Search Across Microsoft 365

What's Changing

In Google Workspace, search is scattered — you search Gmail for emails, Google Drive for files, Google Chat for messages, and the Admin console for people. Each app has its own search bar with its own quirks.

In Microsoft 365, there is one search bar that works everywhere. It sits at the top of every Microsoft 365 app — Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams — and it searches across all of them at once. Type a name, a file, a keyword, and Microsoft Search finds it whether it lives in your email, your files, a Teams chat, or a SharePoint site.

What Stays the Same

• Searching still works the way you expect — type what you want, get results
• Filters — you can still narrow results by date, file type, sender, etc.
• Recent items — clicking the search bar shows your recent files and contacts, similar to Google's quick suggestions
• Search in a specific app — you can still search within just Outlook or just OneDrive if you prefer

Migration Heads-Up

A few things to keep in mind when you make the switch:

• Google search history does not transfer. Your recent searches, frequently accessed files, and "quick access" suggestions in Google Drive will not carry over to Microsoft 365. You start fresh.
• Google Stars and bookmarks do not migrate. If you starred files in Google Drive or bookmarked Google Sites pages, those markers are not preserved. Re-favorite important files in OneDrive or SharePoint after migration.
• Search gets smarter over time. Microsoft Search uses the Microsoft Graph to learn your work patterns — who you collaborate with, which files you open most, which sites you visit. In the first few weeks, results may feel less personalized than what you were used to in Google. Give it time.
• Shared Drive contents move to SharePoint. Files that were in Google Shared Drives will now live in SharePoint document libraries, so search for them there instead of Google Drive.

Where to Find Microsoft Search

The search bar appears in the same spot across every Microsoft 365 app:

• Top of every app — look for the search box at the top center of Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams
• Microsoft365.com — the Microsoft 365 home page has a prominent search bar that searches everything at once
• Windows taskbar — if you are on a Windows computer, the taskbar search also surfaces Microsoft 365 results (files, emails, people)
• Keyboard shortcut — press Alt + Q in any Microsoft 365 desktop app to jump to the search bar instantly

How Microsoft Search Works

When you type in the search bar, Microsoft Search looks across all your Microsoft 365 content at once:

• Emails from Outlook
• Files from OneDrive and SharePoint
• People from your organization's directory
• Sites from SharePoint
• Chat messages from Teams
• Calendar events from Outlook Calendar

Results are grouped by type so you can quickly find what you need. Microsoft Search also ranks results based on your activity — files you opened recently, people you email often, and sites you visit regularly appear higher.

Searching in Each App

While the unified search bar works across everything, each app also has search features tailored to its content:

Outlook

• Search your inbox, sent items, or all folders at once
• Filter by sender, date range, whether it has attachments, and more
• In Google, this was the Gmail search bar — same idea, same location

OneDrive

• Search your personal files by name, content, or file type
• OneDrive searches inside documents too — it can find text within Word files, PDFs, and presentations
• In Google, this was Google Drive search

SharePoint

• Search within a specific SharePoint site or across all sites you have access to
• Great for finding team documents, policies, and shared resources
• In Google, this was searching within Shared Drives

Teams

• Search for messages, people, or files shared in Teams channels and chats
• Use the search bar at the top of Teams, then filter by Messages, People, or Files
• In Google, this was Google Chat search — but Teams search is more powerful because it also finds files shared in conversations

Search Tips

Get better results with these techniques:

• Use quotes for exact phrases — searching "Q3 revenue report" finds that exact phrase, not just pages with those words scattered around
• Filter by file type — add filetype:pptx or filetype:pdf to find specific document types
• Filter by date — use the date filter to narrow results to a specific time range
• Search for people — type a colleague's name to see their contact card, org chart position, files they have shared with you, and recent emails from them
• Use the "From:" prefix in Outlook — type from:sarah to find emails from Sarah specifically
• Check "Modified by" — when searching files, you can filter by who last edited the document

Google Search vs. Microsoft Search — Quick Reference

Tips

• Start with the unified search bar — it is faster than opening each app and searching separately
• Pin frequently used files — instead of relying on search every time, pin important files in OneDrive or SharePoint for quick access
• Use Microsoft365.com as your home base — the home page shows recent files, frequent contacts, and a powerful search bar all in one place
• Give it a couple of weeks — Microsoft Search personalizes results based on your activity, so it improves the more you use it
• Search works on mobile too — the Outlook and Teams mobile apps have the same search capabilities

Quick Reference Downloads

Keep these handy for quick lookups:

• Search Across Microsoft 365 Quick Reference Card

Need Help?

1. Check the Quick Start guide on this site
2. Browse other modules on this site
3. Contact your regional IT support team (the Contact page lists the right email for your office)