Search In Company Data in Business Central — The Powerful Search Tool You Might Be Missing
If you have ever watched a user in Business Central open page after page looking for a transaction, a customer record, or a posted document — typing into filter fields, navigating menus, getting frustrated — there is a good chance they have never discovered Search In Company Data.
It is one of the most useful productivity features in Business Central, and one of the least known. This post explains what it is, how it works, and how to get the most out of it.
What Is Search In Company Data?
Search In Company Data is a global search function built into Business Central that lets you search across your entire dataset — customers, vendors, items, contacts, posted documents, journal lines, and more — from a single search box.
It goes far beyond the standard page-level filter. Rather than searching within a single list or table, it searches across multiple tables simultaneously and returns results grouped by record type. Think of it as a company-wide “find anything” tool.
You access it in two ways:
- The magnifying glass icon in the top navigation bar (next to Tell Me)
- The keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+F (Windows) or Cmd+Option+F (Mac)
It is distinct from the Tell Me function (Ctrl+F3 / the lightbulb icon), which searches for pages, reports, and actions — not company data. That is a common point of confusion.
Tell Me vs. Search In Company Data
This distinction matters, so it is worth being explicit:
Tell Me (lightbulb icon / Ctrl+F3) searches for:
- Pages and lists (e.g. “Customer List”, “Item Card”)
- Reports (e.g. “Aged Receivables”)
- Actions and menu items
Search In Company Data (magnifying glass / Ctrl+Alt+F) searches for:
- Records in your company database (e.g. customer “Contoso Ltd”, item “CHAIR-001”)
- Posted documents (e.g. invoice SI-00123)
- Contacts, vendors, bank accounts, and more
Both are accessible from the top bar, but they serve fundamentally different purposes. Tell Me helps you navigate BC; Search In Company Data helps you find your data.
What Can You Search For?
Search In Company Data covers a broad range of record types out of the box, including:
- Customers and Customer Ledger Entries
- Vendors and Vendor Ledger Entries
- Items and Item Ledger Entries
- Contacts
- Posted Sales Invoices, Credit Memos, Shipments, and Receipts
- Posted Purchase Invoices, Credit Memos, Receipts
- G/L Accounts
- Bank Accounts
- Jobs (Projects)
- Fixed Assets
Results are returned grouped by category, so if you search for “Contoso” you might see matching customers, contacts, and posted invoices all in one result set. Clicking any result opens the record directly.
How the Search Works
Search In Company Data performs a text search across key fields in each supported table. It is not a filter on a single field — it checks multiple fields per record type simultaneously.
For example, searching for a customer name checks the Name, Name 2, and Search Name fields. Searching for a document number checks the No. field. Searching for a partial value like “1234” will return any records where that string appears in a searchable field.
A few things to be aware of:
It is a begins-with or contains search, depending on the field. Some fields match from the start of the value; others match anywhere in the string. In practice, searching for a partial document number or a partial name works reliably.
It respects your permissions. If your user role does not have access to a particular table or record, those results will not appear. This makes it safe in multi-role environments — users only see what they are entitled to see.
It searches within the current company. If you are running a multi-company BC environment, switching companies is still required to search in a different company’s data.
Practical Use Cases
Finding a customer record fast Rather than opening the Customer List and filtering by name, type the customer name directly into Search In Company Data. One step instead of three.
Locating a posted document by number A customer references invoice number SI-10045 in an email. Type it directly into Search In Company Data and jump straight to the posted invoice — no need to navigate to Posted Sales Invoices and apply a filter.
Tracking down a transaction across ledgers If you know a reference number or a description from a journal posting, Search In Company Data can surface the relevant ledger entries quickly, even if you are not sure which ledger to look in.
Finding a contact or vendor In larger datasets where the vendor or contact list is long, searching by name, part of a name, or a reference number gets you to the record in seconds.
Onboarding new users Search In Company Data dramatically lowers the navigation barrier for new users. Instead of learning the menu structure, they can find most things by simply searching. This is a meaningful productivity gain during go-live.
Limitations to Be Aware Of
Not all tables are searchable by default. Search In Company Data works against a defined set of tables. Custom tables created in AL extensions are not automatically included — they need to be explicitly configured to appear in search results.
Adding custom tables requires AL development. If you have extended BC with custom entities that users need to find via global search, you need to add the SearchAvailable property and configure the relevant fields in your AL extension. This is straightforward but requires a developer.
Performance on large datasets. On very large datasets, search results may take a moment to return — particularly if searching on high-cardinality tables with millions of records. This is usually not a problem in mid-market BC environments but is worth testing in high-volume implementations.
It is not a reporting tool. Search In Company Data is designed for finding individual records, not for aggregating or filtering lists for analysis. For that, use list pages with filters, or reports.
Making Custom Tables Searchable
If you are a BC developer or consultant working on a custom AL extension, making your custom entities searchable is straightforward. On your custom table, set the DataCaptionFields property and ensure the table is included in the search index by applying the correct page properties.
The key steps:
- On the table, define
DataCaptionFieldsto include the fields you want to be searchable - On the associated page (Card or List), ensure it is surfaced correctly to BC’s search infrastructure
- Optionally use the
SourceTableTemporaryproperty considerations to avoid indexing temporary tables
This is a small investment with a meaningful payoff — users can find your custom records the same way they find standard BC data, without needing to know where the custom page lives in the menu.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of It
1. Train users on the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+F is faster than reaching for the mouse. Building this habit early — particularly for power users in finance and sales — pays dividends in daily efficiency.
2. Distinguish it from Tell Me in your training materials The two search functions look similar and sit close together in the UI. Explicitly training users on the difference prevents frustration when someone uses Tell Me to find a customer record and gets no results.
3. Use it for support and troubleshooting When a user calls with “I can’t find invoice X” or “where did this transaction go”, Search In Company Data is often the fastest diagnostic tool available. It surfaces records across ledgers faster than navigating to individual pages.
4. Include it in go-live training A five-minute demo of Search In Company Data during end-user training dramatically reduces the volume of “how do I find X” support questions after go-live. It is one of the highest-value things to show new users.
5. Consider it when designing custom modules If you are building a custom BC module — job management, equipment tracking, service records — think early about whether your custom tables should be searchable. Adding this at build time is far easier than retrofitting it later.
Summary
Search In Company Data is one of Business Central’s most underused productivity tools. It provides a single, fast entry point to find almost any record in your company dataset — customers, vendors, items, posted documents, ledger entries, and more — without navigating menus or setting up filters.
For consultants, it is a powerful tool to have in demonstrations and a meaningful addition to end-user training. For users, it is often a revelation: the moment someone discovers they can find a posted invoice by just typing its number into a search box, they rarely go back to the old way.
If your users are not using it, show them. It is one of those features that immediately makes Business Central feel faster and more intuitive.
Written for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central consultants and implementers. Looking to get more from your Business Central environment? Get in touch with Navseal.
