Use the $search query parameter

In addition to other OData query parameters, Microsoft Graph supports the $search query parameter to restrict the results of a request to match a search criterion.

The support for the $search query parameter varies by entity, with some, such as Microsoft Entra resources that derive from directoryObject, supporting $search only in advanced queries.

Note

The $search query parameter is currently not available in Azure AD B2C tenants.

There's a known issue related to encoding ampersand (&) symbols in $search expressions on the v1.0 endpoint. For more information about the issue and the recommended workaround, see Known issue: $search for directory objects fails for encoded ampersand (&) character.

Using $search on message collections

You can search messages based on a value in specific message properties. The results of the search are sorted by the date and time that the message was sent. A $search request returns up to 1000 results.

If you do a search on messages and specify only a value without specific message properties, the search is carried out on the default search properties of from, subject, and body.

The following example returns all messages in the signed-in user's Inbox that contains "pizza" in any of the three default search properties:

HTTP

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/messages?$search="pizza"

C#

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 5.x

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=csharp
var result = await graphClient.Me.Messages.GetAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
	requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Search = "\"pizza\"";
});

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

CLI

// THE CLI IS IN PREVIEW. NON-PRODUCTION USE ONLY
mgc users messages list --user-id {user-id} --search ""pizza""

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Go

import (
	  "context"
	  msgraphsdk "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go"
	  graphusers "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/users"
	  //other-imports
)

graphClient := msgraphsdk.NewGraphServiceClientWithCredentials(cred, scopes)



requestSearch := "\"pizza\""

requestParameters := &graphusers.ItemMessagesRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
	Search: &requestSearch,
}
configuration := &graphusers.ItemMessagesRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
	QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}

messages, err := graphClient.Me().Messages().Get(context.Background(), configuration)

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Java

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x

GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);

MessageCollectionResponse result = graphClient.me().messages().get(requestConfiguration -> {
	requestConfiguration.queryParameters.search = "\"pizza\"";
});

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

JavaScript

const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

let messages = await client.api('/me/messages')
	.search('pizza')
	.get();

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

PHP

<?php
use Microsoft\Graph\GraphServiceClient;
use Microsoft\Graph\Generated\Users\Item\Messages\MessagesRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration;


$graphServiceClient = new GraphServiceClient($tokenRequestContext, $scopes);

$requestConfiguration = new MessagesRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration();
$queryParameters = MessagesRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration::createQueryParameters();
$queryParameters->search = "\"pizza\"";
$requestConfiguration->queryParameters = $queryParameters;


$result = $graphServiceClient->me()->messages()->get($requestConfiguration)->wait();

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

PowerShell

Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Mail

# A UPN can also be used as -UserId.
Get-MgUserMessage -UserId $userId -Search '"pizza"' 

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Python

from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.users.item.messages.messages_request_builder import MessagesRequestBuilder

graph_client = GraphServiceClient(credentials, scopes)

query_params = MessagesRequestBuilder.MessagesRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
		search = "\"pizza\"",
)

request_configuration = MessagesRequestBuilder.MessagesRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)

result = await graph_client.me.messages.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Alternatively, you can search messages by specifying message property names in the following table, that are recognized by the Keyword Query Language (KQL) syntax. These property names correspond to properties defined in the message entity of Microsoft Graph. Outlook and other Microsoft 365 applications such as SharePoint support KQL syntax, providing the convenience of a common discovery domain for their data stores.

Searchable email property	Description	Example
attachment	The names of files attached to an email message.	GET ../me/messages?$search="attachment:api-catalog.md"
bcc	The bcc field of an email message, specified as an SMTP address, display name, or alias.	GET ../me/messages?$search="bcc:samanthab@contoso.com"&$select=subject,bccRecipients
body	The body of an email message.	GET ../me/messages?$search="body:excitement"
cc	The cc field of an email message, specified as an SMTP address, display name, or alias.	GET ../me/messages?$search="cc:danas"&$select=subject,ccRecipients
from	The sender of an email message, specified as an SMTP address, display name, or alias.	GET ../me/messages?$search="from:randiw"&$select=subject,from
hasAttachment	True if an email message contains an attachment that is not an inline attachment, false otherwise.	GET ../me/messages?$search="hasAttachments:true"
importance	The importance of an email message, which a sender can specify when sending a message. The possible values are low, medium, or high.	GET ../me/messages?$search="importance:high"&$select=subject,importance
kind	The type of message. The possible values are contacts, docs, email, faxes, im, journals, meetings, notes, posts, rssfeeds, tasks, or voicemail.	GET ../me/messages?$search="kind:voicemail"
participants	The from, to, cc, and bcc fields of an email message, specified as an SMTP address, display name, or alias.	GET ../me/messages?$search="participants:danas"
received	The date that an email message was received by a recipient.	GET ../me/messages?$search="received:07/23/2018"&$select=subject,receivedDateTime
recipients	The to, cc, and bcc fields of an email meesage, specified as an SMTP address, display name, or alias.	GET ../me/messages?$search="recipients:randiq"&$select=subject,toRecipients,ccRecipients,bccRecipients
sent	The date that an email message was sent by the sender.	GET ../me/messages?$search="sent:07/23/2018"&$select=subject,sentDateTime
size	The size of an item in bytes.	GET ../me/messages?$search="size:1..500000"
subject	The text in the subject line of an email message. .	GET ../me/messages?$search="subject:has"&$select=subject
to	The to field of an email message, specified as an SMTP address, display name, or alias.	GET.../me/messages?$search="to:randiw"&$select=subject,toRecipients

