Search Across the Platform
1. What it is
The search box at the top of every page finds people, pages, settings and
records from every app a person can open, from one field. As someone types, a
short list of matches drops down under the box. See all results at the
bottom of that list opens the full results page, grouped by where each match
lives.
Search only ever shows a row the person could already open. It never widens
what anyone can see.
- Enablement: nothing to turn on. Everyone who is signed in gets the search
box and the full results page. The Search app’s own pages — Synonyms,
Analytics, Search as, Answer as and Settings — are for admins, and need the
Search app enabled for your organization. - What it is not: the search box is not Ask AI. It returns rows to open,
not a written answer. Asking a question lives on the Ask AI button in the
header and on the results page (Open Ask AI).
2. Standing it up
Search works as soon as your organization exists. What an admin does is tune
it:
- Check what feeds search. Go to Search → Settings and read
Areas that feed search. An area is one app or platform surface, and
every area starts on. Turn one off only when you want it out of results
for everyone. It stays findable inside its own app. - Add your organization’s shorthand. Go to Search → Synonyms. If the
page offers starter synonyms, add them in one click. They cover shorthand
most workplaces use, such as PTO, FY, OOO, WFH and SOP. - Decide who can look through other people’s eyes. Business admins can
always use Search as and Answer as. If you have appointed Search app
admins, decide whether they should too (see §5). - Confirm it works. Type a synonym into the search box — “PTO”, say — and
check that pages titled “Paid time off” appear. A saved synonym is used by
the next search.
Two switches live in two places. The Libraries, Wikis and Drive rows under
Areas that feed search are the same switch as Include Libraries in Global
Search, Include Wikis in Global Search and Include Drive in Global
Search in those apps’ own settings. Turning one off in either place turns it
off in both.
3. How it fits together
The search box and the results page
The search box is a quick lookahead. It starts after 2 characters and
checks a fast subset of areas on each pause in typing. Its answer is a short
list: a Best match row when one result clearly wins, then page links and
matching records.
The results page runs the full search across every area that is on. It
also looks for meaning matches — rows found because they mean the same thing,
not because the words matched — for longer questions or when few rows match.
On a phone, the magnifier in the header opens the phone results page, with the
same lookahead under the field. On a computer, the box sits in the top bar and
is hidden on narrow windows.
What each person sees
Every area applies its own app’s permission rules to the person searching:
- Their own records only — personal notes, saved items, HR files, leave
balances and direct messages. - Their own plus their team’s — for managers, records such as leave
requests and timesheets of the people who report to them. - Audience rules — libraries, wikis, surveys and similar content respect
who each item is published to. - App enablement — an app’s results appear only when that app is enabled
for your organization and visible to that person.
Page links come from a curated shortcut list and the platform’s page map,
up to 5 at a time. A link to a page someone’s role cannot open, or to an app
that is not enabled, is not shown to them. Admins also see matching admin
settings pages, with the path to each.
People search tolerates typos (“Annup” finds Anup), names that sound
alike (“Anoop” finds Anup) and preferred names. It matches email and employee
ID only where your directory shows those fields. Other directory fields, such
as city, are tried only when no one matched by name.
Expired and not-yet-effective content
Search and Ask AI read the same trust facts about a page, policy or document:
- Expired — past its expiry date. It is left out of search results, as Ask
AI leaves it out of answers. - Not yet in effect — still found, but labelled Takes effect with its
date, listed after what applies today, and never the Best match. - Overdue for review — still found, and labelled Review overdue.
Synonyms
A synonym teaches search that two words mean the same thing. Worked
example, using a starter synonym:
| Term | Synonyms | Two-way | A search for… | also matches… |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| paid time off | pto, vacation, annual leave, time off | On | “pto” | paid time off, vacation, annual leave, time off |
| paid time off | pto, vacation, annual leave, time off | Off | “pto” | nothing extra |
| paid time off | pto, vacation, annual leave, time off | Off | “paid time off” | pto, vacation, annual leave, time off |
With Two-way off, only the term finds its synonyms. Synonyms are a search
tool only. They are separate from the Translation glossary, which changes how
the interface is translated.
