Outlook Search and the Blind Squirrel Expedition

We switched to the “new” Outlook and the search bar promised to be smarter. I type the sender, a keyword, and the week it was sent, and it serves me a calendar invite from 2019, three newsletters I never read, and a OneDrive link to a file I don’t own. At this point I have the same chance of finding the right email as sending a blind squirrel into the jungle to find a nut. And honestly, the squirrel has hustle.

My survival kit: exact-phrase quotes, from: / subject: / has:attachment, and after: / before: dates. I also pinned a Search Folder called “Decisions” (is:flagged OR category:Decision) and an “Attachments Last 30 Days” filter. It helps, but the default search still wanders off like a toddler in a theme park.

-Leo