Global search lets you search across all matters, documents, and activity in your Xakia location. By using search operators, you can build precise queries that surface exactly the results you need - from simple keyword searches through to complex boolean and proximity expressions.
Important: All boolean and proximity operators (AND, OR, NOT, W/N, NEAR) must be written in uppercase. Lowercase versions (e.g. and, or) are treated as search terms, not operators.
Navigate to Global Search
Global search is accessible from the search bar at the top of any page in your Xakia location. Click the search bar, type your query, and press 'Enter' to run the search.
Default behaviour
When you enter multiple words without any operator, Xakia returns results that contain all of those words. This is an implicit AND , so every word must be present.
Example: governing law - returns results containing both words.
Search matches whole words only. Partial word matches are not returned unless you use a wildcard (see below).
Boolean operators
Use boolean operators to combine or exclude search terms. All operators must be written in uppercase.
AND
Use AND to explicitly require multiple terms. This is also the default behaviour when no operator is specified.
Example: confidentiality AND termination
OR
Use OR to return results that contain at least one of the specified terms.
Example: arbitration OR mediation - returns results containing either word, or both.
NOT
Use NOT to exclude results that contain a specific term.
Example: arbitration NOT mediation - returns results containing arbitration but excludes any that also contain mediation.
NOT can be combined with parentheses to exclude a broader set of terms:
Example: arbitration NOT (mediation OR litigation)
Combining AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses
Use parentheses to group terms and control the order of evaluation. Parentheses are evaluated first, allowing you to build complex boolean logic.
Example: (arbitration OR mediation) AND (confidentiality OR NDA) - returns results that contain a dispute resolution term and a confidentiality term.
Multi-character wildcard ( * )
Use an asterisk (*) to match zero or more characters within or at the end of a word. This is useful for capturing word variations and different suffixes.
Example: terminat* - matches terminate, terminated, termination, terminating, and so on.
Example: t*nation - matches termination, termnation, or any word beginning with t and ending in nation.
Single-character wildcard ( ? )
Use a question mark (?) to match exactly one character at a specific position within a word. This is useful when a word may have variant spellings.
Example: organi?ation - matches both organisation and organization.
Note: Both * and ? can be used in the middle or at the end of a word. They cannot be used as the first character of a search term.
Exact phrase search ( " " )
Wrap multiple words in double quotation marks to match them as an exact phrase, in that specific order.
Example: "material adverse change" - returns only results containing that precise phrase, not documents that merely contain the words separately.
This is particularly useful for legal defined terms that appear verbatim in contracts.
Proximity search ( W/n and NEARn )
Use W/n or its alias NEARn to find two words that appear within a specified number of words of each other, in either order. Replace n with the maximum number of words allowed between them.
Example: Contract W/5 Breach - returns results where contract and breach appear within 5 words of each other.
Example: Contract NEAR5 Breach - identical to the above.
Proximity search limitations
Note: Proximity search works on whole words only. Wildcards and boolean groups cannot be used inside a W/N or NEARn expression.
Usage | Supported? |
Contract W/5 Breach | ✓ Supported |
Contract NEAR5 Breach | ✓ Supported (alias for W/N) |
Contract W/5 Breach* | ✗ Not supported — wildcards cannot be used inside W/N or NEARn |
Contract W/5 (Breach OR Breached) | ✗ Not supported — boolean groups cannot be used inside W/N or NEARn |
Workaround: (Contract W/5 Breach) OR (Contract W/5 Breached) — to achieve a similar result, chain multiple proximity expressions using OR.
Quick reference
Feature | Syntax | Example |
Match all words (default) | term1 term2 | governing law |
Explicit AND | term1 AND term2 | liability AND indemnity |
Match any word | term1 OR term2 | arbitration OR litigation |
Exclude a word | term1 NOT term2 | arbitration NOT mediation |
Grouped logic | (term1 OR term2) AND term3 | (void OR voidable) AND contract |
Multi-character wildcard | term* or t*rm | terminat*, t*nation |
Single-character wildcard | t?rm | organi?ation |
Exact phrase | "phrase" | "force majeure event" |
Word proximity | term1 W/N term2 | Contract W/5 Breach |
Word proximity (alias) | term1 NEARn term2 | Contract NEAR5 Breach |
Tips for effective searching
Start broad, then refine. Begin with a simple keyword search and add operators to narrow results.
Use exact phrases for defined terms. Legal defined terms like "Material Adverse Effect" often appear verbatim in contracts - phrase search is ideal for locating them precisely.
Use wildcards for variant word forms. Legal language often uses multiple forms of a word (e.g. assign, assigned, assignee, assignment). A wildcard like assign* captures them all.
Use proximity search for contextual clauses. Termination W/10 Convenience is more targeted than a plain keyword search and helps surface relevant clauses without unrelated matches.
Chain proximity terms to work around operator limits. When you need proximity search with word variants, use (term1 W/N variantA) OR (term1 W/N variantB).
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Need help?
If you have any questions, please contact us at support@xakiatech.com or reach out to your Customer Success Manager.