How to search and filter assets
Two tools find assets: search when you know what you are looking for, and filters when you are describing a set.
Requirements
- Available on: Nova, Orbit, Odyssey, Cosmos
- Roles: Any role that can view assets
Global search
Use the search box in the top bar. It searches across asset name, serial number and identifying fields.
Best for: "where is asset SN-88421?" or "find the Latitude 5520".
Filters on the asset list
Go to Dashboard → Assets (Individual) and open the filters. You can filter by:
| Filter | Notes |
|---|---|
| Status | Including your custom statuses (Orbit and above) |
| Category | Includes all descendants — filtering "IT Equipment" returns everything nested beneath it |
| Location | |
| Department | |
| Assigned person | |
| Criticality | Critical, High, Medium, Low |
| Warranty window | Assets whose warranty expires within a period |
| Custom fields | Any field your organization has defined (Orbit and above) |
Filters combine, so you can ask for "critical machinery in Manchester assigned to nobody".
Bookmark and share a filtered view
Filter state lives in the URL. Once you have the view you want, copy the address bar.
- Bookmark it to return to the same view tomorrow.
- Send it to a colleague and they see exactly the same filtered list — subject to their own role and plan.
This is the simplest way to give someone a working view without building anything.
Save your own filter sets
Filters you use every week can be saved as your own named filter sets, so you do not rebuild them each time. Saved filters are personal to your account.
Good candidates:
- Assets with no assigned person
- Warranties expiring in the next 90 days
- Critical assets at a specific site
- Assets missing a purchase cost
Export what you have filtered
Any filtered view can be exported to CSV. That means the filter panel is also your ad-hoc report builder: filter to the set you want, then export.
See How to export assets to CSV and How to build your own report view.
Ask instead of filtering
If building the filter is more effort than the question deserves, ask the AI Command Bar in plain English — "which laptops have warranties expiring in the next 60 days?" — and it will answer with the real records. See How to ask questions about your assets.
Common mistakes
Searching for something that is archived. Archived and disposed assets do not appear in active lists. Look in the archived view instead. See How to archive and restore assets.
Searching for a consumable or stock item in the Assets list. Each asset type has its own module and its own list. Consumables are under Consumables, stock under Asset Stock, document assets under Documents.
Expecting search to cover descriptions and notes. Global search covers name, serial number and identifying fields. For anything else, filter.
Filtering on a child category and wondering why the parent's assets are missing. Filtering includes descendants, not ancestors. Filter on the parent to see everything.
Troubleshooting
An asset I know exists does not appear. In order of likelihood: it is archived, it is disposed, it is in a different module, a filter is still applied, or your role scope excludes it. See Missing assets.
Custom field filters are missing. Custom fields require Orbit or above.
The list is slow with a large inventory. Apply a filter rather than scrolling an unfiltered list. See Slow performance.
My colleague's shared link shows fewer assets than mine. Filtered links respect the recipient's role and plan.
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