--- title: "How do I search for assets?" date: "2025-03-07T21:42:50+00:00" summary: image: type: "page" url: "/acquia-dam/how-do-i-search-assets" id: "c251b010-c4ba-40e3-bd88-5dc7d130ab96" --- Table of contents will be added. To search for assets in DAM, enter keywords or search terms in the search bar on the dashboard or any page within the Assets app. You can also use [advanced search](/acquia-dam/how-do-i-perform-advanced-search "How do I perform an advanced search?"). ![Website navigation bar with "eudaimonia" logo, search bar, and menu options including Dashboard, Activity, Collections, and Categories.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/9a69d565-28d1-4647-b311-e980a6c15446/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005LvRH.png) You will find the search bar on the dashboard page and pages within the Assets app.  When you enter search terms, [categories](/acquia-dam/how-do-i-add-assets-categories-and-search-categories "How do I add assets to categories and search categories?"), file formats, filenames, [metadata types](/acquia-dam/what-are-metadata-types "What are metadata types?") and [fields](/acquia-dam/what-are-metadata-fields "What are metadata fields?"), [collections](/acquia-dam/what-are-collections "What are collections?"), [tags](/acquia-dam/how-do-i-use-keyword-tags "How do I use keyword tags?"), and [upload profiles](/acquia-dam/how-do-i-create-upload-profiles "How do I create upload profiles?") are all searched. Other search options may be available depending on the structure of your site. Relevant assets are returned in search results based on the search terms you entered. After search results display, you can [refine the search](/acquia-dam/how-do-i-refine-searches "How do I refine searches?"), [search within](/acquia-dam/whats-search-within "What's Search Within?"), and [search document text](/acquia-dam/how-document-text-searched "How is document text searched?"). ![Search results for "bike" showing three images of cyclists, with sidebar filters for categories, tags, and more.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/6b02b0af-26f2-407b-bf78-d887c7c090e5/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003Jxqf.png) Viewing search results ---------------------- In the redesigned search experience, you can now view your search results in two ways: * Card View : The default display for search results. Displays an asset preview, filename, and action icons. It also provides a visual, grid-like layout of assets. * List View : Displays results in a table format. It shows a smaller preview, filename, and action icons. It allows you to quickly scan multiple assets. Toggle between card and list views with the new toggle on the right side of the screen. ![all-asset](https://acquia.widen.net/content/4b31839b-ae35-4089-9618-b57f9305f2bb/web/2a7c3_all-asset.png?w=480&itok=NUnzbLp0) Classic search allows you to select multiple assets for download and sharing but doesn’t have the updated features. Search shortcuts ---------------- You can perform many different types of advanced searches in DAM using the advanced search feature or search shortcuts.To find the full list of search shortcuts, including ones for your metadata fields, click your User Account menu (the account details icon) in the top navigation bar and select Search help. ![Acquia-DAM_search-help](https://acquia.widen.net/content/5c3512b4-e172-4d2d-b6f0-227f72a7efe3/web/7fbcc_search-help.png?w=480&itok=_8RcTM2N) Common types of searches ------------------------ * Filename * And and or * Phrase * Exact * Field-specific * Does not contain * Wildcard * Last updated * Is empty or is not empty ### Filename Use the shortcode fn: and a keyword to search the filename field. ![Search bar with text "fn: bike" and a magnifying glass icon on the right.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/3e882392-deee-4108-838f-88dbe5badb0b/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003Jzdy.png?w=480&itok=5SXZjjlU) You can search for filenames with one of two search terms such as fn: (bike or explorer).  ![Search bar with text "fn: (bike or explorer)" and a magnifying glass icon.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/c07a811a-7c8b-4a96-a21b-d9c883cc5abb/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003Jl6O.png?w=480&itok=nFAd26PF) ### And and or If you enter two or more search terms, you'll get assets that match all terms. You’ll get the same results if you add “and” between the terms.  ![Search bar displaying the text "bike explorer" with a magnifying glass icon.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/39ea331e-6b58-4fcb-90a9-3979666e6f41/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003K0F3.png?w=480&itok=gQYsGdZL) If you add “or” between two terms, you’ll get assets that match one of the two search terms.  ![Search bar displaying the text "bike or explorer" with a magnifying glass icon on the right.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/2900b16b-e00c-471a-b980-a50108324450/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003K0LV.png?w=480&itok=K19LNTcx) ### Phrase Phrase searches match search results to a portion of text within a field as long as all words of the entire phrase entered occur in sequence. If search terms are enclosed in double quotations, only assets that include the exact phrase will be returned. For example, a search for “phone cord” will yield results with “the phone cord” but not “phone with a cord.” ![Search bar displaying the term "phone cord" with a magnifying glass icon on the right.