Mimecast for Outlook - Using Archive Search

This article contains information on using advanced search in Mimecast for Outlook, including refining, saving, and managing searches, using archive folders, exporting results, and applying query syntax for precise filtering.

Advanced search

Prerequisites and access:

• Mimecast for Outlook is installed and you are signed in.
• Your administrator has enabled Archive Search and (optionally) Archive Folders for your account.
  • Archive Searches can also be performed if the Continuity Online Inbox/Sent Items options are checked in Application Settings.
  • Results reflect your personal archive: messages where you are the original sender or recipient are searchable.

Quick start: Search your archive

1. Open Outlook, select the Mimecast ribbon, and click Search.
2. (Optional) Click Archive Folders to browse a specific folder, or use the main Search bar to search across your archive.
3. Type your search term(s) in the Search bar and press Enter.
4. Use Search Options to refine by Date Range, From, To, Subject, Keywords, and Attachment, then click Search.
5. Toggle sorting (Newest/Oldest) from the results panel to change result order.

Refine, save, and reuse searches

• Refine: Click Search Options to add filters like date range, sender, recipients, subject, has attachment, or keywords.
• Save: In Search Options, choose Save This Search, name it, and save. Saved searches surface when you click into the Search bar.
• Delete a saved search: Click in the Search bar, hover over the Saved Search, and select the delete icon.

Using archive folders:

• Open Archive Folders from the Mimecast ribbon to view your archived mailbox folder tree (Inbox, Sent, and Custom Folders).
• Filter folders using the Filter Archive Folders box to locate folders and subfolders quickly.
• Include Deleted Folders to see folders that existed when messages were archived.
• Mark folders as Favorites for quick access.

Export and save results:

• Export messages: Select one or more results, click Export, choose an Outlook folder destination, and confirm.
• Save messages: Select results, click Save to move copies into Inbox | Mimecast Saved Emails.
• Save attachments: Open message Details, right-click the attachment, and choose Save.

Search query syntax:

Mimecast Archive Search supports a simple, flexible query language in the main Search bar. You can combine free-text with field filters and Boolean operators.

Operator summary: use quotes for exact phrases, asterisk for prefix matches, minus to exclude, AND/OR to combine terms. AND is assumed when operators are omitted.

Core operators:

• Exact phrase: "quarterly report"
• Prefix (min 3 characters): finan*
• Exclude: -confidential
• OR: budget OR forecast
• AND (implicit): finance audit is equivalent to finance AND audit

Field filters:

• Subject: Subject line only. Example: subject: "renewal quote"
• From: Header or envelope from. Example: from:[e-mail]
• To: All recipients (To/Cc/Bcc). Example: to:"john smith"
• With: Sender or any recipient (from/to). Example: with:[e-mail]
• Body: Message body text. Example: body:escalation
• Doc: Attachment name, type, and content. Example: doc:pdf OR doc:xlsx OR doc:"statement 2024"

Terms without a field filter search the default content set (subject, body, addresses, attachment).

Practical query examples

People and date:

• Messages from a vendor last quarter: from:[e-mail] "invoice" subject:Q4 attachment
• Conversation with a distribution list: with:[e-mail] budget

Subject and keywords:

• Exact subject phrase: subject:"renewal confirmation"
• Subject starts with a stem: subject:renewa*
• Include and exclude: subject:proposal -draft

Attachments:

• Find emails with PDFs containing a project name: doc:pdf "Project Polaris"
• Find a file by name pattern: doc:"SO-2024-*" OR doc:SO-2024-*
• Filter to attachments plus sender: doc:xlsx from:[e-mail]

Combining conditions:

• Exact phrase plus alternatives: "dark blue" OR "light blue"
• Mix positive and negative: "pricelist" -draft -subject:obsolete
• People, subject, and body: from:"jane doe" subject:"SLA breach" body:remediation

Handling symbols and special cases

• Ampersands and punctuation: Use quotes for phrases with symbols. Example: "C&W" or subject:"R&D update"
• Email addresses: quote if needed. Example: from:"[e-mail]"
• Wildcard: Use within single terms (not inside quoted phrases). Examples: subject:config*

Search strategy tips

• Start broad, then add filters: begin with a key term, then refine by from:, to:, subject:, or doc:, and set a date range.
• Use phrases for precision: wrap multi-word names/titles in quotes to avoid unrelated matches.
• Prefix with: when unsure if a person was sender or recipient.
• Large attachments: If keywords are deep within very large or complex files (e.g., multi-sheet spreadsheet), search by filename with doc:, sender/recipient, and time window to improve results.
• Sort toggle: Switch between Newest and Oldest to review timelines.

Words that are not indexed:

Mimecast does not index very common "stop words". These are automatically ignored in searches, even if you put them in quotes.

Examples (not exhaustive):

a, an, and, are, as, at, be, but, by, for, if,
in, into, is, it, no, not, of, on, or, such, that,
the, their, then, there, these, they, this, to, was, will, with.

Implications:

• Searching for "training the customers" will match phrases like:
  • "training the customers"
  • "training with customers"
  • "training at customers"
• Those small words ("the", "with", "at", etc.) are ignored, and only the meaningful terms are considered.

Example recipes

Locate a signed contract PDF from a supplier

(from:[e-mail]) (doc:pdf) "Master Service Agreement" -draft

Find quarterly board desks sent to Finance

(to:[e-mail]) subject:"Board Desk" Q1 OR Q2 OR Q3 OR Q4 doc:pptx

Investigate suspected phishing thread

(with:[e-mail]) subject:"password reset" -doc:pdf -doc:xlsx

Retrieve Jira notifications about a project

(from:[e-mail]) subject:PROJ-* "build failed"

Search for invoice numbers in filenames

doc:"INV-2024-1*" from:[e-mail]

Troubleshooting and known behaviors

• Implicit AND: Adjacent terms are combined with AND if you omit an operator.
• Prefix search length: Use at least three characters before . Example: fin" works; fi* will not.
• Wildcards inside phrases: Not supported. Use wildcards on single terms only.
• Symbols: Punctuation can be interpreted as separators. Quote phrases containing special characters (e.g., "&", "+"). Example: "C&W".
• Very large attachments: Indexing captures up to a limit of keywords across attachments and message body. If terms are not matched, pivot to doc: filename terms, sender/recipient, and date filters.
• Archive scope: You can search items where you an original participant. Message manually copied between mailboxes may be visible in Outlook but not searchable in your personal archive.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to type operators in all caps

We recommend using uppercase (AND, OR) for readability. AND is assumed if you omit it between terms.

How do I search only the message body?

Use body:term or body:"multi word phrase" to restrict matches to the message body.

Why don't I see an email I moved from a colleague's mailbox?

Archive Search returns items where you are an original sender or recipient. Manually moved messages may not be searchable in your personal archive.

My keyword exists in a huge spreadsheet but the email isn't returned. What can I do?

Search may not match very deep content in very large attachments. Combine doc: filename patterns with sender/recipient and date filters, or search by subject/body context instead of deep attachment text.

See Also...

• Mimecast for Outlook - Searching Folders
• User Portal - Archiving
• Mimecast Personal Portal - Archiving