outlook search

Frustrated By Outlook Search? Discover How Copernic Can Help You Find Emails and Files in a Flash 

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We’ve all been there – desperately digging through hundreds or even thousands of Outlook emails trying to find that one elusive message or attachment. You try every combination of keywords, scroll endlessly, and even use Outlook’s built-in search. But you still come up empty-handed. Outlook search is convenient for finding emails, but it falls short when you need to locate files and attachments.  

If this scenario sounds familiar, you need a more powerful search solution: Copernic Desktop Search. Copernic indexes your entire computer and networked drives, not just Outlook. It enables advanced search features, custom filters, and automation to help you instantly find any file – including Outlook emails and attachments. Read on to learn how Copernic can rescue you from Outlook search frustration. 

The Frustrations of Outlook Search 

Outlook search has significant limitations that make locating files difficult: 

  • It only searches within your Outlook data, so it won’t find files saved elsewhere on your computer or network drives. This means any Word docs, spreadsheets, PDFs, media files, etc. that are not attachments in your emails won’t be found. 
  • Searching for attachments is cumbersome. You need to search emails first, then open each individual email to check if it has the attachment you want. This manual email-by-email checking is incredibly tedious. 
  • No advanced search operators like you have in Google. For example, you can’t use commands like “site:” to search within a domain, “intitle:” to search titles only, or “AND”/”OR” to combine keywords. The lack of Boolean operators makes narrowing searches down much more difficult. 
  • Outlook’s search index can become corrupted over time, reducing accuracy. This happens because of large volumes of Outlook data, conflicts from synchronizing multiple devices, or database errors. Reindexing takes a long time and doesn’t always completely fix accuracy issues. 
  • If you need to collaborate and search a group mailbox, Outlook search requires configuring delegate access. Searching other users’ mailboxes is limited. 
  • There is no ability to save search queries for re-use later. And no global search history makes it hard to find what you previously searched for. 
  • No search refinement options to iteratively narrow results by adding filters. A broad search stays broad. 

As your Outlook data grows its built-in search simply can’t keep up. Too many limitations make Outlook search slow, inaccurate, and frustrating. 

Why Copernic is Better Than Outlook for File Search 

Unlike Outlook, Copernic Desktop Search is designed specifically for file search across your entire computer and network (with our Business Server Search version).  

Here are some key advantages Copernic has over Outlook: 

  • Searches your full hard drive and mapped network drives – not just Outlook data stored in PST files. This exposes all your documents for searching. 
  • Copernic’s indexes are split intelligently across drives for speed and efficiency. Outlook indexes become bloated with duplicates. 
  • Copernic allows for more precise and targeted searches, including the ability to search within specific folders and attachments. 
  • Copernic’s intuitive interface and user-friendly features make it easier to navigate and manage files. 
  • Copernic’s efficient search algorithms ensure quick and accurate results, saving users valuable time and improving productivity. 
  • Finds both emails and attachments together in results. No more wasted time digging through individual emails. 
  • Boolean operators, wildcards, filters, and parentheses grouping to create advanced search queries. 
  • Indexing and search algorithms are highly optimized for accuracy and speed.  
  • Save frequent searches to re-run with one click. Search history keeps track of all past searches. 
  • Date range filters, file type filters, author filters provide precise control over large result sets. 
  • Refine search results iteratively by adding more filters to progressively narrow down results. 
  • Snippet view shows text excerpts from each item to evaluate relevance faster. 
  • Collaborate by searching shared drives and mailboxes. No access control configuration needed. 

Copernic’s unified, high-performance search across all files beats Outlook’s limited capabilities. 

Key Features of Copernic Desktop Search  

Let’s take a deeper look at some of the features that make Copernic the superior file search tool: 

  • Indexes over 150+ file types including Office docs, PDFs, media files, emails and more. 
  • Search documents not only by filename but also by metadata like date created/modified, author, and keywords. 
  • Search inside files to find keywords, phrases, or text strings in the content. 
  • Locate email attachments without having to open emails first. 
  • Filter or facet results by date, file type, author, and keywords. 
  • Search across single or multiple hard drives and mapped networks. 

With Copernic’s robust indexing and search functionality, you can find files in seconds no matter where they are located. 

How To Improve Your File Search Workflow with Copernic 

Installing and using Copernic is simple. Follow these tips to maximize productivity: 

  • Download and install Copernic. Select drives and folders to index. Large initial index may take time. 
  • Use Boolean operators like AND, OR, NOT to combine keywords. Use quotes for exact matches. 
  • Save frequent searches to re-run with one click. Create search shortcuts on your desktop. 
  • Automate background indexing on a schedule to keep search results current. 
  • Utilize Copernic’s plugins to search directly from Outlook, browser, Windows Explorer. 

Customize and optimize Copernic to fit your unique workflow and unleash its full search capabilities. 

Ready to take control of your file search? Try Copernic today! 

Outlook search can be frustrating and time-consuming, but Copernic offers a powerful solution that can transform your file search process. With advanced search capabilities and lightning-fast performance, Copernic allows you to quickly find the files you need. 

Don’t let Outlook hold you back any longer – empower yourself with Copernic’s efficient file searching abilities today! Don’t just take our word for it. Try Copernic free for 30 days and experience the speed and accuracy of its advanced algorithms firsthand. Hunt down your files like never before with Copernic!