Inbox Search
by Folder Suggest
Privacy-first inbox search for Outlook using on-device AI. No cloud, no data sharing.
Outlook's built-in search works fine when you remember the exact words. But what about that email from a recruiter last spring about a backend role? Or the contract attachment your manager sent before the holidays? Inbox Search lets you find emails the way you actually remember them — by meaning, not just keywords.
Type what you're looking for in plain English. Inbox Search understands intent, synonyms, and related concepts, so "quarterly budget approval" finds the email even if the original message said "Q3 spend sign-off." Combine semantic search with traditional keyword matching and you get results that are both relevant and precise.
Your email never leaves your device. Most AI search tools send your messages to cloud servers for processing. Inbox Search doesn't. A small open-source AI model (33MB) runs locally in your browser using WebAssembly, building a private search index right on your machine. No external servers, no third-party AI services, no email content transmitted anywhere.
How the search works:
- AI semantic understanding to match meaning, not just words
- Traditional keyword matching (BM25) for exact terms, names, and IDs
- Reciprocal Rank Fusion combines both methods so you get the best of each
- Results ranked by relevance, not just recency
Power-user filters when you need them:
- from: and to: to narrow by sender or recipient
- folder: to search within a specific folder
- has:attachments to find emails with files
- Date ranges to scope by time
- "Exact phrases" in quotes for literal matches
- Minus sign (-) to exclude terms
Mix filters with natural language queries — for example, "vendor renewal questions from:legal has:attachments" combines structured filters and semantic meaning in one search.
Designed to fit how you already work. Pin Inbox Search to the Outlook sidebar and it stays one click away while you read and reply to email. No separate app to open, no context switch. It runs on Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, and Outlook for Mac, and works with Microsoft 365 accounts as well as personal, work, and school Microsoft accounts.
Free, with no account required beyond the Microsoft account you already use. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no upsells.
Who it's for: knowledge workers, consultants, recruiters, salespeople, founders, lawyers, researchers — anyone whose inbox holds important history that's hard to dig back out. If you've ever lost ten minutes scrolling through search results trying different keyword combinations, Inbox Search is built for you.
A few honest notes. The AI model is good but not perfect — semantic search occasionally misses the mark, which is why we pair it with keyword matching as a safety net. Initial indexing takes a few minutes depending on mailbox size, and the index updates as new mail arrives. The semantic model currently supports English only; other languages still work through keyword search, with broader language support planned.
Install Inbox Search to make your inbox actually searchable — without giving up control of your email.
App capabilities
- Can send data over the Internet
- This app can access personal information on the active message, such as sender names, recipient names, email addresses, message body, and attachment information. Other items in your mailbox can’t be read or modified. Review the developer's privacy policy for more detail on how personal information is managed and processed.
