# when searching in the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 16, 2001, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-searching-in-the-sdmb/93726 "2001-11-16T14:32:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-searching-in-the-sdmb/93726/1 "2001-11-16T14:32:52Z")
and dooing a search by keyword , what is the difference between MATCH ALL and MATCH ANY? just an ignorant dog asking questions ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-searching-in-the-sdmb/93726/2 "2001-11-16T14:36:34Z")
“Match all” requires _all_ of the words you enter to be present. “Match any” requires _any_ of the words you enter to be present. This only matters if you are entering more than one word. If you enter “blue moon” as your search term and check “match all” then the search engine will look for threads that contain the words “blue” and “moon.” If you check “match any” then the search engine will look for threads that contain the words “blue” or “moon” but not necessarily both. As a rule, the latter will return more hits. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-searching-in-the-sdmb/93726/3 "2001-11-16T14:42:28Z")
Yep sure does. Thanks