# Full-text or semantic search? Use the right one first

Source: https://www.signoapp.com/en/blog/full-text-vs-semantic-search
Language: en-US
Author: Signoapp Team
Published: 2026-10-07T06:25:00.000Z
Modified: 2026-10-07T06:25:00.000Z

Start with exact text when you remember words from the source, then use semantic search when you remember only the idea.

## Put it into practice

Choose something you saved this week. Start with exact text when you remember words from the source, then use semantic search when you remember only the idea. Note whether you could find it again.

## Work through one real item

Work through one real item

1. Step 1: Write down the clue you actually remember.
2. Step 2: Search with one distinctive term.
3. Step 3: Inspect the first results before adding filters.
4. Step 4: Record why a known item was missed.

Try these steps with your own files. Keep the ones that help you find a reference or decide what to do with it.

## What the source supports

### Microsoft Research

Search can reduce filing work when retrieval uses remembered context and content. Read Searching to Eliminate Personal Information Management. We suggest this guide's steps as an exercise. The source did not evaluate their results.

[Searching to Eliminate Personal Information Management](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/searching-to-eliminate-personal-information-management/)

## Choose what to do

Choose the first search route

| What you remember | Start with | Then add |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What to try | Start with exact text when you remember words from the source, then use semantic search when you remember only the idea. | Record whether the item stays, changes, or goes, and why. |
| Exact words | Full-text search | Format or source |
| Only the idea | Semantic search | Date or project |
| The surrounding event | Context filter | Person or place |

## Check the result

- [ ] I recorded what happened in the test, even if it differed from what I expected.
- [ ] A known-item test succeeds.
- [ ] Results expose their source.
- [ ] OCR has been checked on scans.
- [ ] Semantic matches are verified in the original.

## When to use another approach

### When to use another approach

A search result is a candidate, not evidence. Open the source and verify the exact passage before relying on it.

## Sources reviewed

- [Searching to Eliminate Personal Information Management](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/searching-to-eliminate-personal-information-management/): Microsoft Research. Search can reduce filing work when retrieval uses remembered context and content.
- [Keeping Found Things Found on the Web](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/keeping-found-things-found-web/): Microsoft Research. Observed methods people use to keep web information and the value of preserving reminders and context.