Some tips and tricks on filtering by site Url (path) in query field in Microsoft 365 Search verticals

Path filter with trailing slash (“/”)

In November 2022 Microsoft rolled out an update for multiple search features, including checks on the path managed property for a trailing slash. Previously path filters were valid with and without trailing slashes.

Consider the following scenario.

Given the path filter with the contain operator (“:”)

Path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite

These path could be matched with:

Path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite
Path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite/subsite
Path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite2
Path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite2/subsite
Path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite3

Obviously, the match intent is unclear. Adding a trailing slash clarifies that only MySite (and below) matches. So intended matches would be only:

Path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite
Path:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite/subsite

Using SPSiteUrl property

The other option – use the SPSiteUrl property with the full path:

SPSiteUrl:https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/MySite 

SPSiteUrl and Path properties use different matching strategies. When using contains operator (colon sign “:”) – SPSiteUrl will match the full value, while Path will do a “starts with” match.

DepartmentId

DepartmentId is a search managed property used under Hub sites and propagated through all associated sites content.

That means if we want to scope down search to hub site with it’s content – we can use DepartmentId property, e.g.

DepartmentId=4965d9be-929b-411a-9281-5662f5e09d49

instead of iteration through all hub sites and using path: property.