# Search and filter your contacts

**Category:** [Contacts](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/contacts-1)
**Updated:** 2026-08-19

## Finding people in the directory

The Contacts index lists every person across your apps. At the top of the list you have three controls to narrow things down.
## Search

Type into the **search box** to match on name or email address. The search runs across all source apps at once, so a single query will find someone whether they live in CRM, Support, a survey, or anywhere else.
## Filter by source app

Use the **source filter** to show only contacts from one app. Options include `crm`, `accounting`, `community`, `projects`, `support`, `surveys`, and `ccms`. Leave it blank to see everyone. This is useful when you want, for example, only your active community members or only people who have opened support tickets.
## Sort the results

The **sort** control offers:

- **Name** (default) — alphabetical
- **Newest** — most recently added first
- **Oldest** — earliest first

When a person appears in more than one app, the directory keeps their earliest creation date, so "oldest" reflects when you first encountered them anywhere in the suite.
## Reading a row

Each row shows the contact's name, email, phone (when available), and one badge per source app. Click a contact to open their unified profile — see [View a unified contact profile](view-a-unified-contact-profile).

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## Related Articles

- [Contacts overview](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/contacts-overview-1)
- [Create custom fields for contacts](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/create-custom-fields)
- [Import contacts from a file](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/import-contacts-from-a-file)
- [Contacts Overview](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/contacts-overview)
- [View a unified contact profile](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/view-a-unified-contact-profile)

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