Searching - Do I really have to put * for part of a word?

[Andrew Silcock]

I am struggling to explain to customers why SharePoint search is so tricky to use.

If I am searching for a document called Annual Report, I have to search for "Annual", "Annual Report" or "Annual Rep* "

Can anyone explain why I must put a wildcard in the middle of a word and why doesn't SharePoint do this automatically?

Are there any settings I can change to make search better?

Thanks!

[#2]

SharePoint has never provided this so if you want to use wildcard characters, you have to pute them in your side criteria....as a workaround for simplifying search, what you can do here is to create synonyms for your search terms:
- http://kimfrehe.com/search-for-synonyms-in-office-365-sharepoint-online/
- https://joannecklein.com/2016/11/15/sharepoint-thesaurus-a-great-on-boarding-tool/

[#3]

I agree.

So difficult to explain to users.

Why not use search like google instead?

the * should be 'implied' on all searches

[#4]

Agreed Denis, there must be some reason Microsoft have left this out of SharePoint that I cannot think of.

In this day and age, it seems like such basic functionality to have implemented into a search box.

[#5]

Thanks Juan, just not quite the same as a wildcard.

[#6]

@Andrew Silcock 

I've only recently started using Sharepoint, but am very surprised by some of the things a user can't search on, especially in SharePoint Online Modern pages

Unless I am mistaken, SharePoint Online Modern pages

1. Have no "Advanced Search" options,
2. Wildcards only work at the end of a search string and
3. the "Synonyms" functionality isn't available.

Item 1 should be addressed and rolled out 2020Q1(O365 roadmap feature 32738) but I've no idea  when (or if) the other 2 will be dealt with.

[#7]

Hi,

You can put wildcards in the middle of a word, see my original post.

I think this search is going to improve soon with the release of the search bar on the top ribbon. I've tested this in first release and it appears to remove the need to put a wildcard in.

[#8]

This is still going on. Agreed that it should search for any part of the search string within any part of any searchable data by default. I can see not doing that for performance reasons... but I'd rather wait than not be able to do it at all. The fact that you cannot use a wildcard at the front of the search at all is very disappointing. I am trying to find 123456 in a bunch of files that might be named MN123456 and it can't do it. Seems this would be important enough to enough people for Microsoft to make it work.