--- title: "How To: Narrow Down Search Results Using Filtering" description: Search now includes several filtering and sorting features to help you refine results by term, organization, course, content type, context, and publish status. --- [Skip to content](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/filtering-search-results#main-content) English Show submenu for translations [File a Support Ticket](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/kb-tickets/new?hsLang=en) [Customer Portal](https://support.atomicjolt.com/tickets-view?hsLang=en) ![Atomic Jolt Logo Horiz Small](https://support.atomicjolt.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Atomic%20Jolt%20Logo%20Horiz%20Small.png?width=260&height=95&name=Atomic%20Jolt%20Logo%20Horiz%20Small.png) - [Release Notes Sign Up](https://share.hsforms.com/1iZCRfUF5QHeWYwcLC3bwEAdk6gc) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Release Notes Sign Up](https://share.hsforms.com/1iZCRfUF5QHeWYwcLC3bwEAdk6gc) - English Show submenu for translations - [File a Support Ticket](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/kb-tickets/new) - [Customer Portal](https://support.atomicjolt.com/tickets-view) How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Atomic Jolt Knowledge Base](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase?hsLang=en) 2. [Atomic Search](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/atomic-search?hsLang=en) 3. [Using Search](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/atomic-search?hsLang=en#using-search) # How To: Narrow Down Search Results Using Filtering ## Search now includes several filtering and sorting features to help you refine results by term, organization, course, content type, context, and publish status. Search includes several filtering and sorting features to help you refine results by term, organization, course, content type, context, and publish status. These tools give you more control over the content you see and ensure results align with your role. ### ![](https://support.atomicjolt.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-09-08%20at%2012-48-11%E2%80%AFPM-png.png?width=515&height=278&name=Screenshot%202025-09-08%20at%2012-48-11%E2%80%AFPM-png.png) ### Opening the Filters Panel 1. From the **Search** page, click the **Filter** button next to the search box. 2. The filter controls will expand beneath the search box. - If your course has **semantic search** enabled, it will appear before the filters expand and shift to the right when filters are shown. **Important:** Changing filters does *not* immediately trigger a search when you are on the main search screen. Filters are only applied when you click **Search**, and your selections carry over to the results page. --- ### Filtering by Content Type There are two ways to filter by **Type**: - **Before searching**: Use the **Type** filter in the expanded filter panel to choose one or more content types. If multiple are selected, the dropdown label will display *Selected Types*. - **After searching**: A **Type** filter is displayed directly below the search box. 1. Open the **Type** dropdown. 2. Select one of the types listed. 3. Results will narrow to that content type. The list only shows the content types that were found for your search term, and may vary depending on the results. For a full list of supported content types, see [\[What content does Atomic Search allow you to search?\].](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/what-content-does-atomic-search-allow-you-to-search?hsLang=en) --- ### Filtering by Context You can filter content by context depending on where you started the search. The **Context** dropdown (e.g., *Current Account*) appears above the results list/search box. ![Screenshot 2025-09-12 at 2.17.36 PM](https://support.atomicjolt.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-09-12%20at%202.17.36%20PM.png?width=688&height=332&name=Screenshot%202025-09-12%20at%202.17.36%20PM.png) **Available contexts include:** - **Current Account**  – Displays results across the current sub-account and its child sub-accounts. For more information on [sub-account filtering see this article](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/filtering-by-sub-accounts?hsLang=en). - **Selected Accounts -** Allows admins to filter by canvas subaccounts. - **My courses** – Displays results from your current course and all courses you are enrolled in. - **Selected courses** – Displays results only from the course you are in. - **Institution courses**\* – Displays results from your current course, your courses, and courses set to institution visibility. - **Public courses**\* – Displays results from your current course, your courses, institution-visible courses, and public courses. \* Contact support if you’d like to enable *Institution* or *Public* search contexts at your institution. --- ### Filtering by Subaccount 1. Launch Atomic Search from the **account or global navigation** in Canvas. 1. Sub-account admins will only see the **Selected accounts** scope option for accounts they are an admin of and can only access it through the **account navigation**. 2. Run a search and open the **My Courses** dropdown at the top of the search page. 3. Select **Selected accounts**. 4. A modal window will open, showing a hierarchical tree of your available sub-accounts. > **Note:** You must be an administrator in the Canvas account to see this option. Students and instructors will not see the **Selected accounts** scope option.![Screenshot 2025-07-24 at 12-48-10 PM-png](https://support.atomicjolt.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-07-24%20at%2012-48-10%20PM-png.webp?width=688&height=438&name=Screenshot%202025-07-24%20at%2012-48-10%20PM-png.webp) --- --- ### Filtering by Academic Term (Admins Only) Canvas admins can filter search results by **Term** when searching at the account level. 1. From the **All Terms** dropdown, select a specific term. 2. Results will filter to courses within that term. 3. To filter by multiple terms, select **Selected Terms**, check the desired terms in the modal, then click **Apply**. When multiple are chosen, the dropdown shows *Selected Terms*. --- ### Sorting by Relevance or Recency By default, search results are ranked by **Relevance**. - **Relevance**: Items most relevant to your search terms appear first. Item **titles** are weighted more heavily than the body of the content. - **Recency**: Items most recently added to Canvas appear first. You can switch sorting at any time from the dropdown at the top of the results. --- ### Filtering by Organization Units (Brightspace Admins Only) When launching search in Brightspace from the root org or sub-org, admins can filter by organizational units. Options include: - **Selected Department Orgs** - **Selected Course Template Orgs** - **Selected Program Orgs** > Semesters are excluded here since they already have a dedicated term filter. These options do not appear for students or course-level admins. --- ### Filtering by Courses The **Courses** filter now supports multi-select: 1. Open the **Courses** dropdown. 2. Select **Selected Courses**. 3. A modal will list your enrolled courses. 4. Select one or more, then click **Apply**. Results will show only the selected courses. This option is available in **Canvas** and **Brightspace**. --- ### Filtering by Publish Status (Admins and Instructors Only) Two  filters are available under the **More** button: - **Item Publish State** – filter by published or unpublished items. - **Course Publish State** – filter by published or unpublished courses when searching at the account level. **Permissions:** - By default, admins/instructors see both published and unpublished content. - Students never see unpublished content. - Users with mixed roles (instructor in one course, student in another) will only see unpublished results where they are instructors. - [Atomic Jolt Customer FAQs](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/atomic-jolt-customer-faqs?hsLang=en) - [Atomic Assessments](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/atomic-assessments?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Release Notes](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/atomic-assessments?hsLang=en#release-notes) - [Authoring Assessments](https://support.atomicjolt.com/knowledgebase/atomic-assessments?hsLang=en#authoring-assessments) - 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