Instant Search helps you to quickly find items in Microsoft Office Outlook. The Instant Search pane is always available in all your Outlook views, such as Mail, Calendar, and Contacts.

Use the following procedure to perform an Instant Search.

Click in the Search field at the top of the folder pane (Inbox or another selected folder). Outlook highlights the search area, as well as the selected folder on the Navigation pane.

Enter the text to include in the search.

As you begin typing, Outlook starts searching. It displays the Search Results (in place of the full contents of that folder).

You can read, reply, delete, or move the items just like from any other folder.

Click the X in the Search field to clear the search.

When you click on the Search field at the top of the Inbox or any other folder, the Search tab appears on the Ribbon. The tools on this Ribbon allow you to refine the search and change the scope of the search.
View the Search tab on the Ribbon.

Use the following procedure to search for messages from a certain sender as an example of an advanced search.

Select the From tool from the Ribbon.

Enter the Sender’s name to replace the highlighted text “Sender Name.”

Outlook displays up to 10 of your most recent searches.

In the Instant Search pane, click Show Instant Search Pane Menu, point to Recent Searches, and then click the search that you want in the list.

Include subfolders in Instant Search

On the Search Tab you get the option to search by current or all subfolders

A Search Folder is a virtual folder that provides a view of all e-mail items that match specific search criteria. For example, the Unread Mail Search Folder allows you to view all unread messages from one location even though the messages may be located in different Mail folders. Default Search Folders

There are three default Search Folders

Categorised Mail includes items that have been assigned a colour category.

Large Mail includes items that are larger than 100 kilobytes (KB).

Unread Mail includes items that are marked as unread.

In addition to the default Search Folders, Outlook includes a list of predefined Search Folders. You can customize a predefined Search Folder with your own search criteria.