Let’s face it—searching for information can either be a productivity booster or a frustrating time sink. Fortunately, Laserfiche offers robust and flexible search tools that make it easy to find exactly what you need, when you need it—if you know how to use them well.
Whether you're a power user or just getting started, optimizing how you search in Laserfiche can dramatically improve efficiency. This post breaks down the key search options and shares best practices to help you get the most out of Laserfiche’s search engine.
Laserfiche supports several types of searches—each with its own strengths:
Perfect for everyday use, this lets you search using:
For more complex queries, use Advanced Search to combine criteria like:
You can also use Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT to refine results.
Laserfiche indexes the content of documents (including scanned PDFs with OCR), allowing you to search for:
Search based on specific metadata fields assigned to documents. For example:
This is especially powerful when used with required entry templates.
Have a search you run often? Save it! Laserfiche allows you to:
If you're not finding what you need in seconds, try these pro tips:
Ensure your documents are tagged with the right metadata. Entry templates can help enforce this, and it makes searches faster and more precise.
When unsure, begin with a broad keyword search. Use filters or field searches to narrow the results down.
Laserfiche supports wildcards like:
* for multiple characters (e.g., report finds “report,” “reporting,” etc.)? for a single character (e.g., te?t finds “text” or “test”)Also try:
AND, OR, NOTNEAR for proximityIf you know where a document should live, restrict your search to a specific folder to reduce noise.
Consistent document naming helps when doing name-based searches. Avoid random acronyms or version chaos—use naming standards that make sense across your team.
Make sure your repository is regularly reindexed so that newly scanned or OCR-processed documents are searchable.
Admins can configure the Laserfiche Web Client with pre-set saved searches, Quick Search options, and metadata panels. Create shortcuts to common queries like:
This creates a user-friendly, search-driven workspace for any department.
Laserfiche’s search engine is more than a glorified file finder—it’s a sophisticated data mining tool that, when used right, becomes the fastest way to surface insights, locate files, and keep your processes moving.
Are you searching smart—or just searching?
Need Help Fine-Tuning Your Search Setup?
If your team spends too much time looking for documents, it may be time to audit your metadata, folder structure, and search strategy. Contact us for a quick consultation—we’ll help you design a search system that works for you.