Searching reports
You can click Search 
to display the following options for searching for specific dimension values in reports to better understand how these items are performing.
| Item | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Search button | Click to display search options for searching within the current report data. |
| 2 | Include or Exclude | Select whether to include or exclude data that matches the expression. |
| 3 | Dimension list | Select one dimension from the list of dimensions currently included in the report. If you add a dimension to the report, it will be displayed in the dimension list. |
| 4 | Operators | You can select one of the following operators:
|
| 5 | Values | Type in one or more dimension values or partial values that you want to search for. |
| 6 | OR operator | If you enter more than one dimension value strings, OR logic is used for the query. |
| 7 | Case sensitivity | You can toggle the case sensitivity used to evaluate the dimension values. By default, search is not case sensitive. |
| 8 | Apply button | Click this button to query your existing report data against the search criteria. Only rows containing values that meet the search criteria are returned. When a search filter is applied to a report that contains multiple dimensions, the search results are displayed in a flattened format instead of the default hierarchical format. |
| 9 | Remove | To clear the search query and return to the hierarchical view, click  . |
When to use search versus a segment
Search allows you to narrow the list of dimensions in your report to the rows of specific interest. For example, your Page Activity report includes all the pages on your site, but you want to narrow your analysis to the performance of your Careers pages only. You can apply a search expression to narrow the list of pages to just those in the Careers section of your site. The use of search does not change how the measures in your report are calculated, but rather it simply narrows the list of dimensions, allowing you to find the data of interest. Search expressions also cannot be saved to a report.
Segments can be used to narrow the data set that is queried when you run your report. For example, you can add a segment to include data from your users in Europe. This will narrow the data set that the report queries, affecting the dimensions included in your report and how the measures are calculated. Segments can also be saved to your report and reused in other reports.
For ad hoc data exploration best practices, use search to temporarily narrow the lens in your report and use segments to narrow the data set you want to query in your report. Segments can be saved for reuse across other reports.
Note: You cannot search funnel analysis reports. However, you can apply segments to a funnel to see how conversion rates and drop-offs change by segment to better understand areas to target for improvement.