Search & Filtering

Find any document in seconds.

Quick Search

The search bar finds documents across all your files.

How to Search

1. Click search bar or press /
2. Type your search terms
3. Results appear instantly
4. Click to open document

What Gets Searched

• File names - document titles
• Document content - text inside PDFs
• Extracted data - invoice amounts, vendor names
• Tags and notes - your annotations
• Project names - associated projects

Search Tips

Exact Phrases

Use quotes for exact matches:

• "ABC Lumber" finds ABC Lumber
• ABC Lumber finds ABC and Lumber separately

Wildcards

Use * for partial matches:

• invoice* finds invoice, invoices, invoiced
• *electric* finds anything with "electric"

Exclude Terms

Use - to exclude:

• invoice -paid finds unpaid invoices
• lumber -OSB finds lumber but not OSB

File Types

Search specific types:

• type:invoice only invoices
• type:plans only plans
• type:photos only photos

Filters

Narrow results with filters:

By Document Type

• Plans
• Invoices
• Quotes
• Contracts
• Photos
• Other

By Project

• Select specific project
• Or "All Projects"
• Or "Unassigned"

By Date

• Uploaded - when added to BuildVision
• Document date - date on the document
• Date ranges: Last 7 days, 30 days, This year, Custom

By Status

For invoices and quotes:

• Draft
• Sent
• Paid/Unpaid
• Expired

By User

• Uploaded by specific person
• Assigned to specific person

Combining Filters

Stack multiple filters:

Example: Find recent lumber invoices

1. Type: Invoice
2. Search: "lumber"
3. Date: Last 30 days
4. Result: Recent lumber bills

Example: Find unpaid invoices for Project X

1. Type: Invoice
2. Project: Project X
3. Status: Unpaid
4. Result: Outstanding bills for that job

Saved Searches

Save frequently used searches:

1. Set up your search + filters
2. Click Save Search
3. Name it (e.g., "Unpaid over 30 days")
4. Access from Saved dropdown

Sort Options

Order results by:

Search Results

Result Display

Each result shows:

• Thumbnail preview
• Document name
• Type badge
• Upload date
• Project name
• Match preview (highlighted)

Quick Actions

From search results:

• Click to open
• Star to favorite
• Download directly
• Share link
• Move to project

Full-Text Search

Search inside document content:

How It Works

When you upload:

1. OCR extracts text from PDFs/images
2. Text is indexed for search
3. Full content becomes searchable

Searchable Content

Search Examples

• Search "door hardware" finds specs mentioning it
• Search "Smith" finds contracts with that name
• Search "$5,000" finds invoices with that amount

Smart Suggestions

As you type, BuildVision suggests:

• Recent searches
• Popular terms
• Document names
• Vendor names
• Project names

Click a suggestion to use it.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Troubleshooting

Q: Can't find a document I know exists

• Check filter settings (clear all filters)
• Try different search terms
• Check archived documents
• Search might be case-sensitive

Q: Search is slow

• Narrow with filters first
• Use specific terms
• Large document libraries take longer

Q: Content search not working

Document might be:

• Still processing (wait a few minutes)
• Scanned at low quality
• Encrypted/protected PDF

Next Steps

• Document Types - Organize better
• Uploading - Add more files
• AI Extraction - Extract data