Search as and Answer as
These two admin pages answer “why does this person see something different
from me?” Both need a named, active member of your organization. Neither saves
anything under that person or lets the admin act on what is shown.
Search as shows what one person would find in search for a query. It lists
row titles by area. Private areas — their files, pay, leave, messages and
similar — are counted but never listed.
Answer as shows what Ask AI would answer that person from company
knowledge. It shows the answer they would read and the sources listed with it.
Under Why each source, every source the question reached is marked:
- Used — the answer read it.
- Not needed — found, but the answer did not need it.
- Left out — with the reason, such as Not visible to this person,
Hidden from this person by a section rule, Expired, Not in effect yet
or Overdue for review. - Ranked lower — found, but ranked below what the answer read. These fold
under one line.
The person’s own AI Notepad notes and tasks are counted, never shown and never
used in the answer. When Ask AI would not answer them at all — they cannot
open Ask AI, or answers from company knowledge are switched off in Ask AI’s
settings — the page says so instead of showing an answer.
Answer as covers the company-knowledge answer only. In the Ask AI sidebar, a
question that company knowledge cannot answer goes on to the app assistants,
which this page does not run.
Every run of either page is recorded: who ran it, for whom, the question
or query, what was found, and when. After your Keep search activity for
window, the record keeps who looked at whom and when, and drops the question
and the sources.
4. Running it
What your employees do
- Click the search box, or press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) from
any page. - Type at least 2 characters. Matches appear under the box.
- Use the arrow keys and Enter to open a row, or Esc to close.
- Enter with no row selected opens the full results page. So does See
all results for “…” at the bottom of the list.
Focusing the empty box shows Recent — the last few searches on that
device. Recents are kept in the browser, per person and per organization, so a
shared device does not show one employee’s searches to the next.
Close the gaps people hit
- Open Search → Synonyms. Searches that found nothing (last 30 days)
lists the most frequent searches that returned nothing. - Click one. The Add synonym drawer opens with it filled in — and, where
a similar search did work, that search already set as the term. - Save. The next search uses it.
For the full picture, and for pinning a page to the top of results, see the
Search app article.
Manage synonyms in bulk
On Search → Synonyms, Export CSV downloads your list and Import CSV
uploads changes. The file needs a term column; start from an export to get
the rest of the shape. To pause a synonym without deleting it, turn Active
off.
Check what one person finds or is told
- Open Search → Search as to check a search, or Search → Answer as to
check an Ask AI answer. - Pick the Person. On Answer as, type what They ask and choose Ask
as them. - Read the result. A missing row usually means an area is switched off, or a
permission or audience rule in the owning app. On Answer as, the reason for
each left-out source is on its row.
5. Settings
| Setting | Where | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Areas that feed search | Search → Settings | All on | Takes one app or surface out of results for everyone. It stays findable inside its own app. |
| Include Libraries / Wikis / Drive in Global Search | Each app’s Settings | On | The same switch as that app’s row in Areas that feed search. |
| Let Search app admins use “Search as” and “Answer as” | Search → Settings | Off | Off means only business admins can use Search as or Answer as. Only a business admin can change it. |
| Keep search activity for | Search → Settings | 90 days | How long search terms and clicks are kept for Analytics, and how long Search as and Answer as records keep the question and sources. Choices: 30, 90 or 180 days, or 1 year. |
| Two-way (each side finds the other) | Search → Synonyms → Add synonym | On | Off makes the synonym one-way: the term finds its synonyms, not the reverse. |
| Active | Search → Synonyms → Add synonym | On | Off pauses the synonym without deleting it. |
The other Search settings — archived content, deactivated people, file types,
the AI overview and admin notices — are covered in the Search app article.
6. More help
- Search App Overview — the results
page, promoted results, analytics, external sources and every Search setting - Search FAQ — specific questions and what
to do when a search does not find what someone expected - Ask AI for admins — what
the assistant can do and how to govern it - Ask AI — the assistant answers questions about search from these articles.