Mail Search Methodology Help

Question

i am doing a little reading after having done a lot of "experimenting" with search in Mac Mail and i think i am still missing something.
i put my search terms in the top right and they autocomplete with (apparently) suggestions for "FROM" and "SUBJECTS".
1. are there other options such as /content/ or some other search criteria that i can use here?
2. is there a way to get into a Finder window such as i do in Spotlight when i pull up "Show in Finder"?
3. is there a way to do this search in finder so that it gets exactly the same (more?) results?
how do i determine WHERE i am searching? i have about ten email accounts and fifty folders (and a gajillion emails) in the On My Mac section.
4. is there a way to search /everything/? i mean, i so see that i have "Search:" - "Inbox" "Drafts" "Sent" "Notes" and "Flagged" showing on the top LEFT side? but HOW IS THIS SELECTED? is it selected? if i click on the TRASH FOLDER northing is selected on the top LEFT but is it only searching the Trash at this point?
5. if i click on "Sent" i see that "Sent" is selected on the top left and i assume (?) it is only searching Sent folder at this point?? what about if i click on or some random folder in the ON MY MAC SECTION? i mean, i /cannot/ select the "ON MY MAC" title because it is greyed out and at one point i thought i saw something like "On My Mac" or whatever suddenly pop up on the top left when i selected some random folder but am i searching this folder or am i searching all of the On My Mac section?
i am uber (like totally) confused by this UI at this point and i am suddenly realizing why i am having so much trouble. this is because i am clueless as to how this tool is working.
THANKS in any advance for any edification or at least for clearing some of the smog/fog from in front of my face.

Answer 1

1. It will only offer categories where the search term appears. If you spotlight index is flaky, you might not be seeing some options. I think a lot of people get really frustrated with the search function when their Spotlight index is not complete. You can use header names and such in the search by typing the header, colon, then search term. E.g. "subject: lunch" It likes lower case for tokens, and you need to put a space after the colon.
2. & 3. Not that I know of. However, you could go into the Finder, navigate into your Library/Mail/V2 folder and Cmd-F. Then you will be searching in the Mail folder (depending on your Search prefs in Finder). It will find messages and attachments.
4. The search location should be indicated (highlighted) in the favorites bar. I think it defaults to  All, but you can choose any of the other things you have in the Favorites bar. However, it may switch to All if it can't find anything in the selected mailbox.
5. From what I can tell, if you select a folder in the ON MY MAC list, it will stop searching. You have to use the things you have in Favorites bar, but see the item in help about searching a mailbox.
I think the Help gives some good info:
Search messages
You can quickly search messages to find specific text, messages to or from contacts, attachments, or more. You can search messages in all mailboxes or specific mailboxes, and save searches to use again.
In the Search field in the Mail toolbar, start typing your search text.A list of suggestions appears under the Search field, and the Search bar appears in the toolbar.
Suggestions are organized into categories and depend on your search text. They might include “Message contains:,” People, Subjects (includes the subject field and instances of the text you typed), Status (if you typed a status like “unread” or “flagged”), Mailboxes (if you typed the name of a mailbox), Attachments, or Dates.
The Search bar highlights the mailbox being searched. For example, All, Inbox, or another mailbox.
Select a suggestion.The suggestion appears as a token in the Search field. For example, the suggestion Entire Message, which includes the address fields and the subject line, is shown as Any in the Search field.Mail also lists any messages from the highlighted mailbox that match the token. If there are no matches, Mail displays a “Search all mailboxes” suggestion that you can select to widen your search.
If needed, change your search to vary the results:
Search a specific mailbox:
Click a mailbox in the Search bar. To search a mailbox that’s not shown, start typing a mailbox name in the search field.
Search several mailboxes at once:
To search mailboxes that aren’t shown, start typing a mailbox name in the search field, choose the “Message contains:” suggestion, and then choose Mailbox from the token’s pop-up menu. Repeat for each mailbox. Or select the mailboxes in the sidebar before starting your search, and then click Selected Mailboxes in the Favorites bar.
Change a token’s focus:
Click the token’s arrow to display a pop-up menu of options, or select the token and press Option-Tab until you see the option you want. For example, if you chose a suggestion from the People category, you can change the focus to search for messages to or from that person, or search entire messages for that person.
Quickly create a token:
Type the name of a message header field, followed by a colon and a value. For example, type “from: susan park” and press Enter to create the From token and list messages from Susan. Or type “subject: lunch” and press Enter to create the Subject token and list messages with “lunch” in the subject.
Use multiple tokens:
After a token, start typing search text, and then choose a suggestion. Repeat for each item you want to search for. The search field scrolls as you add more tokens. Mail searches for messages that match all of the tokens; the more tokens you use, the narrower the search.
Use Boolean searches:
You can use Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT. For example, to search for messages that contain “yosemite” and “yellowstone” but not “teton,” type “yosemite AND yellowstone NOT teton” or “yosemite AND yellowstone -teton.” You must type Boolean operators in uppercase.
Save a search:
Click Save in the Search bar to save a search as a Smart Mailbox.
If you use the Any token or search in all mailboxes, Mail finds messages containing words that have the same prefix, or the same beginning letters, as any of the words you typed in the Search field. The words can be in any order. For example, if you type “box” in the Search field, the results will include “boxcar” but not “mailbox.”
To include the Trash and Junk mailboxes, and encrypted messages, when you search all mailboxes, choose Mail > Preferences, and then click General.
For best search results for Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) and Exchange accounts, make sure the “Keep copies of messages for offline viewing” option is set to “All messages and their attachments” on the Advanced pane in Mail account preferences.