When searching, think about what you are looking for and how to narrow down the results:

Use the filters, e.g. if you know you are looking for a PDF file, then use the 'type' filter
Refine your search terms to customise your search and get more accurate results:

Typing a word (e.g. assignment), will produce a general result.
Typing a word or phrase in double quotation marks (e.g. “assignment due date”) will produce an exact result.
Adding a wildcard (asterisk) to a word (e.g. assign*) will find all words that contain the specified letters.

There are three ways to initiate a search:

Filter: enables you to select URLs, Pages, Assignments, PDF files, Quizzes etc.
Terms: allows you to select whichever academic years are available to you
Relevance: allows you to switch between 'relevance' and 'recency' of the items
My courses: allows you to broaden your search across not only courses on which you are enrolled, but also institutional courses (for all Canvas Oxford students, both Single Signon students and external students), and public courses.
If you have an Oxford Single Signon account, you will also see 'Oxford only' which allows you to search Canvas courses that are restricted to staff and students with an Oxford Single Signon account

Note:

Search does not have suggestive feedback like Google, which means you should refine your search (as suggested above) in order to achieve more manageable results.
Searching for a file: use either the full file name and extension, e.g.my_handbook.docx (or a wildcard, e.g. *handbook.docx) and the file must be published.
Materials in courses that are concluded or expired will NOT be found in a search.