Search your email

When you need a particular message, you don't have to scroll for it. Mail gives you two ways to search: a box at the top of the email list that filters the folder you're in, and a search that looks across all your mail at once.

Search within a folder

Every folder has a search box at the top of the email list.

1. Open the folder you want to search, such as Inbox or Sent, from the sidebar.
2. Click the Search emails... box at the top of the list.
3. Type what you're looking for. The list narrows as you type.

The search looks at three things in each message: the sender, the subject, and the start of the message text (the grey preview line you see under the subject). A message matches if your text appears in any of them, so typing a name finds mail from that person, and typing a word from the subject finds it by subject.

Matching ignores capital letters, and the results stay sorted with the newest at the top. To clear the search and see the whole folder again, delete the text from the box.

If nothing matches, the list shows No emails found. Check your spelling, or try a shorter piece of the word.

Search across all your mail

The search at the top of the window looks through all your mail, whichever folder a message is in.

1. Click Search and jump anywhere in the bar at the top, or press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows).
2. Type a name, a word from the subject, or a word from the message.
3. Matching emails appear under the Mail heading. Click one, or use the arrow keys and press Enter, to open it.

This search covers the sender, the recipients, the subject, and the start of the message text. It looks through all your folders except Trash and Spam.

The same box also finds files and other things in Eigen. To see only email, type mail: before your words, or press Tab until the Mail label appears above the box.

Narrow by sender or recipient

In the search at the top of the window, you can aim your search at who sent or received a message.

• Type from: followed by a name or address to find mail from that person, for example from:anna.
• Type to: followed by a name or address to find mail addressed to that person, for example to:anna.

You can add ordinary words alongside these. For example, from:anna invoice finds messages from Anna that also mention invoice.

If you can't find a message

A few things to check when a search comes up empty:

• It might be in the Trash or Spam folder. The top-of-window search skips both. Open the Trash or Spam folder from the sidebar and use the folder search box there instead.
• Search matches the start of the message, not the whole body. If your word only appears deep in a long email, try searching by the sender or a word from the subject instead.
• Drafts you haven't finished live in the Drafts folder. Open it from the sidebar to find them.