Docs / Obsidian Mail Client / Mail
Searching your mail
Search
Click the search box above the message list, or press Ctrl+E (or F3), type, and press Enter.
The search looks through the mail kept on this computer, in every folder of every account. Plain words are looked for in the subject, the sender and the text. The heading above the results says how many were found, and lists the filters it understood, in words.
To leave the search, clear the search box or click a folder.
Search the server too
The app keeps your newer mail on this computer. To also find older mail that's only on the server, press Ctrl+Shift+F or click the server button next to the search box (also Home > Search the Server). The server's matches in the open folder are added to the results.
Filters
Click the Filters button next to the search box for a form: Keywords, From, To, Subject, Received (with your own From and To dates), Has attachments, Unread, Flagged, Category and Search in (All folders or the open folder). Click Search, or Clear filters to start over.
The form writes a search for you. You can also type the same filters yourself:
| Type | Finds |
|---|---|
from:ana | Mail from someone whose name or address contains "ana" |
to: and cc: | Mail to someone |
subject:plan | "plan" in the subject |
body:invoice | "invoice" in the text |
category:Bills | Mail with that category |
attachment:report | An attachment whose name contains "report" |
folder:Archive or in:Archive | Mail in that folder |
has:attachment | Mail with attachments |
is:unread, is:flagged | Unread or flagged mail |
has:category | Mail with any category |
received:today | Also yesterday, "this week", "last week", "this month", "last month", "this year", "last year", a date, >=a date, or a range like 2026-01-01..2026-03-31 |
after: and before: a date | Mail received after or before it |
newer_than:3d, older_than:2w | Mail newer or older than days (d), weeks (w), months (m) or years (y) |
larger:5MB, smaller:100KB | Mail larger or smaller than a size |
"a whole phrase" | Those words together |
-word | Leaves out mail with that word. A minus works in front of a filter too, like -from:news |
Filters combine, for example: from:ana subject:plan received:"this week" has:attachment.
Gmail's and Outlook's other spellings work too: hasattachments:yes, read:no, flagged:yes, date:, since:, until: and size:>2MB.
Search Folders
Search Folders, at the bottom of the folder pane, are lists that fill themselves, across all your accounts:
- Unread Mail
- Flagged
- With Attachments
- Categorized Mail
- Waiting for Reply: the messages you sent with a reminder, still without an answer (see Writing and sending mail).
Save a search
After you search, click Home > Save Search, give it a name, and click OK. It's added to Search Folders and stays up to date. Right-click a saved search to Rename… or Delete search folder.