For more information about searchable email properties, KQL syntax, supported operators, and tips on searching, see the following articles:

• Searchable properties in Exchange.

• Keyword Query Language (KQL) syntax reference

• Message properties and search operators for In-Place eDiscovery in Exchange 2016

Using $search on person collections

You can use the Microsoft Graph People API to retrieve the people who are most relevant to a user. Relevance is determined by the user's communication and collaboration patterns and business relationships. The People API supports the $search query parameter. A $search request returns up to 250 results.

Searches on people occur on both the displayName and emailAddress properties of the person resource.

The following request does a search for a person named "Irene McGowen" in the displayName and emailAddress properties in each person in the people collection of the signed-in user. Because a person named "Irene McGowan" is relevant to the signed-in user, the information for "Irene McGowan" is returned.

HTTP

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/people/?$search="Irene McGowen"

C#

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 5.x

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=csharp
var result = await graphClient.Me.People.GetAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
	requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Search = "\"Irene McGowen\"";
});

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

CLI

// THE CLI IS IN PREVIEW. NON-PRODUCTION USE ONLY
mgc users people list --user-id {user-id} --search ""Irene McGowen""

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Go

import (
	  "context"
	  msgraphsdk "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go"
	  graphusers "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/users"
	  //other-imports
)

graphClient := msgraphsdk.NewGraphServiceClientWithCredentials(cred, scopes)



requestSearch := "\"Irene McGowen\""

requestParameters := &graphusers.ItemPeopleRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
	Search: &requestSearch,
}
configuration := &graphusers.ItemPeopleRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
	QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}

people, err := graphClient.Me().People().Get(context.Background(), configuration)

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Java

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x

GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);

PersonCollectionResponse result = graphClient.me().people().get(requestConfiguration -> {
	requestConfiguration.queryParameters.search = "\"Irene McGowen\"";
});

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

JavaScript

const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

let people = await client.api('/me/people/')
	.search('Irene McGowen')
	.get();

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

PHP

<?php
use Microsoft\Graph\GraphServiceClient;
use Microsoft\Graph\Generated\Users\Item\People\PeopleRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration;


$graphServiceClient = new GraphServiceClient($tokenRequestContext, $scopes);

$requestConfiguration = new PeopleRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration();
$queryParameters = PeopleRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration::createQueryParameters();
$queryParameters->search = "\"Irene McGowen\"";
$requestConfiguration->queryParameters = $queryParameters;


$result = $graphServiceClient->me()->people()->get($requestConfiguration)->wait();

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

PowerShell

Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.People

# A UPN can also be used as -UserId.
Get-MgUserPerson -UserId $userId -Search '"Irene McGowen"' 

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Python

from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.users.item.people.people_request_builder import PeopleRequestBuilder

graph_client = GraphServiceClient(credentials, scopes)

query_params = PeopleRequestBuilder.PeopleRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
		search = "\"Irene McGowen\"",
)

request_configuration = PeopleRequestBuilder.PeopleRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)

result = await graph_client.me.people.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

The following example shows the response.

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-type: application/json
{
    "value": [
       {
           "id": "C0BD1BA1-A84E-4796-9C65-F8A0293741D1",
           "displayName": "Irene McGowan",
           "givenName": "Irene",
           "surname": "McGowan",
           "birthday": "",
           "personNotes": "",
           "isFavorite": false,
           "jobTitle": "Auditor",
           "companyName": null,
           "yomiCompany": "",
           "department": "Finance",
           "officeLocation": "12/1110",
           "profession": "",
           "userPrincipalName": "irenem@contoso.com",
           "imAddress": "sip:irenem@contoso.com",
           "scoredEmailAddresses": [
               {
                   "address": "irenem@contoso.com",
                   "relevanceScore": -16.446060612802224
               }
           ],
           "phones": [
               {
                   "type": "Business",
                   "number": "+1 412 555 0109"
               }
           ],
           "postalAddresses": [],
           "websites": [],
           "personType": {
               "class": "Person",
               "subclass": "OrganizationUser"
           }
       }
   ]
}

To learn more about the People API, see Get information about relevant people.

