> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://dexcore.gitbook.io/guide/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://dexcore.gitbook.io/guide/dexcore-guide-zh/modules/outlook-hotmail/features/search-messages.md).

# Search Messages

This function searches through your accounts' inboxes for emails containing a specific keyword or phrase, and returns how many matching messages were found.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Use this when you need to find accounts that received a specific email** — for example, a confirmation, notification, or any message containing a particular word or phrase.
{% endhint %}

***

## How It Works

1. Enter a keyword or phrase in the **Trigger** field
2. Load your task file and start the function
3. The bot scans each account's inbox and counts how many emails match your search
4. Results are shown in the log — including accounts with zero matches

**Two possible results:**

✅ **Success** — The account was scanned. The number of matching emails is shown (can be 0 if nothing was found).

⚠️ **Warning / Bad** — The account could not be scanned (e.g. login issue, state problem).

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Success with 0 results is normal.** It means the account was checked successfully, but no emails matching your keyword were found.
{% endhint %}

***

## Reading the Emails

Search Messages only **counts** matching emails — it does not open or display their contents. To actually read the emails you found, you have two options:

* **Check your master inbox** — if you previously had a [forwarding or redirect rule](/guide/dexcore-guide-zh/modules/outlook-hotmail/features/set-rule.md) set up, the email may have already been delivered to your master inbox. Check there first.
* **Log in manually** — open the account in a browser and read directly

***

## Search Tips

* You can search for a **single word** or a **full phrase** (e.g. `invoice` or `your order has been shipped`)
* You **cannot** run multiple searches at the same time — one keyword/phrase per run
* Multiple simultaneous search terms are not supported yet

***

## 🗹 Auto Confirm Recovery

When Outlook asks you to enter the name of the linked recovery email (as a security check), this setting allows the bot to fill it in automatically.

If this option is **disabled**, the bot will skip the account when prompted.

***

## Common Mistakes

{% hint style="danger" %}

* ❌ Expecting the bot to show email content — it only counts matches, not displays them
* ❌ Forgetting to re-enable forwarding/redirect rules after reading emails manually
* ❌ Entering multiple keywords separated by commas — only one search term per run is supported
  {% endhint %}