# Search and filters

The library is built to be searched rather than browsed. If you are scrolling, there is
usually a faster way.

## Search the library

The search box at the top of **Media → Library** takes plain language and matches
against everything the analysis produced: captions, descriptions, keywords, tags,
recognized people, and the text found inside images.

Describe the picture rather than the file:

- *outdoor team photo, natural light*
- *product shot on white background*
- *conference stage, wide angle*

Search does not match filenames, so `IMG_4471` returns nothing useful while a loose
description of the shot usually works.

## Filters

**Filters** narrows by the structured facts rather than by the words:

| | |
|---|---|
| **Album** | Files in a particular album. |
| **Tags** | Your controlled vocabulary. |
| **People** | Everyone recognized in the file. |
| **Quality** | Filter out the soft, dark and badly composed. |
| **Date** | When it was taken, not only when it was uploaded. |
| **Type** | Photo, video, audio. |
| **Flags** | Review state, approvals. |

Filters combine with search: search for the subject, filter for the constraints. "Team
photo" plus *quality: high* plus *last 12 months* returns a much shorter list than
"team photo" alone.

The header shows how many filters are active, and **Clear filters** resets them.

## Favorites

Star anything you keep coming back to. The library's **Favorites** view collects them.
Favorites are yours. Starring a file does not star it for your colleagues.

## Sorting

The library sorts by **Newest First** by default. You can also sort oldest first, by
name, or by upload date. Note that *upload date* and *date taken* are different values,
and for anything scanned or imported from an archive they can be years apart.

## More like this

Open any file and the Overview tab has **More like this**, visually and semantically
similar files from the library. It is the fastest way to find the rest of a shoot when
you have one image from it, and it works even when the files were never tagged as
belonging together.

## Saved searches

Save a search you run often, name it, give it a color, and it appears as a chip on the
library screen. Saved searches are per person, so yours do not appear in anyone else's
view.

If the whole team needs the same search, create a [smart
album](/guide/media/albums) instead: the same idea, shared.

## When a search returns nothing

Three things to check, in order:

1. **Is the file analyzed yet?** A file uploaded minutes ago may not be described yet.
   Its Activity tab shows the current state.
2. **Is a filter still on?** The active filter count in the header is easy to miss.
3. **Is the caption wrong?** Find the file by browsing, then correct the caption. See
   [tags and descriptions](/guide/media/tags-and-descriptions). It will be searchable
   from then on.

<Callout type="note">
	A very broad search in list view shows only the first page of results, with a note
	saying so. Narrow with filters rather than scrolling.
</Callout>