Using $search on directory object collections

Note

There's a known issue related to $search on directory objects for values that contain an ampersand (&) symbol.

Microsoft Entra ID resources and their relationships that derive from directoryObject support the $search query parameter only in advanced queries. The search implementation does not support "contains" logic. Instead, it uses a tokenization approach that works by extracting words from the property value and the search string using spaces, numbers, different casing, and symbols as shown in the following examples:

• Spaces: hello world => hello, world
• Different casing⁽¹⁾: HelloWorld or helloWORLD => hello, world
• Symbols⁽²⁾: hello.world => hello, ., world, helloworld
• Numbers: hello123world => hello, 123, world

⁽¹⁾ Currently, tokenization only works when the casing is changing from lowercase to uppercase, so HELLOworld is considered a single token: helloworld, and HelloWORld is two tokens: hello, world. ⁽²⁾ Tokenization logic also combines words that are separated only by symbols; for example, searching for helloworld will find hello-world and hello.world.

Note

• After tokenization, the tokens are matched independently of the original casing, and they are matched in any order. For example, displayName 李四(David Li) matches search strings such as 李四(David Li), 李四, David, Li, David), (李四, Li 李.
• A change in the alphabet, such as from Latin to Cyrillic or Chinese, doesn't create a new token. For example, displayName 蓝色group matches the 蓝色group and 蓝色 search strings, but not group; while displayName group蓝色 matches the group蓝色 and group search strings, but not 蓝色 or 蓝.
• The tokenized search support works only on the displayName and description fields. Any field of String type can be put in $search; fields other than displayName and description default to $filter startswith behavior. For example:

HTTP

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/?$search="displayName:OneVideo" OR "mail:onevideo"
ConsistencyLevel: eventual

C#

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 5.x

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=csharp
var result = await graphClient.Groups.GetAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
	requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\" OR \"mail:onevideo\"";
	requestConfiguration.Headers.Add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual");
});

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

CLI

// THE CLI IS IN PREVIEW. NON-PRODUCTION USE ONLY
mgc groups list --search ""displayName:OneVideo" OR "mail:onevideo"" --consistency-level "eventual"

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Go

import (
	  "context"
	  abstractions "github.com/microsoft/kiota-abstractions-go"
	  msgraphsdk "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go"
	  graphgroups "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/groups"
	  //other-imports
)

graphClient := msgraphsdk.NewGraphServiceClientWithCredentials(cred, scopes)


headers := abstractions.NewRequestHeaders()
headers.Add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual")


requestSearch := "\"displayName:OneVideo\" OR \"mail:onevideo\""

requestParameters := &graphgroups.GroupsRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
	Search: &requestSearch,
}
configuration := &graphgroups.GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
	Headers: headers,
	QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}

groups, err := graphClient.Groups().Get(context.Background(), configuration)

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Java

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x

GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);

GroupCollectionResponse result = graphClient.groups().get(requestConfiguration -> {
	requestConfiguration.queryParameters.search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\" OR \"mail:onevideo\"";
	requestConfiguration.headers.add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual");
});

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

JavaScript

Snippet not available

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

PHP

<?php
use Microsoft\Graph\GraphServiceClient;
use Microsoft\Graph\Generated\Groups\GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration;


$graphServiceClient = new GraphServiceClient($tokenRequestContext, $scopes);

$requestConfiguration = new GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration();
$headers = [
		'ConsistencyLevel' => 'eventual',
	];
$requestConfiguration->headers = $headers;

$queryParameters = GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration::createQueryParameters();
$queryParameters->search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\" OR \"mail:onevideo\"";
$requestConfiguration->queryParameters = $queryParameters;


$result = $graphServiceClient->groups()->get($requestConfiguration)->wait();

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

PowerShell

Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Groups

Get-MgGroup -Search '"displayName:OneVideo" OR "mail:onevideo"'  -ConsistencyLevel eventual 

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Python

from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.groups.groups_request_builder import GroupsRequestBuilder

graph_client = GraphServiceClient(credentials, scopes)

query_params = GroupsRequestBuilder.GroupsRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
		search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\" OR \"mail:onevideo\"",
)

request_configuration = GroupsRequestBuilder.GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)
request_configuration.headers.add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual")


result = await graph_client.groups.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

This looks for all groups with display names that has one and video tokens, or mail starting with onevideo.

