The different panes in the Advanced search area can be used to search by different criteria. The following examples include which Advanced search panes you would use.
Here are a few possible search examples:
To search for a specific type of attachment file. A message with next year's budget spreadsheet attached. You don't remember who it's from or what date it was sent, but the filename has an .XLS extension.
Open just the Attachments pane and choose "Specific Attachment." A list of check boxes appears beneath the radio button. Scroll down and check the box next to "Microsoft Excel."
To search for a contact within a specific company. A contact who works at a company called "Rivendell".
Use the down-arrow to select Search Contacts. In the Advanced search area, open the Basic search pane and enter "Rivendell" under the Content field. (You could also do this search without using Search Builder.)
To search for an attachment that may be one type or another. Messages with either PDF attachments or JPEG attachments.
In the Attachments pane, choose "Specific Attachment" and then check both "Adobe PDF" and "JPEG Image".
To search for an item that was tagged. Description of the new procedures for your workgroup, which you had tagged as "High Priority".
Open the Tags pane and select the check box for the High Priority tag. Note that tags are user-defined, so this assumes that you have previously 1) created the tag definition, and 2) applied it to the mail message.
To search by a date range. A message someone claims to have sent you "in early December", which you think was never received.
To set a date range, open two instances of the Date pane. In the first one, set the Date drop-down to "is before" and select an end date. Use the other Date pane to specify "is after" and a start date. You can also search by sender.
To search for a specific type of attachment that included a specific phrase. A message with a PDF file that contains the phrase "Mixed Nuts"
In the Basic search pane under "Content", enter "Mixed nuts". In the Attachments pane, choose "Specific Attachments" and check "Adobe PDF". Note that the search does not distinguish between content found in the body of an email message versus content found in a file attachment.