SmarterMail users can take advantage of the mail server's powerful search feature to search ALL folders within their mailbox, including Deleted Items, Drafts, and other default folders. In addition, Advanced Search is performed outside of the mail interface, so users can continue using SmarterMail while the search progresses as well as view results once it completes. Search results are displayed with complete details (date/time, folder, etc.) making it easy to find the information you are looking for.
Advanced Search differs from a standard search as it not only searches all folders but allows users to add criteria to their search parameters so that specific items are returned. This criteria includes search words or phrases, To and From addresses, timeframes, and more.
Performing Advanced Searches
To start an Advanced Search, click on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner of the interface.
Once Advanced Search is selected, a new modal window appears. Here, you select "where" you want to search: Everywhere, or within a specific area of SmarterMail. If you set Everywhere as your criteria, you simply enter your search string and SmarterMail will search througout all areas. If you select a specific area to perform your search, you'll need to add search criteria.
Using the Add Criteria dropdown, you pick the criteria you want to use for your search. This includes:
- Search String: The words or phrases you want to search for. Note: Your search criteria may include letters and numbers. SmarterMail does not search for special characters such as "@," "#" or "%."
- From: The address a message was sent FROM.
- To: The address a message was sent TO.
- Cc: The address the message was Carbon Copied TO.
- Subject: The complete or partial Subject of the message that was sent.
- Folder: The specific Folder to search. If left blank, all folders are searched.
- After Date: The Year and Month after which the message was sent. For example, if May 2012 is entered, only results AFTER May 31, 2012, will be returned.
- Before Date: The Year and Month before which the message was sent. For example, if January 2015 is entered, only results BEFORE January 1, 2015, will be returned.
Once all choices have been made, use the Search button to initiate the search. The search results display in a separate pop-out window, with results listed in order. It's then possible to click on individual messages and open them in their own pop-out windows. (Messages must be opened individually -- it's not possible to check the box next to multiple messages and have them all open at once.) You can also select a message, right-click on it, and download the raw EML file. Finally, it's possible to delete one or more messages by checking the box next to the message and using the Delete button. Messages deleted from Advanced Search will use whatever default deletion behavior you have chosen for your account. (I.e., moved to the Deleted Items folder, marked as deleted or marked as deleted and hidden.)