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Search your mail for an exact phrase

5 October 2026 · searched as search email exact phrase

Most mail search splits what you type into words and finds mail that has them anywhere. To find a phrase as it was written — a contract clause, a product name, a line you remember — put it in quotes.

How to do it

Type the phrase in quotes after b: for the message text: b:"send amendment". The words must sit side by side, in that order.
For the subject, use s: the same way: s:"budget review".
To match a whole subject and nothing else, use s=: s="Budget Q3 Planning" finds that conversation and its replies — Re:, Fwd: and punctuation are ignored, so does capitalisation.

MailCode: s="Budget Q3 Planning" — that subject exactly, replies included. — s="Budget Q3 Planning" — that subject exactly, replies included.

Quotes are also how a value with spaces stays together: s:New Design looks for “New” in the subject and “Design” anywhere, s:"New Design" for the two together. The last word of a phrase matches the start of a word, so b:"spot instance" also finds “spot instances”. Loosen a phrase into words near each other with ~: b:"send amendment"~5.

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