This is what happens in the video
The search functionality in Business Central, called “Tell Me”, lets you find pages, reports, and actions across the system. You open it by clicking the search icon or pressing Alt+Q.
Tell Me does more than search for pages. When you are on a specific page like the Item Card, it also searches the actions available on that page. So if you search for Unit of Measure from the Item Card, you get both a direct link to the Unit of Measure for that item and a link to the general Unit of Measure page where you set up units used across all items.
How to open the Tell Me search in Business Central
You can find the search functionality in two ways. Click the search icon, or use the shortcut Alt+Q. The name “Tell Me” comes from the idea that you simply tell the system what you want to do.
If you search for “item”, for example, you see the full list of pages and tasks related to items. That can run to 30 pages worth of results, all relevant to items.
Searching pages, reports, and actions
The search does not just look at pages. It also covers reports and actions. This is where the tool becomes genuinely useful in daily work.
Say you are working on the Item Card and want to find Unit of Measure. You could look through all the actions in the menu, but it is faster to search for it directly. The search then gives you a link to the Unit of Measure relevant for the specific item you are on. If you press it, you go straight into the Unit of Measure for that item.
You can also go to the general Unit of Measure page from the same search result. There you set up a Unit of Measure that is used across all items, not just the one you started from.
Why searching actions on the current page matters
The key strength of Tell Me is that it searches the current page and its actions, not only the list of pages in the system. That means you do not have to hunt through menus to find a function you know exists somewhere. You type what you are looking for, and the search points you to it. This makes it a practical tool to keep close at hand as you work.
Q&A
How do you open the Tell Me search in Business Central?
Click the search icon or press the shortcut Alt+Q.
What can the Tell Me search find?
It finds pages, reports, and actions. It also searches the actions available on the page you are currently working on.
Can you find page-specific actions with Tell Me?
Yes. If you are on the Item Card and search for Unit of Measure, you get both a link to the Unit of Measure for that specific item and a link to the general Unit of Measure page used across all items.