How to Search Outlook Contacts by Custom User Field Value

Outlook lets you add custom fields to your contacts to store information that does not fit the standard fields. These custom fields can hold data like internal employee IDs, membership numbers, or custom categories. However, the default Outlook search bar does not search inside these custom fields. This article explains how to locate contacts by searching a custom user field value using Outlook’s Advanced Find and Instant Search features.

How Custom Fields Work in Outlook Contacts

Custom fields are user-defined properties that you add to a contact form. Outlook stores every contact in a folder that contains a fixed set of standard fields: Name, Email, Phone, Company, and so on. When you need a field that does not exist in the default set, you create a custom field. The custom field becomes a column in the folder view and a text box on the contact form.

Outlook does not index custom fields the same way it indexes standard fields. The standard search bar in Outlook searches only indexed fields such as Name, Email, Subject, and Body. Custom fields are not added to the search index by default. This is why typing a value such as “EMP-12345” into the search box returns no results even though the value exists in a custom field named EmployeeID.

To search custom fields, you must use one of two methods: Advanced Find or the custom search syntax in Instant Search. Both methods work in Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2021, Outlook 2019, and Outlook 2016 on Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Prerequisites: Create a Custom Field Before Searching

Before you can search a custom field, the field must exist in your contact folder. If you have not yet added the custom field to any contact, follow these steps to create one.

1. Open a contact form
   Double-click any contact in your Contacts folder to open the full contact form.
2. Open the All Fields section
   Click the All Fields tab at the top of the contact form. If you do not see this tab, click the … (More) button on the ribbon and select All Fields.
3. Select User-defined fields in folder
   In the drop-down list labeled Select from, choose User-defined fields in folder.
4. Add a new field
   Click the New button. In the New Field dialog, type a name for the field, for example EmployeeID. Set Type to Text and Format to Text. Click OK.
5. Add the field to the contact form
   In the All Fields tab, locate your new field in the list. Click Add to form. The field now appears as a text box on the General page of the contact form.
6. Save the contact
   Click Save & Close. The custom field is now available for all contacts in this folder.

Method 1: Search Using Advanced Find (Ctrl+Shift+F)

Advanced Find is the most reliable way to search custom fields. It shows a form where you can pick the exact field and enter the search value.

1. Open Advanced Find
   Press Ctrl+Shift+F on your keyboard. Alternatively, click the search box in Outlook and press Ctrl+Shift+F.
2. Select the Contacts folder
   In the Look for drop-down list, choose Contacts. In the In drop-down, select your Contacts folder.
3. Switch to the Advanced tab
   Click the Advanced tab at the top of the Advanced Find dialog.
4. Define the field
   Click the Field button. Scroll to the bottom of the list and click User-defined fields in folder. Select your custom field, for example EmployeeID.
5. Set the condition
   In the Condition drop-down, select contains or is exactly. Type the value you are looking for in the Value box.
6. Add the criteria and search
   Click Add to List. The criteria appears in the list below. Click Find Now. Outlook displays all contacts that match your custom field value.

Method 2: Search Using Instant Search with Custom Syntax

Outlook Instant Search in Outlook 2016 and later supports a search prefix called custom:. This prefix tells Outlook to search all custom text fields in the current folder. This method is faster than Advanced Find but searches all custom fields at once.

1. Navigate to your Contacts folder
   Click the People icon in the navigation pane to open your main Contacts folder.
2. Click the search box
   Click inside the search box at the top of the contact list. The Search tab appears on the ribbon.
3. Type the custom prefix and value
   Type custom: followed by the value you want to find. For example: custom:EMP-12345. Do not add a space between the colon and the value.
4. Press Enter
   Outlook filters the contact list to show only contacts that contain the value in any custom text field.

The custom: prefix searches all custom fields of type Text in the folder. It does not search custom fields of type Number, Date, or Yes/No. For those types, use Advanced Find and select the specific field.

If Outlook Still Has Issues After Searching Custom Fields

Advanced Find shows no results even though the value exists

This usually happens when the custom field is defined in a different folder. Custom fields are folder-specific. If you created the field in your main Contacts folder but you are searching a subfolder, the field does not exist there. Move the contact to the folder where you created the field, or create the same custom field in the target folder using the steps in the prerequisites section.

Instant Search returns no results for the custom prefix

Instant Search may not return results if the search index is outdated or corrupted. Rebuild the search index by going to File > Options > Search > Indexing Options. Click Advanced and then click Rebuild. This process can take several minutes. After the rebuild completes, try the search again.

The custom field does not appear in the Field list in Advanced Find

If the custom field does not appear under User-defined fields in folder, the field was created in a different folder or was deleted. Open the contact form, go to All Fields, and check that the field exists. If it does not, create it again. After you create the field and save a contact that uses it, the field appears in Advanced Find.

Advanced Find vs Instant Search with Custom Prefix: Key Differences

Item	Advanced Find (Ctrl+Shift+F)	Instant Search with custom: prefix
Search scope	Specific custom field you select	All custom text fields in the folder
Field types supported	Text, Number, Date, Yes/No, and others	Text fields only
Search precision	Exact match or contains	Contains only
Speed	Slower, uses a separate dialog	Faster, works from the search box
Requires index rebuild	No	Yes, if index is outdated

Use Advanced Find when you need to search a specific custom field or a non-text field. Use the custom: prefix when you want a quick search across all custom text fields directly from the search box.