Global Search works out of the box. Admin work is about tuning Search Layouts, building Synonym Groups, and configuring Promoted Search Terms for Knowledge. The ROI on tuning is high; most orgs ship with defaults that leave search noticeably weaker than it could be.
- Customize Search Layouts on key objects
Setup, Object Manager, Account (or other), Search Layouts, Search Results. Edit the Default Layout to include Industry, Type, BillingState, Owner alongside the Name. Repeat for Contact, Case, Opportunity, and frequently searched custom objects.
- Build Synonym Groups
Setup, Search, Synonym Groups, New. For each internal vocabulary term, add the standard term plus its variants (laptop, notebook, computer). For common misspellings, add the correct spelling plus the typo (separately, separately). Aim for 20 well-chosen groups before adding marginal ones.
- Configure Promoted Search Terms for Knowledge
Setup, Search, Promoted Search Terms, New. Pin high-traffic FAQs (return policy, password reset, business hours) to specific search queries. This applies to Knowledge search in Experience Cloud and in the Console.
- Audit Search Indexing on custom objects
Setup, Object Manager, custom object, Fields. Confirm Text and Long Text Area fields are marked searchable. Without searchable fields, the object does not appear in Global Search results.
- Train users on Boolean and phrase syntax
A short Knowledge Article or training session covering "use AND OR NOT operators", "quote phrases for exact match", "use * for prefix matching" lifts everyone's search effectiveness immediately.
- Monitor Search Term History
Setup, Reports, Salesforce Knowledge Search Term History (or via SOQL on KnowledgeSearchEvents). Review monthly to find what users search for and fail to find. The data drives new Synonym Groups and content gaps.
Per-object configuration of which fields appear in search results. Multiple layout types per object (Default, Lookup Dialog, Tab Search Results).
Admin-defined set of equivalent words treated identically by the search engine.
Admin-pinned association of a search query with a specific Knowledge Article, overriding natural ranking.
Field type that contributes to full-text search index. Text, Long Text, Rich Text, Email, Phone, URL are searchable; Number, Date, Picklist, Boolean are not.
AND, OR, AND NOT (uppercase) plus quoted phrases and wildcards (*). Extend search precision for power users.
- Search Layouts default to showing only the Name field in results. Most orgs benefit from adding 2 to 4 more fields. The default is the most common single tuning miss.
- Custom objects without a searchable field do not appear in Global Search. New custom objects need at least one Text or Long Text field marked searchable.
- The search index updates in near-real-time, but high-volume creates can lag by a minute or two. Newly created records may not appear in search results immediately.
- Boolean operators are case-sensitive. Lowercase and, or, not are treated as search terms, not operators. Train users on uppercase syntax.
- Synonym Groups apply globally to the org. A synonym that helps the support team may confuse the sales team if the terms mean different things in their context. Build synonyms carefully.