Search
Search every file in the case by exact words or by meaning, narrow the results with filters, and open each result at its citation.
#The idea
Search is how you (and your AI agent) find things without reading everything. It searches every file the app has read: PDFs, scans, e-mails, spreadsheets, photos, and what was said in recordings. Each result is one passage (a page, a paragraph, a spreadsheet row, an e-mail message or a stretch of a recording) with a citation that opens it exactly.
Open Search in the left column. The line under the title says how many files are searchable right now.
#Typing a search
Type into the box (it says Ask in plain words, or type a name, a number, a phrase…) and press Search or Enter.
Some ways to search:
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
who approved the wire | Passages that mean that, even when they use other words. |
"wire transfer" (in quotes) | That exact phrase. |
| A person's name | Every spelling the app has matched to that person. |
A number, such as 4471 or $48,000 | Passages with that number. Use Exact words for numbers and dates. |
#Exact words, meaning, or both
Under the box, choose how to match:
| Choice | What it does | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Words and meaning (the default) | The words you typed, plus passages that mean the same. | Most questions. |
| Exact words | Only passages with the words you typed. | Names, account numbers, dates, quoted phrases. |
| Meaning | Passages that say the same thing in other words. | Ideas and descriptions: "payment sent abroad", "asked to delete the records". |
With words, passages that contain all your words come first; passages with some of them follow.
If the search-by-meaning model hasn't been downloaded, results say Exact words only: the search-by-meaning model is not downloaded yet, with a link to download it in Settings.
#Filters
The filter column sits beside the results (on a narrow window, click Filters to show it).
| Filter | Options |
|---|---|
| Kind of file | PDF · Word & text · E-mail · Spreadsheets · Pictures · Recordings |
| Date | From and To dates, and Include files without a date (on by default) |
| Category | The case's categories, when it has any |
| People mentioned | People named in the current results; tick one or more to keep only documents that mention them. Show all lists everyone. |
| Folder | All files, Confidential (files in a confidential folder), or Everything else |
Filters apply at once. The app remembers your search, its mode and its filters, so Back to results from a document returns you to the same list.
#Reading the results
The count says how many results are shown, for example Top 30 results for "wire transfer". Each result shows:
- The document's ID, its kind, its date and, for a recording, the time (at 08:41).
- The document's title.
- A snippet of the passage with your words highlighted.
- A citation chip, such as
DOC-0417 p.2orAUD-0004 00:16. - Show in Finder / Show in Explorer to find the original file.
Click anywhere on a result to open it in the document viewer, at the passage, with the matched words highlighted. A recording opens at the second the words were said.
Results come 30 at a time. Show more results adds more, up to 100. If you need every document that holds certain words, not just the best passages, ask your AI agent: its search can list every match and count them by month or by person (see Using ChatGPT desktop or Claude desktop).
#When nothing matches
Nothing in the files matched. Try:
- fewer words, or other words a document might use;
- Meaning instead of Exact words;
- clearing some filters;
- checking Progress: the file you're thinking of may not have been read yet.
#Searching while the case is still reading
You don't have to wait for reading to finish. Search covers the files read so far, and searching again later finds more as more files are read.
#Citations
Every result's citation is the same string everywhere: on screen, in your agent's answers, in highlights and in exports. See Citations, IDs and Bates numbers for what each form means.