Search Google Drive
Once you create a matter, you can search for files in Google Drive. You can also search for:
- Mail and classic Hangouts messages
- Google Groups messages
- Hangouts Chat messages
Things to know before you search
Before you search, you should understand the following.
Vault searches Drive for all files owned by and directly shared with the users specified in your search entry. This includes files in a Team Drive that are directly shared with a user, regardless of whether the user is a member of that Team Drive.
Vault also searches files that are:
- Shared with a group the user belongs to
- Shared with the domain
- Shared publicly
Yes, when you search for files in Drive, you have two options:
- When you're searching for files belonging to specific users or organizational units, you can check a box to include results from their associated Team Drives in your search.
- You can use Vault to find Team Drives. You can then search selected Team Drives for files.
You can search for words and phrases that occur in file names and in the contents of files. Vault indexes the first 100 pages of text files and the first 10 pages of text in image PDFs.
You can search text within the following file types:
- Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint
- .html
- .txt
- .rtf
- OpenOffice™ XML
- Wireless Application Protocol (.wap)
- Wireless Markup Language (.wml)
- Google Earth (.kml)
Vault doesn't index video, audio, image, or binary files.
You can preview these files:
- Google files such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings
- User-uploaded files such as .docx, .pdf, and .xslx
No. Currently you can search only the most recent version of a file. However, you can enter a version date during search to view and export Google files as they existed on that date. Versioning is not supported in non-Google files like PDF and .docx.
A file's version history doesn't include changes to:
- the title
- who it was shared with
- comments
Vault can search up to 5,000 users (individual users or members of organizational units).
Vault can search, export, retain, and hold all files that are in a user’s Drive, which can include unopened files, as well as Team Drive files if they were shared specifically with that user. Files owned by a user outside of your domain, even if shared with a user in your domain, are not subject to your organization’s holds and retention rules.
Team Drive files are owned by the associated team and are shared with all team members. As such, Vault can also search, export, retain, and hold files in Team Drives associated with a user
Search for files in Drive
- Create a new matter or click on an existing matter.
- Click Search in the left pane, and then click Drive as the type of data to search.
- Choose a Source:
- All data—Search all data in your organization.
- Held data—Search all data on hold for the matter.
- Select a Search method:
- Specific accounts—Enter one or more accounts and search up to 5,000 Vault users in the domain. The search fails if you attempt to search more than 5,000 users or don't include at least one user. You can also check the box to Include results from Team Drives.
- Organizational unit—Search within a specific organizational unit. If you choose one with sub-organizational units, all of the sub-organizational units will be searched.The organizational unit must have fewer than 5,000 members. You can also check the box to Include results from Team Drives.
- Team Drives—Click Find Team Drives:
- Add a Team Drive member's email address.
- Start typing the name of the Team Drive you're looking for, then click the one you want. You can choose multiple Team Drives.
- (Optional) Enter a date range range and choose a time zone.
- (Optional) Use Terms to specify one or more search terms. Use search operators for complex searches.
- Vault searches only the latest version of a file. However, you can enter a version date to view and export Google files as they existed on that date. Learn more about what's included in a file's version history.
- Click one of the following:
- Search—to perform a search.
- Export—to skip preview and immediately export the search results.
- (Optional) Click the Search down arrow to:
- Reset—to clear the search form.
- Duplicate search form—to open another search form under the current form, pre-populated with the information you've already entered.
Preview search results
After you search for files, your results include the title, owner, and last modified date of each document.
This table shows how Vault handles different file types.
| Search | Preview | Export | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Files |
Title Content |
Docs Old Sheets Slides Drawings Forms |
Yes |
| User-uploaded files |
Title Content (text-based file types only) |
Most common file types | Yes |
| Comments | Partial | No |
Docs New Sheets Old Sheets |
| Suggested edits | No | No | No |
| Revision history | No | No | No |