Search results help you turn a broad phrase into a useful set of matches. Start with Search for the full discovery picture, then use content, ranking, and time controls to bring the most promising results forward.
Start Broad Or Choose A Content Mix
All is the broadest content choice. It returns a mixed result set, so one query can bring together communities, published work, conversations, documents, and people. This is useful when you remember a name or phrase but not what kind of item contained it.
The other type controls can be selected individually or combined:
Selecting several families creates one result set from those choices. For example, combining Articles, Goals, and Events is useful when a project name appears in several kinds of published work but you do not want conversations or files mixed in. Select All again to remove the family restrictions and return to mixed search.
You can choose the type filters before entering a phrase. Search remembers those choices and applies them when you begin typing. Once a query is active, changing a filter refreshes the results rather than narrowing only the rows already on screen.
Decide What Should Rise To The Top
The sort choice controls which matches receive priority:
The time control places a second boundary around the same result set. Choose All time, Past year, Past month, Past week, or Today. A shorter range can quickly remove older matches, but it can also hide the item you need when its date is uncertain.
Sort and time work together with the selected content families. A search for Goals and Events with Newest and Past month, for example, asks for recent matches from those two families. Each change refreshes the result set. Content and time boundaries can change the displayed total, while the sort choice changes which matching results appear first.
These controls can also be set before you type. Clearing the query returns Search to its ready state without discarding the selected type, sort, or time choices.
Type, ranking, and time controls reshape the result set while each match keeps the context needed to judge it.
Read Each Result In Its Own Context
Search does not flatten every match into the same generic row. Each family carries the cues that matter for deciding whether to open it, and owner context appears when it is available.
The Results count describes the current query and filter combination. It is especially helpful when comparing two nearby time ranges or deciding whether a content filter made the search too narrow. Access still applies to every match and to the total; see Search Scope And Access for the visibility rules behind global and space-scoped searches.
Open The Match Where The Work Lives
Selecting an openable result takes you to the surface that owns it. Articles, goals, and events open in their working context; people open in their profiles; and spaces open as communities. Message matches open the relevant shared or Direct Message conversation, while document and media matches carry the available file or folder context into Docs.
Search is the discovery layer, not a replacement for those destinations. Once you arrive, the owning feature provides the actions for reading, editing, discussing, or managing the item.
Scan Large And Visual Result Sets
Search loads results progressively instead of making you wait for every possible match. As you move through the result set, another page can be added while the matches already on screen remain in place. When more results are available, Show more gives you a direct way to request them.
Visual files receive special treatment because thumbnails are faster to compare than repeated filename rows. A mixed search can place a compact media preview before its regular results. When you choose Show more media, Search switches to file-focused results and presents the matching files in a larger visual grid.
Opening a media tile takes you to its available document context. For a focused journey through these layouts, see Find Documents And Media.
Keep Your Place While Comparing Matches
When you open a result and return, Search preserves the query, filters, loaded results, and additional pages from the current session. Results you already opened receive a subtle seen style, making it easier to compare several plausible matches without starting over.
The seen style is only a personal scanning aid for the preserved session. It does not mark the underlying article, message, document, or other item as read for anyone else.
Recover From An Empty Or Interrupted Search
If Search shows No results, broaden the phrase first, then review the selected type and time range. A narrow space scope may also exclude a match that exists elsewhere. Find Content Across Visual Space walks through these choices as one complete task.
If Search reports that the request failed, try again after a moment. Your selected filters remain available, so you can repeat the search without rebuilding the result setup.
Common Questions
How is All different from selecting several filters?
All searches across the available families together. Selecting several filters limits the result set to only those chosen families.
Can I select filters before entering a query?
Yes. Content, sort, and time choices can be made while Search is in its ready state, then apply when you type.
Why did the result count change when I changed a filter?
Content and time filters request a new result set rather than hiding rows only on the current page. The displayed total always belongs to the active query, content choices, time range, scope, and your current access.
Does clearing the query reset my filters?
No. Clearing the phrase removes the visible results, but the selected type, sort, and time controls stay ready for the next query.
Why do some files appear in a visual grid?
Search uses thumbnails when that makes media easier to scan. Mixed results can show a compact preview, and the file-focused view expands those matches into a larger grid.
Will choosing All reveal content I cannot normally open?
No. Filters change what Search asks for, not what you can access. Search returns only content available to you; Search Scope And Access explains the boundary in detail.