Why we’re making changes to Xero search

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be rolling out some changes to the search function in Xero. The functionality will stay the same, but you’ll notice it looks a little different. 

Like many of the changes we’ve rolled out across our platform lately, this is part of our commitment to ‘Building on Beautiful’ — which is about continuously making changes in Xero so we can stay ahead of the latest technologies, standards and ways of working in your business or practice.

Until we’ve upgraded our technology, we can’t deliver the features we know you want, like being able to search more fields and products across our platform, easily scan results to find what you need, and use the search function on every page. 

This update is an important step in getting us closer to start delivering the features you’ve been requesting. Here’s an overview of the changes you can expect to see soon in Xero (there are no changes to search in the Xero accounting app).

• Search and filter: We’ve refreshed the search bar and filter icon to align with the new design that’s being rolled out across Xero
• Filter dropdown menu: We’ve added an ‘All’ option to filters, based on your feedback. The filter will no longer include employees, as it requires some elements of Xero Payroll to be upgraded. This is something we’re working on and hope to resolve soon. You can still search for employees in Xero Payroll like you normally do
• Search results dropdown: We’re refreshing the search results dropdown menu, and introducing the ability to expand search results in the dropdown menu to show more than one result
• Creating a new invoice: You’ll need to click ‘Create new invoice’ instead of ‘Add new’ if you want to create an invoice from within the search results. This also applies to creating new bills, contacts, purchase orders and quotes
• Results page: The ‘See all results’ page has been renamed ‘Show all results’. The information on the page will be the same, but the format of the table will be separated into columns so it’s easier to scan and find what you need
• No results found: We’ll make it clear when your search request has loaded, and give you ideas for what you may want to search for instead, if there are no results found for your search

When these changes to global search are live, they will also be available in new invoicing. So if you’re still using classic invoicing and enjoy using the search functionality, you can now switch to new invoicing and access these features and more.

Thanks for your patience and we hope these changes offer a better experience for you. Don’t forget to share your Xero Product Ideas and we’ll take them into consideration as we work through this upgrade and start planning all the exciting features we’ll deliver when it’s complete.