There are 2 methods to search for an address, the Quick Search and the Find Dialog.
This is the quickest and easiest way to find an address. Just start typing on your keyboard the beginning part of the name you want to find. As you type, the first address that matches all the characters you've typed will be selected. Continue typing additional characters to refine your quick search. The characters that you've typed will show up in the status bar. You can use the Backspace key to erase the last character in your quick search string. You can use the Escape key to cancel your quick search, or just performing any other action will automatically cancel the quick search.
The quick search will only select a displayed address. Alphabet, category, or private filtering can affect which addresses are being displayed.
You can use either of the "Name" fields to perform your quick search. When you customize the Address List columns you can choose either (or both) of these formats for the Name field:
Last, First
First Last
The quick search text will operate on the left most name field in your Address List.
For more advanced search options you can use the Find Addresses dialog. Choose Edit/Find... from the menu, or select the Find button on the tool bar.
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Search for the word(s) |
Enter the search text. The search is not case sensitive, and will match your text anywhere within a field, including part of a word. If you enter more than one word, the words are searched for together as a single phrase. |
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In |
Choose which fields to search in. You can use this to control where the search is performed. For example, if you only want to search based on name, choose Name Fields. |
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... |
Select this button to open the Find Options dialog, which has the following options: Highlight Matches in Details - highlights every occurrence of your search text in the main Details Window. This can make it easier to find your search text, especially when you are searching for text in a large section of notes. Highlight Matching Rows in List - highlights each row in the main Address List that contains your search text. Only the columns currently shown in the Address List are checked, so an address that was found by a field that isn't shown (such as Notes) will not be highlighted. The selected address is shown in the normal selection color, rather than the highlight color. Highlights Persist Until New Search - keeps your search text highlighted until you perform a new search. When this option is off, the highlighting is removed as soon as you select a different address, once the Find Addresses dialog has been closed. Select Highlight Color... - choose the background color used for highlighting, in both the Details Window and the Address List. Clear Selected Addresses Between Searches - un-selects all addresses whenever a new search is performed. Turn off this option to make multiple selections across multiple searches. Only Search in Displayed Addresses - controls whether searches are performed in only the currently displayed addresses, or in all addresses (ignoring any alphabet or category filter). |
Once you enter your search text and specify which fields to search in, select the Find button to perform the search. All matching addresses will be displayed in the search results list at the bottom of the dialog. The search is performed either on all addresses, or just the displayed addresses, based on the "Only Search in Displayed Addresses" option. The search will never include private addresses if View/Private is turned off.
To view an address from your search results, select it in the search results list. The same address will be selected and displayed in the main Address List. You can select multiple search results using the Ctrl and Shift keys.
Usage Tip:
When entering search text, the default button on this dialog box is the Find button. That way, you can enter your search text, and just hit the Enter key on your keyboard, rather than using your mouse to select the Find button. Once you hit the Enter key on the keyboard, focus is automatically changed to the results list. You can scroll up/down with your arrow keys. When the input focus is on the results list, the default button for this dialog becomes the Close button. This way, you can scroll to the address you want, and hit the Enter key to close the Find Addresses dialog and display that address in the main Address List. This methodology allows you to use this dialog more easily with just your keyboard, rather than having to also use your mouse.
To customize which fields are displayed in the Find Dialog, right mouse click on the search results list view and choose Customize... from the popup menu. [more info]