Search syntax

You can type filters straight into the search box instead of opening the filter panel. Type naturally, or combine filters with your words. Put - in front of a filter to exclude it.

person:Jamie place:Banff year:2026 lake at sunset

This finds photos of Jamie, taken in Banff during 2026, ranked by how well they match “lake at sunset”.

Click the ? button in the search panel to see the list of filters at any time. Clicking one adds it to the search box.

Filters you can type

Filter	Finds	Example
`person:`	A person you’ve named	`person:Jamie`
`place:`	A city	`place:Banff`
`tag:`	A tag	`tag:water`
`type:`	Photos or videos	`type:video`
`camera:`	A camera brand or model	`camera:Sony`
`lens:`	A lens	`lens:24-70`
`rating:`	A star rating or higher	`rating:4`
`is:`	Favourites	`is:favorite`
`year:`	A year	`year:2026`
`month:`	A month	`month:2026-08`
`after:`	Taken after a day	`after:2026-08-12`
`before:`	Taken before a day	`before:2026-08-15`
`file:`	Words in the file name	`file:IMG_`
`text:`	Words read from inside the photo	`text:"lake agnes"`
`path:`	Words in the folder path	`path:2026/`

Filter names aren’t case sensitive, and neither are the values: Person:jamie works the same as person:Jamie. Values are also matched without accents, so place:Montreal finds Montréal.

Values with spaces

Put a value in double quotes when it has a space:

person:"Mary Ann" place:"Lake Louise" text:"lake agnes"

Excluding

Put - straight in front of a filter to leave out what it matches:

-person:Jamie        photos without Jamie
-type:video          no videos
-tag:screenshot      nothing tagged screenshot
-is:favorite         only photos that aren't favourites
-camera:iPhone       anything not taken on an iPhone
-file:Screenshot     no file names containing Screenshot

rating:, year:, month:, after:, before: and text: can’t be excluded. If you put - in front of one of these, it stays as ordinary search text.

Combining filters

Different filters all have to match:

person:Jamie type:video year:2025

finds videos of Jamie from 2025.

Repeating a filter works like this:

Repeated filter	Means
Two `person:`	Photos with both people
Two `tag:`	Photos with both tags
Two `place:`	Photos from either city, since a photo is only taken in one place
Two `type:`	Photos or videos
A date filter and another date filter	Only the days both allow

For “any of these people” instead of “all of them”, use the People section of the filter panel and choose Any of.

How each filter works

person:

Matches the names you’ve given in People. Only named people work, since unnamed ones have no name to type. If no one has that name, the filter stays as ordinary search text, so nothing is silently dropped.

place:

Matches the city worked out from each photo’s location. See Places. For a country or a state, use the Places section of the filter panel.

tag:

Matches one of your tags by name. If you have no tag with that name, the filter stays as search text.

type:

Accepts photo, photos, image, images, video or videos.

camera: and lens:

camera: first looks for a camera brand in your library with exactly that name, such as camera:Canon. If there isn’t one, it looks for camera models containing your words, such as camera:R5, and then for brands containing them. lens: matches any lens name containing your words, such as lens:50mm.

Excluding a camera keeps photos with no camera information at all.

rating:

Takes a number from 0 to 5 and finds that rating or higher. rating:4 finds four- and five-star photos. For an exact rating, rejected or unrated photos, use the filter panel.

is:

Accepts fav, favorite, favorites, favourite or favourites.

Dates

Filter	Format	Covers
`year:`	`2026`	The whole year
`month:`	`2026-08` or `2026-8`	The whole month
`after:`	`2026-08-12`	From the next day onwards. The day you type is left out.
`before:`	`2026-08-15`	Up to the day before. The day you type is left out.

So after:2026-08-12 before:2026-08-15 finds photos from 13 and 14 August 2026.

Dates use the time the photo was taken where it was taken, the same date you see in the timeline. Impossible dates, such as 2026-02-30, are refused and stay as search text.

file:, path: and text:

file: and path: find the words anywhere in the file name or folder path, ignoring capitals and accents. -file: and -path: leave out names that contain the words.

text: searches the words Frameleaf read from inside your photos, such as signs, receipts and screenshots. It matches words that are close to what you typed, so a small misreading still matches.

Phrases and excluded words

The syntax help also lists two forms for your own words:

Type	To
`"exact phrase"`	Keep words together as a phrase
`-word`	Leave out a word

Chips and suggestions

As you type, the search panel suggests people, places, tags, cameras, years, media types and filters that match the word you’re typing, with their counts. Press Tab or click a suggestion to complete it.

When you finish a filter and type a space, it turns into a chip, such as Not Jamie, Camera: Sony or 4★ or more. Click a chip’s cross to remove it. A filter Frameleaf can’t match stays as text, so you can see it and fix it.

Search text is limited to 500 characters; anything longer is cut, and the panel tells you. Filters typed as chips aren’t counted in that limit.

Examples

Search	Finds
`person:Jamie person:Sam beach`	Beach photos with both Jamie and Sam
`place:Banff -type:video year:2025`	Photos, not videos, taken in Banff in 2025
`tag:hiking rating:4`	Hiking photos rated four stars or more
`camera:Sony lens:24-70 after:2026-06-01`	Photos from a Sony camera and a 24-70 lens since 2 June 2026
`text:"boarding pass"`	Photos with “boarding pass” written in them
`path:Projects file:IMG_`	Files whose path contains Projects and whose name contains IMG_
`is:favorite month:2026-08 sunset`	August 2026 favourites, ranked by how well they match “sunset”
`-person:Jamie birthday cake`	Birthday cakes without Jamie in the photo