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O365: SharePoint Searching in Office 365 and Teams

 O365: SharePoint Searching in Office 365 and Teams


Earlier posts have discussed the huge advantages of centralising documents, files and communications in SharePoint and Office 365.

One of the strongest functions in Office 365 is the ability to search all content so that locating data is easy. However, the search tools in Office 365 are not always obvious.

Teams Search

Teams is becoming really popular, not least due to the fact that it makes SharePoint very easy to deploy, use and control. At the top of each Teams General Tab is a search box

This is multi function. Type / into the box and you will see a list of commands that will perform all sorts of Teams functions 

 
The /Files option will return files you have recently accessed.

Great, if the file or document you are looking for is actually in the recent file list. What if the information you require is in an older file, or in a different location?

Location Search


Also in Teams there is a Files tab


In a standard set up this will give access to the SharePoint Library for the team, a place where you can share common files for collaboration. 


This can be enhanced by adding Cloud Storage locations. Simply click the Add Cloud Storage item in the top menu and select SharePoint


This will add selected SharePoint library(s) as a resource granting access to the user to all files in the library that they have authentication to view or edit.

 

Broader Search

Provided the user knows approximately where to look the above search and find methods cover the most common search needs of a teams. However, there are frequent occasion when the user has no idea where the file or document resides in the Office 365 domain.

This is where SharePoint Search comes into play

SharePoint Search can be launched from the Office App 

 Or from the App Launcher on any Office 365 screen 

From either select SharePoint



The search box at the head of this page is the most powerful search in Office 365. The entire domain will be searched and the search criteria can be any string that may be in the file name, title or meta data, or embedded in the body of the file or document.


NOTE: The result will show only files and documents to which the user has been granted access.

The result will span all libraries and shared OneDrive entries, along with items from the users own OneDrive, and the results display gives a neat little pre-view of the file plus a drop/expansion function for closer examination.

Users can locate and examine any file or document they require for cross check, validation or update, before progressing a task or workflow.


There are actually seven different ways to search Office 365 - See Here, but most users stick to only one or two.

We can show you how, or we can do it for you.




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