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Forum Discussion
Advanced search based on key phrases
I seriously need advanced searching.
Dropbox used to have these features (like search exact phrase) in 2015, but somehow removed them.
So how can I do advanced searching in dropbox?
Like:
List files with age between x and y
Contain the phrase "a b c"
are of type *.pdf
...
To give you a very simple example: I'd like to search for documents that contain the date "13.10.2020". The normal search returns all documents that have 13, or 10 or 2020 either in the document text or the filenames. Can you imagine how useless this is if you have many documents?
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey rthrech, thanks for posting on our Community.
We do offer a feature called full-text search, which allows you to search files by name, extension (file type) or keyword within the file.
If you're on a paid account, you should have access to it and you can read more about it here.
If it's not working as expected, can you please try using a different browser or an incognito window?
If you'd like to have a search function that is not available, you can post about it on our idea board.
Let me know if you have any questions.Hi Hannah,
I do have a paid (business) account.
I know about your full-text search, but as I tried to explain: It is pretty much useless if you have many documents.
This issue is NOT related to the browser.
1. I search for the date "20.03.2021"
2. I expect to get results that have the phrase "20.03.2021" either in the filename, or document contents
3. What I get is ALL files that have either 20, or 03, or 2021 in their filename or contents.
(4. even worse: the documents that have the exact phrase, do not even get a high priority in the matches)
- That is so true! I need it the exact same way. The only solution I have for you - connect to your Dropbox through your laptop and when inside your folders sort them as you like or search them. Thats the best you can. You should also suggest that to Dropbox team in the ideas section! I am supporting! 😊
Adding my voice to this one. Super frustrating.
Adding my annoyance at this, since it is such a simple thing to implement that would make dropbox hugely more useful. My company are trying to push us towards OneDrive / SharePoint, and this is pushing me towards making the effort of transitioning.
Hi all! I'm a Product Manager working on search experiences on Dropbox.com. We heard your feedback and have started work on introducing new operators to help find your content faster. Take a look here! Note that it's probably not everything you're looking for, but we'll add more features over time!
Link is broken.
- Too little too late. I cancelled my account and moved my business over to Onedrive. Saving a small fortune.
- That link doesn’t work.
Ah sorry, see "Advanced search operators" under this HC article! https://help.dropbox.com/view-edit/search
Dropbox still does not offer exact phrase searching, which renders their search feature useless,
Advanced search features for file names is great, but not nearly as useful as searching for exact phrases.
Dropbox only offers the ability to search for individual words using AND / OR operators, which is useless without exact phrase searching.
