Bookmarks
Common Use Cases
- Key resources: pinning the link to payroll, benefits, or IT help
- Tools and apps: surfacing internal systems by name
- Forms: sending people straight to the right request form
- Onboarding links: highlighting must-know destinations
- Targeted shortcuts: showing different bookmarks to different teams
- Reducing tickets: answering common how do I find questions
Benefits
- Top placement: curated links appear above other results
- Keyword triggers: admins choose what queries surface them
- Clear titles: a friendly name and description, not a raw URL
- Targeting: bookmarks can be scoped to groups
- Admin-controlled: authoritative, not crowd-sourced
- Org-wide reach: available across Microsoft Search
How It Works
- A search answer: bookmarks are a Microsoft Search answer type
- Keywords: each bookmark is triggered by chosen keywords
- Title, URL, description: the content shown to searchers
- Targeting: optional audience scoping by group
- Suggested bookmarks: Microsoft can suggest common ones to publish
- Managed centrally: created in the Microsoft Search admin center
Limits and Nuances
- Microsoft Search feature: not a SharePoint list or web part
- Admin role required: curating bookmarks needs the right role
- Keyword quality: poorly chosen keywords reduce usefulness
- Maintenance: links should be reviewed so they do not go stale
- Tenant-wide: answers apply across the organization
- Targeting limits: scoping options are defined in the admin center
Common Questions About Bookmarks
What are Bookmarks in Microsoft Search?
Bookmarks are curated answers that Microsoft Search pins to the top of results for chosen keywords. When someone searches a term like payroll or VPN, a bookmark surfaces the exact internal link with a clear title and description. Admins create them in the Microsoft Search admin center and assign the keywords that trigger them, so important resources are easy to find.
How do I control when a bookmark appears?
Each bookmark is tied to keywords, and searching any of those keywords surfaces it at the top of results. You can also mark certain keywords as reserved, so a bookmark is the single authoritative answer for that term. Choosing the right keywords – the words people actually type – is what makes a bookmark genuinely useful rather than rarely seen.
Can different people see different bookmarks?
Yes. Bookmarks support targeting, so an answer can be scoped to specific groups, and in some cases devices or locations. That means the finance team can see finance shortcuts while engineering sees its own, all from the same search box. Targeting keeps results relevant instead of showing everyone every shortcut in the organization.
Who creates and manages bookmarks?
Bookmarks are managed by Microsoft Search administrators in the admin center. They create the title, URL, description, and keywords, set any targeting, and publish the bookmark. Microsoft can also suggest common bookmarks for admins to review. Regular users only experience the results; they cannot create bookmarks themselves, which keeps the answers authoritative.
Are bookmarks part of SharePoint?
Bookmarks are a Microsoft Search feature that spans SharePoint, Office.com, and other Microsoft 365 surfaces rather than living in a single SharePoint site. Because they shape what people find when they search across the environment, they belong alongside the broader Microsoft Search answers, including acronyms and the search experience as a whole.
Are bookmarks worth maintaining?
For the resources everyone constantly hunts for, they are one of the highest-value search investments. Greg Zelfond, the consultant behind LookBook 365, recommends bookmarking the small set of links people always need – payroll, IT help, key forms – and reviewing them periodically so they never go stale. A handful of well-kept bookmarks turns search into a dependable front door.