Microsoft Adds Faster File Search to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Web Apps

If you ever felt it was daunting to search your files in Office web apps, the latest update from Microsoft will ease that headache a little. In the latest Tech Community blog post, Microsoft announced that it is rolling out a new feature to make searching your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on the web faster and more intuitive.

Searching files inside Word, Excel, and PowerPoint web just got easier

As part of the update, all three Office apps now allow you to search for files directly from the Search box in the header of each web app. As you type, the relevant results will be shown in a handy drop-down, as seen below.

Microsoft says that the new feature works across the web app homepages: PowerPoint.cloud.microsoft, Word.cloud.microsoft, and Excel.cloud.microsoft. When you click the files from the drop-down, they immediately open. This cuts the hassle of manually looking for files from the apps’ homepage.

Tips & availability

Microsoft says that if you haven’t worked on a file recently, initial searches may not return results. However, the company suggests opening an existing file and refreshing the page, then typing the filename or even metadata such as the author’s name to trigger suggestions. The update will benefit those who are juggling multiple projects or collaborating on shared files.

The search feature is currently rolling out to all commercial Microsoft 365 users of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for the web. Speaking of Microsoft apps, let’s not forget that the company has announced that it will stop spamming Teams users’ inboxes with recording expiration emails starting this June.