Have you ever realized you need to refer back to some information or find an attachment in an old email, only to realize you have no idea where to look?
Sure, you could waste a bunch of time scrolling through your emails, hoping to encounter what you’re looking for, but there’s a much more efficient way to do this: running a super search.
A super search is a feature that some email apps (such as Spike) offer, and that can save you a ton of time and energy when looking through your inbox, your sent messages, or other folders in your email.
How To Run a Super Search in Email in Three Easy Steps
- Try to remember everything you can about the email you’re looking for
The first step to running a super search in email is to think back to the email you’re looking for and try to recall pieces of information that could help you find it.
Here are some examples:
- Names of senders/receivers
- Words or phrases from the subject line and/or body of an email
- Tags you may have tagged emails with
- File names of attachments
A true super search should only require one or two pieces of information, but the more you can remember, the better.
- Search using a piece of information you recall
Go to your email app’s search bar and type in a person’s name, a keyword from a subject line or body of an email, a tag, or a file name.
For instance, if you’re looking for an email with a sales report from last quarter that had a subject line like “Sales Report Q3,” try typing Q3 into the search bar.
Oftentimes a single keyword is enough to pull up the email you want, or at least rule out lots of emails that aren’t what you’re looking for.
Take a look at what pops up after your initial search and preview any emails or attachments that look like they could be what you’re searching for before you open them up.
- Apply additional filters to narrow down your search
If you don’t find the email you’re looking for right away, try adding extra filters to narrow it down even more.
For example, you might add more keywords, names, or tags to get specific and eliminate more of the emails that aren’t what you’re looking for.
As long as your email has truly advanced search functionality, you should be able to find just about anything you’re searching for in your email by layering multiple filters together!
How Much Time Can a Super Search Really Save You?
According to a survey by Adobe of over 1000 American workers, the average employee spends more than five hours a day navigating their email (including both work and personal emails).
Much of this time may be spent reading and replying to new emails and sorting through junk or low-priority emails, but it’s also certain that a lot of this time is spent searching for old emails.
Less than half of the people surveyed by Adobe said they were able to clear their inboxes on any given day, making it clear that the time you can save searching in your email through a super search can be put to better use.
When you can quickly find an old piece of information or an attachment sent a while ago, you have more time for more important email-related tasks, like answering urgent questions from your team or adding information from emails to tasks and to-do lists.
In short, when you can almost instantly find anything in your inbox with a super search, you get more done in less time, ultimately helping you and your team meet your business and personal goals.
Looking for a New Email App with Super Search?
Although most email platforms have some type of built-in search feature, not all of them are advanced enough to find what you need.
If your existing email search functionality is giving you problems, we recommend trying Spike, the world’s first conversational email app with a built-in super search that lets you find anything in all your email conversations and more.
Spike’s super search feature lets you search email conversations, notes, and chats using names, keywords, tags, and more, making it smooth and fast to find old information and attachments.
Besides super search, Spike has a full suite of other collaboration and communication features integrated into the app, making it one of the best all-in-one email and team management apps available on the market.
In Conclusion
In addition to spending up to five hours or more dealing with emails every day, employees spend around two and a half hours searching for information.
So, having an email app with fully integrated advanced search functionality and knowing how to use it is one of the best ways to reduce the total amount of time spent on emails and searching for information.
That way, you and your team have more time to spend collaborating on projects and hitting all your targets.