$search can be used together with $filter:

HTTP

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups/?$filter=mailEnabled eq true&$search="displayName:OneVideo"
ConsistencyLevel: eventual

C#

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 5.x

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=csharp
var result = await graphClient.Groups.GetAsync((requestConfiguration) =>
{
	requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Filter = "mailEnabled eq true";
	requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\"";
	requestConfiguration.Headers.Add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual");
});

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

CLI

// THE CLI IS IN PREVIEW. NON-PRODUCTION USE ONLY
mgc groups list --search ""displayName:OneVideo"" --filter "mailEnabled eq true" --consistency-level "eventual"

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Go

import (
	  "context"
	  abstractions "github.com/microsoft/kiota-abstractions-go"
	  msgraphsdk "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go"
	  graphgroups "github.com/microsoftgraph/msgraph-sdk-go/groups"
	  //other-imports
)

graphClient := msgraphsdk.NewGraphServiceClientWithCredentials(cred, scopes)


headers := abstractions.NewRequestHeaders()
headers.Add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual")


requestFilter := "mailEnabled eq true"
requestSearch := "\"displayName:OneVideo\""

requestParameters := &graphgroups.GroupsRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters{
	Filter: &requestFilter,
	Search: &requestSearch,
}
configuration := &graphgroups.GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration{
	Headers: headers,
	QueryParameters: requestParameters,
}

groups, err := graphClient.Groups().Get(context.Background(), configuration)

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Java

// Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 6.x

GraphServiceClient graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(requestAdapter);

GroupCollectionResponse result = graphClient.groups().get(requestConfiguration -> {
	requestConfiguration.queryParameters.filter = "mailEnabled eq true";
	requestConfiguration.queryParameters.search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\"";
	requestConfiguration.headers.add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual");
});

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

JavaScript

const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

let groups = await client.api('/groups/')
	.header('ConsistencyLevel','eventual')
	.filter('mailEnabled eq true')
	.search('displayName:OneVideo')
	.get();

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

PHP

<?php
use Microsoft\Graph\GraphServiceClient;
use Microsoft\Graph\Generated\Groups\GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration;


$graphServiceClient = new GraphServiceClient($tokenRequestContext, $scopes);

$requestConfiguration = new GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration();
$headers = [
		'ConsistencyLevel' => 'eventual',
	];
$requestConfiguration->headers = $headers;

$queryParameters = GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration::createQueryParameters();
$queryParameters->filter = "mailEnabled eq true";
$queryParameters->search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\"";
$requestConfiguration->queryParameters = $queryParameters;


$result = $graphServiceClient->groups()->get($requestConfiguration)->wait();

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

PowerShell

Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Groups

Get-MgGroup -Filter "mailEnabled eq true" -Search '"displayName:OneVideo"'  -ConsistencyLevel eventual 

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

Python

from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.groups.groups_request_builder import GroupsRequestBuilder

graph_client = GraphServiceClient(credentials, scopes)

query_params = GroupsRequestBuilder.GroupsRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
		filter = "mailEnabled eq true",
		search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\"",
)

request_configuration = GroupsRequestBuilder.GroupsRequestBuilderGetRequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)
request_configuration.headers.add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual")


result = await graph_client.groups.get(request_configuration = request_configuration)

Read the SDK documentation for details on how to add the SDK to your project and create an authProvider instance.

This looks for all mail-enabled groups with display names that look like "OneVideo". The results are restricted based on a logical conjunction (an "AND") of the $filter and the entire query in the $search.

The syntax of search follows these rules:

• Generic format: $search="clause1" [AND | OR] "[clauseX]".
• Any number of clauses is supported. Parentheses for precedence is also supported.
• The syntax for each clause is: "<property>:<text to search>".
• The property name must be specified in the clause. Any property that can be used in $filter can also be used inside $search. Depending on the property, the search behavior is either "search" or "startsWith" if search is not supported on the property.
• The whole clause must be declared inside double quotes. If it contains double quotes or backslash, it should be escaped with a backslash. All the other special characters must be URL encoded.
• Logical AND and OR operators must be put outside double quotes and they must be in upper case.

The following table shows some examples.

Object class	Description	Example
User	Address book display name of the user.	GET ../users?$search="displayName:Guthr"
User	Address book display name or mail of the user.	GET ../users?$search="displayName:Guthr" OR "mail:Guthr"
Group	Address book display name or description of the group.	GET ../groups?$search="description:One" AND ("displayName:Video" OR "displayName:Drive"
Group	Address book display name on a mail-enabled group.	GET ../groups?$filter=mailEnabled eq true&$search="displayName:OneVideo"

Both the string inputs you provide in $search, as well as the searchable properties, are split up into parts by spaces, different casing, and character types (numbers and special characters).

Related content

• Use query parameters to customize responses
• Advanced query capabilities on directory objects
• Query parameter limitations