Obvious/Help Center

Search & Discovery

Published March 26, 2026 · Last updated October 12, 2026 · 3 min read

Find anything in Obvious from one search. Notes, tasks, chats, and meetings now sit alongside your documents, sheets, threads, and files. Filter chips narrow results by feature, your recent tasks and notes are already there when you open search, and results come back faster.

Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux) from anywhere in Obvious, or click the Search bar at the top of your project. A search overlay appears in the center of your screen.

Start typing. Results appear instantly. No need to press Enter.

Like Spotlight on your Mac, but for everything in Obvious.

Pick Up Where You Left Off

Open search before you type anything and your recent tasks are already there, along with the notes you updated most recently. Chats and meetings appear here too, so a quick glance is often all a search takes.

What's Searchable

Search covers every content type in your project:

  • Documents, Presentations, Threads: titles, full text, slide content, conversation names, and message content. Thread results return the whole thread rather than its nested parts.

  • Sheets: cell values, field names, and workbook titles.

  • Files, Folders: file and folder names.

  • Notes: note content.

  • Tasks: tasks and subtasks. A matching subtask opens its root task.

  • Chats: conversations.

  • Meetings: ready to browse before you type anything.

  • Projects: type /p in the search field to see matching projects.

  • Agents: type /obvious in the search field to see matching agents, threads, and projects.

Search Within a Project vs. Across Your Workspace

By default, search looks inside your current project. That project name appears as a badge in the search bar.

To search across your entire workspace:

  1. Open search with ⌘K.

  2. Click the X on the project badge, or press Backspace when the search field is empty. The badge disappears and the placeholder changes to Search projects....

  3. Type your query. Results now include artifacts and threads from every project you have access to.

Filter and Navigate Results

Filter chips narrow results by feature. Select the chip for the feature you want, such as notes or tasks, and the results narrow to just that feature.

  • Use ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to move through results.

  • Press Enter to open the selected result.

  • Results group by artifact: document matches appear under their document header, cell matches appear under their sheet header.

  • Tip: Search also includes quick actions at the bottom of the overlay. Press Ctrl+J to jump to a different project, Ctrl+T to switch threads, or Ctrl+G to open the "Go to..." navigation menu, all without leaving the search overlay.

Let the Agent Search for You

You don't have to search manually. In any thread, tell the agent what you're looking for in plain language:

"Find the revenue report from last week."

"Show me the onboarding doc we wrote in January."

The agent searches across documents, sheets, and threads, linking you directly to the result.

If Search Isn't Finding What You Expect

  • Check scope. Remove the project badge to search across all projects.

  • Try different terms. Use shorter, broader queries; search matches titles, content, and cell values.

  • Ask the agent. Natural language queries often succeed where keyword search fails.

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