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Forum Discussion
rthrech
4 years agoHelpful | Level 6
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:
...
- 2 years agoHi Dropbox community! I'm a product manager at Dropbox working on the search experience on dropbox.com.We took your feedback to heart and are happy to announce that we're adding a few new operators to help you retrieve your files/folders more quickly:
- title:(new lead) => See results with only the specific words in title of the file
- title:"new lead" => See results with exact phrase match in title of the file. Note that quotes only work with title searches and can't be used to match on content
- type:image => Filter results by a certain types like image, video, document, spreadsheet, etc.
- type:jpg => Filter results by a certain types like file extension like jpg, png, docx, etc.
- before:2022-01-01 => Allows you to see all content before a certain date. Uses YYYY-MM-DD format.
- after:2022-01-01 => Allows you to see all content after a certain date. Uses YYYY-MM-DD format.
- lead AND new => AND operators will show results that contain both words.
- lead OR new => OR operators will show results that contain either words.
To use these operators, login to Dropbox.com, click on the searchbox at the top, and start typing your query. You can learn more about our operators on our help center article here: https://help.dropbox.com/view-edit/search
Note that there are some limitations:
- This feature is Web only (for now)
- Searches may return inaccurate results for contents of a file, certain images, and Paper docs if you're using the old release of Dropbox Paper.
- Quotes will only work on file titles, not matches on content (for now)
Try it out and let us know what you think!
Thanks for your patience as we ship new features to improve your overall Dropbox experience!
Rhut
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.
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.
rthrech
4 years agoHelpful | Level 6
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)
- willsacks3 years agoHelpful | Level 5
I have the exact same issue. I'm trying to find a document with "01.03.2019" in the title and the search returns every document with a 01, a 03 or a 2019 making it completely useless.
This morning I need to find a file with "3-Audio" in the title. I search for "3-Audio" and receive a list of files with 3 in the file name and not the file I need.
This is a MAJOR problem. I'm a paid user and use dropbox to run my music studio. We have thousands of music files and often I need to find the right one and currently I can't.
- LimpingPilgrim3 years agoNew member | Level 2
Does anyone know a way to use WIndows search that does NOT require copying all files to the hard drive?
I am another plus user mystified by poor searching online. Please allow advanced searching again! -- Lee
- plabuz3 years agoNew member | Level 2
The current search engine is crap, and Dropbox knows it. The decision to remove the former advance search function was a business one. This probably cost them too much CPU credits. I cannot install Dropbox on my computer because it is not in line with my client's policy when I am working for them. Thus, I can only use it through the browser.
To conclude, this is my last month of using the paid version.
- Walter3 years agoDropbox StaffHey rthrech, sorry to be jumping in here.
Could you please clarify for how long have you been seeing this behavior and if it happens with other search terms as well?
If you'd like to, I'd be more than happy to send you an email to have a better look internally.- rthrech3 years agoHelpful | Level 6
The problem exists since you removed the "Advanced Search" feature in 2015!
There are many people complaining about the search- https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Advanced-search-missing/td-p/9834/page/4
- https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-API-Support-Feedback/Search-is-returning-more-matches-than-expected/m-p/322519#M18953
- ...
It seems like the logic is
1. Split the user's input at any non-alphanumeric character
2. search for each result individually and return all results mergedyou need another example:
search for: b1.pdf
I get every match for "b1" OR "pdf"- rjsbtg3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
I have the exact same problem and it is become frustrating enough that I am consider moving our company to another provider.
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