Search Emails in C# and VB.NET

One of the advanced IMAP features is a search command, which is supported by all IMAP servers regardless of their protocol version. With this, you can find messages that match certain criteria.

To search for specific emails with GemBox.Email, you can use the ImapClient.SearchMessageNumbers or ImapClient.SearchMessageUids methods. Since search queries can be quite complex, GemBox.Email allows developers to construct custom queries according to RFC 3501, Section 6.4.4.

The following example shows how you can search for messages that match various criteria.

Search messages with IMAP client in C# and VB.NET — Screenshot of searching messages with ImapClient

C#
VB.NET

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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using GemBox.Email;
using GemBox.Email.Imap;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        using (ImapClient imap = new ImapClient("<ADDRESS> (e.g. imap.gmail.com)"))
        {
            imap.Connect();
            imap.Authenticate("<USERNAME>", "<PASSWORD>");
            imap.SelectInbox();

            // Search for messages whose subject contains 'Example' text.
            IList<int> messageNumbers = imap.SearchMessageNumbers("SUBJECT Example");
            Console.WriteLine($"Number of messages with 'Example' in subject: {messageNumbers.Count}");

            // Search for 'unseen' messages sent by 'sender@example.com'.
            messageNumbers = imap.SearchMessageNumbers("UNSEEN FROM sender@example.com");
            Console.WriteLine($"Number of 'unseen' messages sent by 'sender@example.com': {messageNumbers.Count}");

            // Search for messages between the specified date.
            var fromDate = new DateTime(2019, 1, 1);
            var toDate = new DateTime(2020, 1, 1);
            messageNumbers = imap.SearchMessageNumbers($"SINCE {fromDate:d-MMM-yyyy} BEFORE {toDate:d-MMM-yyyy}");
            Console.WriteLine($"Number of messages within specified date: {messageNumbers.Count}");
        }
    }
}

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports GemBox.Email
Imports GemBox.Email.Imap

Module Program

    Sub Main()

        ' If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        Using imap As New ImapClient("<ADDRESS> (e.g. imap.gmail.com)")

            imap.Connect()
            imap.Authenticate("<USERNAME>", "<PASSWORD>")
            imap.SelectInbox()

            ' Search for messages whose subject contains 'Example' text.
            Dim messageNumbers As IList(Of Integer) = imap.SearchMessageNumbers("SUBJECT Example")
            Console.WriteLine($"Number of messages with 'Example' in subject: {messageNumbers.Count}")

            ' Search for 'unseen' messages sent by 'sender@example.com'.
            messageNumbers = imap.SearchMessageNumbers("UNSEEN FROM sender@example.com")
            Console.WriteLine($"Number of 'unseen' messages sent by 'sender@example.com': {messageNumbers.Count}")

            ' Search for messages between the specified date.
            Dim fromDate As New DateTime(2019, 1, 1)
            Dim toDate As New DateTime(2020, 1, 1)
            messageNumbers = imap.SearchMessageNumbers($"SINCE {fromDate:d-MMM-yyyy} BEFORE {toDate:d-MMM-yyyy}")
            Console.WriteLine($"Number of messages within specified date: {messageNumbers.Count}")

        End Using
    End Sub
End Module

For more information about ImapClient, check out our IMAP Client Connection example.

Next steps

GemBox.Email is a .NET component that enables you to read, write, receive, and send emails from your .NET applications using one simple API.

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Published: October 30, 2018 | Modified: April 21, 2023 | Author: Marko Kozlina

Search Emails in C# and VB.NET

See also

Next steps