Search for information in Confluence
10 min
Beginner
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:
- Use basic and advanced search to find pages and spaces
- Star frequently used pages to easily access them
- Locate recently viewed and edited pages
- Use Atlassian Intelligence to search for answers
Use the search bar
One way to find pages is to use the search bar in the main navigation bar. Here are some tips for using it:
✔ Click in the search box to see recent work. Before typing a single word, the search bar will populate a list of recent pages and spaces.
✔ Let Confluence guess your search. As you type, Confluence tries to guess what you're searching for. Watch your screen for instant search results, before you’ve even finished typing.
✔ Can't remember the page name? Search for any related word. Confluence will scan similar terms within the page to help you find what you're looking for.
👇 Here's an example of the search bar in action.
👇Click the boxes below to explore two other ways to quickly find content.
We recommend you review your starred pages occasionally, removing pages that you no longer need. This helps keep your starred pages tidy.
Use advanced search
With advanced search, you can include additional criteria to refine the results of your search, like the latest update date, the space, contributors, or pages tagged with specific labels.
You can also use search syntax, special words and symbols that enable you to search for exact matches, search for keywords using operators, and search for keywords using wildcards.
To start your advanced search:
- Select the search bar at the top right of the screen.
- Select Advanced search.
👇 Here's how to start your advanced search.
Search for exact matches
To find a page that contains an exact phrase, use double quotes around your search phrase.
👉For example: Searching for "product manager" in double quotes will show search results with that exact match. Results will not contain pages that have only “product” or only “manager.”
Search with operators
If you don't know the exact phrase you're looking for, enter keywords and operators in the search field. The available operators are OR, AND, NOT, and Group. Operators must be in all capital letters.
👇 Click the boxes below to learn more about these operators.
👉 For example: Searching for marketing OR digital will show results that contain one of these terms.
Search with wildcards
A wildcard is a character like ? or * that can be used to replace characters in your search.
To replace a single character, use ?
👉 For example: A search of b?g will show pages that have any of the following words: big, bug, bag, beg, or bog.
To replace multiple characters, use *
👉 For example: A search of manag* will show pages that have words such as: manage, manager, management, managing, managerial, etc.
You can combine exact matches, operators, and wildcards in one search query.
👉 For example: You can search manag* AND past? AND ("article" OR "post")
Use Atlassian Intelligence to search with natural language
Instead of using filters or advanced search syntax, you can also search Confluence using natural language with Atlassian Intelligence. Simply ask a question directly in the search bar and get an answer based on the information you can access in Confluence.
👉 For example: Asking “How do I submit expenses for reimbursement?” will search through the Confluence pages you have access to and provide you with an answer, so long as the process is documented and current in Confluence.
You can get answers from Atlassian Intelligence in both quick search and advanced search.
👇 Click the boxes to see how to use Atlassian Intelligence to search.
How was this lesson?
next lesson
Adjust your personal settings in Confluence
- Personalize your settings to make Confluence work for you
- Update your profile
- Personalize your email preferences
- Stop watching certain spaces and pages