Use the $search query parameter

Article
2024-07-18

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. This article outlines the search syntax and behavior in the following three main areas:

Mail messages
People APIs
Microsoft Entra ID objects or directory objects

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 1,000 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:

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


// 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\"";
});



mgc users messages list --user-id {user-id} --search ""pizza""



// Code snippets are only available for the latest major version. Current major version is $v1.*

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


requestSearch := "\"pizza\""

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

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
messages, err := graphClient.Me().Messages().Get(context.Background(), configuration)


// 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\"";
});


const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

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


<?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();


Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Mail

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


# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.users.item.messages.messages_request_builder import MessagesRequestBuilder
from kiota_abstractions.base_request_configuration import RequestConfiguration
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python
query_params = MessagesRequestBuilder.MessagesRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
		search = "\"pizza\"",
)

request_configuration = RequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)

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

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` GET `../me/messages?$search="from:adelev OR from:alexw OR from: allanD"&$select=subject, from`
hasAttachment	`true` if an email message contains an attachment that isn't 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"&$select=subject,receivedDateTime`
recipients	The to, cc, and bcc fields of an email message, specified as an SMTP address, display name, or alias.	GET `../me/messages?$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:

Using $search on person collections

You can apply $search to the displayName and emailAddresses properties of the person resource. The request returns up to 250 results by default.

The following request searches for "Irene McGowan" in the collection person objects of the signed-in user. Microsoft Graph scopes the search to the displayName or emailAddresses properties.

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


// 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\"";
});



mgc users people list --user-id {user-id} --search ""Irene McGowen""



// Code snippets are only available for the latest major version. Current major version is $v1.*

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


requestSearch := "\"Irene McGowen\""

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

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
people, err := graphClient.Me().People().Get(context.Background(), configuration)


// 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\"";
});


const options = {
	authProvider,
};

const client = Client.init(options);

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


<?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();


Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.People

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


# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.users.item.people.people_request_builder import PeopleRequestBuilder
from kiota_abstractions.base_request_configuration import RequestConfiguration
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python
query_params = PeopleRequestBuilder.PeopleRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
		search = "\"Irene McGowen\"",
)

request_configuration = RequestConfiguration(
query_parameters = query_params,
)

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

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

Microsoft Entra ID resources and their relationships that derive from directoryObject support the $search query parameter 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 $search on directory objects for values that contain an ampersand (&) symbol.

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⁾ For different casing, tokenization currently 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 finds hello-world and hello.world.

After tokenization, the tokens are matched independently of the original casing, and they're 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:

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


// 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");
});



mgc groups list --search ""displayName:OneVideo" OR "mail:onevideo"" --consistency-level "eventual"



// Code snippets are only available for the latest major version. Current major version is $v1.*

// Dependencies
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
)

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,
}

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
groups, err := graphClient.Groups().Get(context.Background(), configuration)


// 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");
});

Snippet not available


<?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();


Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Groups

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


# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.groups.groups_request_builder import GroupsRequestBuilder
from kiota_abstractions.base_request_configuration import RequestConfiguration
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python
query_params = GroupsRequestBuilder.GroupsRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
		search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\" OR \"mail:onevideo\"",
)

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


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

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

$search can be used together with $filter:

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


// 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");
});



mgc groups list --search ""displayName:OneVideo"" --filter "mailEnabled eq true" --consistency-level "eventual"



// Code snippets are only available for the latest major version. Current major version is $v1.*

// Dependencies
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
)

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,
}

// To initialize your graphClient, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=go
groups, err := graphClient.Groups().Get(context.Background(), configuration)


// 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");
});


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();


<?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();


Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Groups

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


# Code snippets are only available for the latest version. Current version is 1.x
from msgraph import GraphServiceClient
from msgraph.generated.groups.groups_request_builder import GroupsRequestBuilder
from kiota_abstractions.base_request_configuration import RequestConfiguration
# To initialize your graph_client, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/sdks/create-client?from=snippets&tabs=python
query_params = GroupsRequestBuilder.GroupsRequestBuilderGetQueryParameters(
		filter = "mailEnabled eq true",
		search = "\"displayName:OneVideo\"",
)

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


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

This looks for all mail-enabled groups with display names that look like "OneVideo". The results are restricted based on a logical conjunction ("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.
- 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.
True search is only supported by displayName and description properties; but 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 $filter with "startsWith" if search isn't supported on the property.
Both the string inputs you provide in $search, and the searchable properties, are split up into parts by spaces, different casing, and character types (numbers and special characters).

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"`

Share via

Use the $search query parameter

Using $search on message collections

Using $search on person collections

Using $search on directory object collections

Related content

Feedback

Additional resources