# Global search

> Find any record in milliseconds — ranked matching, live previews, quick commands and a shortcut to the Assistant.

_Collection: Search, Dashboard & Reports (search-reporting) — Kepler Help Center. Canonical: https://keplercrm.com/support/articles/global-search/_

Global search is the fastest way to move around Kepler. Open it from the **Search** button at the top of the sidebar, or press `Cmd/Ctrl + K` anywhere.

## The search dialog

Before you type, the dialog lists your recent records and quick commands such as **New…**, **Go to Jobs**, **Go to Pipeline**, **Go to Tasks**, **Go to Inbox** and **Search help** (which opens the help center beside the page). Results appear on the left as you type, with the best match first and the rest grouped by kind; the right pane shows a live **preview** of the selected result — a candidate's email, phone, location and status, a job's client and fee, a placement's candidate, job and status — so you can confirm you've got the right one before opening it.

  - **Arrow keys** move through results, `Enter` opens the selection, and `Cmd/Ctrl + Enter` sends what you typed to the Assistant (the **Ask the assistant** button does the same).

  - With **New…** selected, `Tab` changes the record type and `Enter` opens its form.

## What you can search

Results are grouped as **People** (candidates and contacts), **Companies**, **Jobs**, **Applications**, **Placements**, **Tasks** and **Lists**, then **Notes** (notes and logged calls, meetings and messages, each with its record, author, date and a preview) and other **Activity**. Type a name, a company, a job title, an email address or a phone fragment. From three characters, a term matches anywhere in a field, not just at the start of a word.

Exact matches rank first, then matches at the start of a word, then close spellings. Among equally good matches, active records come before inactive ones and recently updated ones before older ones.

## Questions, not lookups?

When the thing you want is an *answer* ("senior data engineers open to contract in Berlin"), type the question and choose the **Ask:** row, or press `Cmd/Ctrl + Enter` — the question goes straight to the [Assistant](/support/articles/kepler-assistant/). When your words read like a question, or nothing matches, the Ask row leads the list and `Enter` asks it. Results respect your permissions and email sharing settings — search never shows anyone data they couldn't see by browsing.

## Power tips

  - Search-then-Enter is the fastest navigation in the app — the top result opens directly.

  - Search before creating any record — the cheapest duplicate check there is.

  - Phone fragments work — the last 4–6 digits of a number you half-remember is often enough.