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/6527f49c-85c1-4a43-b766-59244f4e8ce1/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005M4iy.png?w=480&itok=G_LZ9XU2) ### Exact If a search is surrounded by brackets ({ }), the entire contents of a field must match the search query. When search terms are entered between the brackets, the exact contents of the search will be returned. For example, searching for {quick\_fox.eps} will not return an asset titled quick fox.eps, but it will return an asset titled quick\_fox.eps. ![File upload box displaying the filename "quick_fox.eps" with a search icon on the right.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/cec604d7-1dbe-4efe-a0d0-ea64cac44e3e/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005M4j8.png?w=480&itok=Ah8O21ix) ### Field-specific To search a specific metadata field, enter the label or label abbreviation followed by a colon. For example, color: blue or col: blue will return all assets that have the word blue in the color field. ![Search bar displaying the query "color: blue" with a magnifying glass icon on the right.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/5ac58cdf-c5e0-4924-990c-ac7af44ae77d/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003KNQ9.png?w=480&itok=fXcvd8li) ### Does not contain To search all fields or a specific field that does not contain a search term, include a hyphen (-) before the search term. For example, a search for -(fish) or -(filename:fish) will return assets that do not include the search term “fish” in the filename. ![Search bar with text "-(fish)" and a blue magnifying glass icon on the right.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/e300343a-6efc-4b76-8f42-3f53427b3bf9/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005M4k1.png?w=480&itok=QAJGyQp8) ### Wildcard A wildcard search can be done by using an asterisk (\*) as the wildcard character. To find all PDF files, enter \*pdf in the quick search. The wildcard search will return all assets where the filename ends in PDF.  You can also search for assets that start with a certain term using the asterisk. For example, blue\* will return all assets that start with the search term blue. ![Search bar with text "*pdf" and a blue magnifying glass icon on the right.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/ea629688-3bd8-406f-92ad-e4fa877dc292/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005M4kG.png?w=480&itok=kM-O-hrH) ### Last updated Search for all assets that have been updated since a given date. The search results will include versions of assets. For example, a search for du:\[after 03/01/2022\] will return all assets and versions uploaded or modified since March 1, 2022. Note that a search for _date added_ might not include versions. ![Search bar with query "du:[after 03/01/2022]" and a blue magnifying glass icon on the right.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/a3d2dd57-e49c-407c-97ec-f1466f397326/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005M4ch.png?w=480&itok=t9nx8CsH) Time zones can affect date-related searches. If you don’t find the asset you need, try expanding your date range by a day. ### Is empty or is not empty To search for fields without an assigned value on assets, enter the label or label abbreviation, followed by a colon and “isempty”. For example, `color:(isempty)` or `col:(isempty)` returns all assets without a value for the color field, as well as assets that do not have the color field. ![isempty](https://acquia.widen.net/content/d9e39983-3430-4b5a-847e-1fe4fe6904a3/web/c9c90_isempty.jpeg?w=337&itok=YN-qWNwB) To search for fields with any assigned value on assets, enter the label or label abbreviation, followed by a colon and “-(isempty)”. For example, `color:-(isempty)` or `col:-(isempty)` returns all assets that have any value entered for the color field. ### Combining search shortcuts Advanced search shortcuts mentioned above can also be combined. An example is “fn: (logo \*.eps) cat: (marketing materials)”. This search yields assets with a filename that has "logo" in it and ends in "eps," and the assets must belong to the category "marketing materials.” ![Search bar with query: "fn: (logo *.eps) cat: (marketing materials)" and a magnifying glass icon.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/07139663-0b3d-4ca6-be0e-4c3676a087e2/web/ka0Pb000000AvJZ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003Jvby.png?w=480&itok=RQjiKEI1) Permissions and settings ------------------------ If you are a DAM admin, you can restrict the search so individual [roles](How-do-I-create-roles) can search only specified metadata fields. You can also enable the [Document Text Search feature](/acquia-dam/how-document-text-searched "How is document text searched?") so that the text within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents will be searched when a search term is entered. Users can choose to select or deselect this option in search results. **More search topics** [How does DAM search handle special characters and cases?](/acquia-dam/how-does-dam-search-handle-special-characters-and-cases "How does DAM search handle special characters and cases? ") [What’s the Instant Search Connector?](/acquia-dam/what-instant-search-connector "What is the Instant Search connector?")