Search your mail

Search in Mail finds a message by who sent it, its subject, what it says, and the text inside its attachments, such as a phrase in an attached PDF. It searches the copy of your inbox that PlexiDesk keeps on this computer, so results appear as you type, even when you are offline.

Every search also tells you how much of your mailbox it covered, so "no matches" never has to be a guess.

Before you start

• Connect your mailbox. See Connect your email account.
• Plans. Search is part of every plan.
• Give it time after you connect. PlexiDesk reads your inbox in the background, a little at a time. It reads the sender and subject of every message first, so those are searchable early, then the text of each message, newest first. A large mailbox takes a while to read completely.

Search for a message

1. In the side menu, open Apps and click Mail under Tools.
2. Click the search box at the top of the message list. It reads Search sender, subject, body, attachments.
3. Type what you remember: a name, a word from the subject, or a phrase from the message or an attachment.
4. The list changes to the messages that match, newest first, grouped into conversations as usual. Click one to read it.

To go back to your inbox, click Clear under the search box, or the × inside it to clear just the text.

How words are matched

• Each word you type is matched at the start of words in the message, so invoice also finds "invoices" and "invoiced".
• A message matches when it contains any of your words. Results are always listed newest first.
• Words shorter than three letters, and very common words such as "the", "about", "email" and "message", are left out of the search.

Narrow the results

1. Click Filters (the lines icon beside the search box).
2. Click any of these to turn them on or off:
   • Unread: only messages you have not read.
   • Flagged: only flagged messages.
   • Has file: only messages with an attachment.
3. Click a time window: 7 days, 30 days, Year or Any time.

Filters work without any text too. For example, turn on Unread and Has file with the search box empty to see every unread message with an attachment.

If a tag is selected on the left, search looks only inside that tag. Click All mail to search the whole inbox. See Organise mail with tags.

What you will see

Under the search box, a line says what was found and what was searched:

The title at the top of the list shows the number of results, such as 12 results, so you can tell a search from your inbox at a glance.

When nothing matches, the list says one of these:

• No matches for that search. Nothing in your inbox matches.
• No matches yet in the mail read so far — older messages are still being read. The message may be in older mail that PlexiDesk has not read yet. Try again later, or search for the sender or the subject, which are read first.

Tips

• Search for the attachment, not the email. If you remember a clause in a contract or a figure on an invoice, search for it. PlexiDesk reads the text of attachments where it can.
• Use fewer, rarer words. Because any word can match, one distinctive word, such as a name, a reference number or a street, finds the message faster than a whole sentence.
• Filter first for a big pile. Pick 30 days and Has file, then type, to search just recent mail with attachments.
• Turn a search you repeat into a tag. If you search for the same sender every week, a tag collects their mail for you. See Organise mail with tags.

Common questions

Why can't search find an email I know I have? PlexiDesk may not have read it yet. The line under the search box says so with still reading older mail. Senders and subjects are read first, so search for those, or try again later.

Does search look in Sent or other folders? No. Search covers the messages in your inbox.

Does it search on the mail server? No. It searches the copy of your inbox on this computer, which is why it is quick and works offline. The copy is read from your mail server in the background.

Is this the same as searching from the command palette? No. The command palette finds recent inbox messages that Mail has loaded, by sender, subject or preview. Search in Mail covers everything PlexiDesk has read, including message text and attachments. See The command palette.

Is there a limit to the results? Mail shows up to 200 of the newest matches. Add a word or a filter to narrow a long list.

Related tasks

• Mail in Plexii
• Organise mail with tags
• Read, reply and send email
• The command palette
• Inbox widget