters. Mail read and an allowed search engine permission are required.
Text and visual filters share one search expression. Selected conditions appear as removable chips. Search starts only through Start search, not merely by selecting a filter.
Available conditions
| Condition | Expression |
|---|---|
| Sender | sender:... or selected contact addresses |
| Recipient address | to:"recipient@example.com" |
| Received date | received:2026-10-16 |
| Unread | is:unread |
| Has attachment | has:attachment |
| Folder | folderid:"..." |
| Category/label | categoryid:"..." |
| File type | filetype:pdf |
filetype matches the final filename extension of active, non-draft message attachments. Case does not matter. filetype:pdf matches .PDF but not .pdfx.
PostgreSQL and OpenSearch apply the same condition. Canonical SQL data rechecks OpenSearch results. Visual search uses matching version 2. An older index without the extension field explicitly rejects this condition.
The category picker uses the mailbox's labels and Outlook categories. Inspect engine status for failed or partial searches. See contact matching and text matching for exact semantics.
Advanced expression syntax
Open Filters → Advanced expression to inspect or edit the complete expression. The limit is 500 characters, including operators and parentheses.
| Example | Meaning |
|---|---|
subject:"invoice" AND NOT is:read | Subject matches invoice and the message is unread. |
(subject:"invoice" OR subject:"receipt") AND has:attachment | Either subject condition, with an attachment required for both. |
received:2026-10-16 | Received during October 16 in Europe/Budapest. |
received:>=2026-10-16 | Received from the start of that Budapest day onward. |
received:2026-10-01..2026-10-16 | Received during the inclusive range of Budapest calendar days. |
Precedence is NOT, then AND, then OR. Adjacent terms also mean AND. Thus, subject:invoice has:attachment requires both conditions. Parentheses override precedence.
Quote a value that contains spaces, such as subject:"annual invoice". Quotes keep it together as one value. Text matching options still control literal, regex, case, accent, and whole-word behavior. They do not change exact address operators.
Date-only values and timestamps without an offset use the fixed Europe/Budapest time zone, regardless of browser or application language. A date-only condition spans midnight through the next midnight, with the end excluded. Daylight-saving changes can change that interval's UTC length.
Use Z or an explicit offset for an exact instant. Quote timestamp values because their colons are query separators. For example, received:"2026-10-25T02:30:00+02:00" identifies the earlier occurrence of that repeated local time. Ambiguous offset-free times require an offset. The parser rejects nonexistent Budapest local times.
On a syntax error, correct the indicated expression before running it again. See text matching for supported patterns and contact search for exact address groups.