--- title: Advanced Search Syntax description: Beyond basic keyword search, Essal Office supports a query syntax that gives you precise control over what you're searching for and where. You can res... --- [Skip to content](https://help.essal.cloud/en/article/1462-#main-content) English Show submenu for translations [More support](https://help.essal.cloud/en/kb-tickets/new?hsLang=en) [Customer portal](https://clients.essal.cloud/tickets?hsLang=en) [![logo](https://help.essal.cloud/hubfs/logo.svg)](https://help.essal.cloud/?hsLang=en) - [Home](https://essal.cloud/) - [Products](https://essal.cloud/products) - [Industries](https://essal.cloud/industries) - [About](https://essal.cloud/about) - [Contact](https://essal.cloud/contact) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Home](https://essal.cloud/) - [Products](https://essal.cloud/products) - [Industries](https://essal.cloud/industries) - [About](https://essal.cloud/about) - [Contact](https://essal.cloud/contact) - English Show submenu for translations - [More support](https://help.essal.cloud/en/kb-tickets/new) - [Customer portal](https://clients.essal.cloud/tickets) - [Home](https://essal.cloud/) [Home](https://essal.cloud/) Essal Help Center - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Help Center](https://help.essal.cloud/en?hsLang=en) 2. [Essal Office](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en) 3. [Searching and saved views](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#searching-and-saved-views) # Advanced Search Syntax Beyond basic keyword search, Essal Office supports a query syntax that gives you precise control over what you're searching for and where. You can restrict which field to search, combine conditions with logical operators, and use wildcards. --- ## Field-Specific Search To search within a specific field, prefix your term with the field name followed by a colon: - **Syntax**: \`title:invoice\` - **Searches**: Documents whose \*\*title\*\* contains "invoice" - **Syntax**: \`content:receipt\` - **Searches**: Documents whose \*\*OCR content\*\* contains "receipt" - **Syntax**: \`correspondent:acme\` - **Searches**: Documents whose correspondent contains "acme" - **Syntax**: \`tag:finance\` - **Searches**: Documents tagged with "finance" --- ## Logical Operators Combine search terms with operators to build more precise queries: - **Operator**: \*\*AND\*\* - **Syntax**: \`invoice AND acme\` - **Meaning**: Both words must be present - **Operator**: \*\*OR\*\* - **Syntax**: \`invoice OR receipt\` - **Meaning**: Either word may be present - **Operator**: \*\*NOT\*\* - **Syntax**: \`invoice NOT paid\` - **Meaning**: Contains "invoice" but not "paid" - **Operator**: \*\*Exact phrase\*\* - **Syntax**: \`"acme supplies"\` - **Meaning**: The exact phrase must appear, in that order Operators are case-sensitive — write them in uppercase: `AND`, `OR`, `NOT`. --- ## Grouping with Parentheses Use parentheses to group conditions: `(invoice OR receipt) AND acme` This returns documents that contain "acme" and also contain either "invoice" or "receipt". --- ## Wildcards Use `*` to match any number of characters within a word: - **Syntax**: \`invoice\*\` - **Matches**: invoice, invoices, invoiced - **Syntax**: \`supp\*\` - **Matches**: supplier, supplies, support Wildcards are useful when you're unsure of the exact word form or when OCR may have introduced a character error. --- ## Date Range Searches To find documents by date within search: - **Syntax**: \`created:\[2026-01-01 TO 2026-03-31\]\` - **Meaning**: Created date between January and March 2026 - **Syntax**: \`created:\[\* TO 2025-12-31\]\` - **Meaning**: Created before end of 2025 - **Syntax**: \`created:\[2026-01-01 TO \*\]\` - **Meaning**: Created from 2026 onwards For simpler date filtering, the filter panel (without typing syntax) achieves the same result and is easier to use. --- ## Combining Syntax with Filters Advanced search syntax and the visual filter panel work together. You can type a complex query in the search bar and simultaneously use the filter panel to restrict by correspondent, document type, or tags. --- ## Common Syntax Examples - **Goal**: All contracts with "renewal" in the content - **Query**: \`title:contract AND content:renewal\` - **Goal**: Invoices from Acme not yet marked paid - **Query**: \`correspondent:acme AND tag:invoice NOT tag:paid\` - **Goal**: Find a specific reference number - **Query**: \`"REF-2026-0042"\` - **Goal**: Documents mentioning a specific person - **Query**: \`content:"John Smith"\` - [Essal Office](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Getting started](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#getting-started) - [Searching and saved views](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#searching-and-saved-views) - [Correspondents and document types](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#correspondents-and-document-types) - [Email import](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#email-import) - [Users groups and permissions](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#users-groups-and-permissions) - [Sharing documents](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#sharing-documents) - [Working with documents](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#working-with-documents) - [Pdf tools](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#pdf-tools) - [Uploading documents](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#uploading-documents) - [Archive serial numbers](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#archive-serial-numbers) - [Workflows and automation](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#workflows-and-automation) - [Organizing with tags](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#organizing-with-tags) - [Troubleshooting and faq](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#troubleshooting-and-faq) - [Account and security](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#account-and-security) - [Custom fields](https://help.essal.cloud/en/essal-office?hsLang=en#custom-fields) - [Portal](https://admin.essal.cloud/) - [Newsroom](https://newsroom.essal.cloud/) - [Careers](https://careers.essal.cloud/) - [Help](https://support.essal.cloud/) - [Status](https://status.essal.cloud/) - [Contact](https://essal.cloud/contact) - [Terms](https://legal.essal.cloud/terms) [![logo](https://help.essal.cloud/hubfs/logo.svg "logo")](https://essal.cloud/) Essal LLC Copyright © 2026, Essal