Obvious/Help Center

Search & Discovery

Published February 27, 2026 · Last updated March 7, 2026 · 3 min read

This guide shows you how to find anything in Obvious — documents, sheets, threads, files.

  1. Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux) from anywhere in Obvious. A search overlay appears in the center of your screen.

    You can also click the Search bar at the top of your project. Either way, you land in the same place.

  2. Start typing. Results appear instantly as you type — no need to press Enter.

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

What's Searchable

Search covers every content type in your project:

  • Documents, Presentations, Threads: titles, full text, slide content, conversation names, and message content.
  • Sheets: cell values, field names, and workbook titles.
  • Files, Folders: file and folder names.

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

  • 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.

Next Steps

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