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How Global Search Works and What Is Indexed

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Global search helps you jump to a Console record when you know only its name or number. You can search from anywhere in the Console, and Rhythm shows matching records grouped by type. Global search, universal search, and quick search all refer to the same search.

Why It Exists ​

When a member calls, you may only have their name. Global search helps you find the record in one step, without first opening the application that stores it. When you select a match, Rhythm opens the record and switches to the right application if needed.

The same search also supports record pickers across Rhythm, such as choosing who receives an event registration transfer or which contact to add a certification for. If global search cannot find a record, those lookups may not find it either.

How to Use It ​

Choose Search in the top bar, or press Ctrl+K, then start typing. Matches appear as you type, grouped by record type, alongside records you viewed recently.

Inactive contacts and organizations stay hidden unless you turn on Show Inactive Records from the menu under your name in the top bar. This switch is off by default, takes effect immediately, and is remembered in your browser for your Rhythm account. In search results, contacts and organizations show a status label only when they are not active.

You do not need permission to search, but you only see records in your Rhythm account. The application that owns a record decides whether you can open it, so search may show a record you cannot open.

What Search Looks At ​

Global search does not read your records directly. It searches a separate search copy that Rhythm updates as records change, so search can find only what that copy contains.

  • Record types. The search box includes a fixed set of record types. Record types your organization created for itself, called custom objects, do not appear in the box.
  • A name is required. Rhythm never adds a record to search when the record has no name, or when it is missing other data its application needs for a search entry. Rhythm does not show a message when it skips that record. The record can still be counted elsewhere, such as in a report, while remaining absent from search.
  • Searchable fields. Each record's search entry includes the fields its application marks as searchable, plus a common set that always includes the record's identifier, name, number, status, and type. If a field is not in the search entry, you cannot find the record by that field, even if it appears on the record. For example, if a record type's searchable fields are first name, last name, and email, you cannot find its records by notes.
  • Long values are shortened. Search keeps the first 128 characters of each text value and the first ten items in each list. A contact with fourteen phone numbers can be found by the first ten only. These limits are fixed.
  • Custom fields. When the application includes custom field values in search, you can find text, number, and picklist values. You cannot find yes/no or file values. Picklist choices are stored together, for example Cardiology, Pediatrics. If you are not sure a custom field is included, and you need a code or identifier to be reliably searchable, put it in a standard field instead, such as an organization's ID field.
  • Record numbers. A record's number, such as a member or invoice number, is stored as text so typing it finds the record. For example, typing 10442 finds the record numbered 10442. Only the record number field is stored this way. For other numeric fields, typing the value finds the record only when that field is part of the search entry.
  • After you create or change a record, Rhythm updates its search entry shortly afterward. Because there is no guaranteed delay, a record you just saved may take a moment to appear, and results can briefly show older values. The same short delay can affect record pickers and lookup fields elsewhere in the Console, not only the search box. Report a delay of more than about 30 minutes to Rhythm Support.
  • After you delete a record, Rhythm removes it from search shortly afterward. A deleted or merged record can keep appearing for a short time until that cleanup finishes. If an older result fails to open the record, treat the record as removed rather than as a search problem.
  • After a bulk import, or after a record is created through single sign-on, search does not add these records one by one. They become findable once the follow-up rebuild of the search copy completes, or when each record is edited. Rhythm does not show a message telling you that imported or newly synced records are not yet searchable. Opening the record and saving it again is the quickest way to make one record appear right away. If many records are affected at once, Rhythm Support can run a broader refresh of the search copy instead of having you resave each one. A mass resave like this shows Support as the last person who modified each record.
  • Record numbers on older entries. Record numbers became searchable as text in May 2026. If a record's search entry has not been rewritten since then, you may not find it by number until the record is edited or the search copy is rebuilt.

Note

Search results reflect the last change copied into search. If a record does not appear, it may still exist.

Why Can't I Find This Record? ​

Check these in order:

  1. Was it just created, changed, or imported? Wait a moment and search again. For imported records, the follow-up rebuild must finish first, and editing a record also makes it findable. If you can already find the record in its own application, such as Contacts & Organizations search, but not yet here, opening it and saving it again usually makes it appear right away.
  2. Is it inactive? Turn on Show Inactive Records. A data import can set a contact to inactive while loading the file; Rhythm does not do that on its own. If you need to know when and how a contact became inactive, that contact's audit history can show the status change.
  3. Does it have a name? Records without a name, or records missing other data their application needs for a search entry, are never added to search.
  4. Are you searching by a field search holds? Try the name or number instead of other details, and remember that text values are limited to 128 characters and lists are limited to ten items. If the name has an accent or another special character, type it the same way; leaving it out can miss the record. If a name search does not work, try another identifier, such as an email address.
  5. Is it a custom object record? Custom record types are not in the search box. Find them through their application or a query.
  6. Did search fail? A failed search looks the same as no matches, and the box can stop responding to typing. Reload the page and search again. Clearing your browser cache can also help, especially right after signing in. If the problem happens only in one browser, try another while you sort it out. A record that opens normally on its own but hangs when you select it from a search result can usually still be reached by going straight to Contacts or Organizations, or to the application that owns it. If selecting a result produces an error that names a record that cannot be found, copy the record ID from that message and look it up in the Audit Log Browser, with the application and service set to match the record type, to confirm whether the record was deleted.

If the record is still missing, look for it in the application that owns it, or use a query. For a contact, the Contacts & Organizations search, or the duplicate check when you start a new record, can confirm it still exists. For an organization, the Contacts/Organization search tool in the Overview area can sometimes find and open a record that global search is missing. An active organization occasionally does not appear by its exact name or number even though you can open it normally elsewhere; this has been observed and does not have a known cause yet. If organizations stay missing from search or lookup fields while still visible elsewhere, and none of the checks above explain it, contact Rhythm Support. Search may need to be rebuilt, which is not normally necessary. If a result differs between users, or between your live account and sandbox, a screen recording with your browser's developer console open helps Support investigate. See Queries and Saved Queries Explained.

Tuning Search for Contacts and Organizations ​

Administrators can adjust how search matches contacts and organizations under System & Security › Quick Search › Contacts and System & Security › Quick Search › Organizations. These settings control which fields in the search copy are searched and how forgiving search is about typing mistakes. They apply to the same search described here, but tuning cannot add a field that is not already in the search copy. Organization lookups used elsewhere, such as during registration, rely on the same settings, so changing them can change what those lookups find too. See Search Tuning for Contacts and Organizations.

Warning

This is an advanced setting. A change affects every quick search of contacts, or of organizations, across your whole account, not just the page you are on. If you are not sure what a setting does, contact Rhythm Support before changing it.

Search is forgiving by design, so it is not an exact-match tool. Typing a full email address can still return records with similar text even when no record has that exact address. Search also does not always place an exact name or number match first. Other organizations, or a contact whose custom field happens to hold the same text you searched, can rank above the record you meant. If the record you expect is not the first result, look further down the list before assuming it is missing.

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