Phrase Search uses the same double-quote syntax everywhere it works. The steps below cover the most common surfaces and the patterns that produce reliable matches.
- Use Phrase Search in the global search bar
Wrap the search term in double quotes: typing "Acme Corp renewal" into the search bar at the top of any Salesforce page filters results to records containing the exact phrase. Without the quotes, the search matches any record with any of the words.
- Use Phrase Search in a SOSL query
Build a SOSL query that wraps the phrase in double quotes inside the FIND clause: the parser respects the double quotes as phrase delimiters. The same syntax works from Apex, REST API, and the Developer Console query editor.
- Use Phrase Search in a list view
Open a list view and type the phrase with double quotes into the search box at the top of the list. The list view filters to records matching the phrase in the searched fields, just like the global search but scoped to the list view's object.
- Combine Phrase Search with Boolean operators
Use AND and OR with phrases: "open case" AND "Atlanta" matches records containing both phrases. Boolean operators work between phrases the same way they work between keywords; NOT excludes phrases from results.
- Verify the match with a small test set
Run the phrase search and compare the results to what you expected. If the match list is too broad, the phrase may include a stop word that the platform ignored; rewrite to exclude stop words. If too narrow, drop to keyword search.
The canonical phrase syntax. Use for exact-order matching.
Asterisks inside the phrase match any single word in the position. Use for templated phrases where one word varies.
Combine phrases with AND, OR, NOT for compound queries. Up to five phrases per query.
- Salesforce applies stemming inside phrases, so "running" matches "run" and "ran". The behaviour cannot be turned off on a per-query basis.
- Stop words inside phrases (the, a, of, in) are ignored by the search engine. A phrase like "case of the day" matches "case day" too.
- A query is limited to five phrase terms. Beyond five, extra phrases downgrade to keyword search without an error message; very complex queries may need to be split across multiple SOSL calls.