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1. Set the properties for your search.

How

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Shape Search tab, set the search properties:
• Search locations  By default, Microsoft Visio stencils installed on your hard drive and Visio stencils on the Web are searched. To turn off a search location, in the Search locations list, click the arrow and clear the check box next to the location.
• Search for  Select whether the shapes returned match all of the search terms (All of the words (AND)) or any of the search terms (Any of the words (OR)).
• Sort results  Select whether results are returned in alphabetical order by shape name or by stencil (that is, group) name. Click By Group to distinguish between shapes that have the same name but appear on different stencils. Selecting this option is also useful if you want to locate the stencil containing the shape.
• Open results in new window  Select to create a new search results stencil for every search. Clear to have the results of a search replace the results of any previous search.
• Warn when results are greater than  Select if you want a warning message when the number of shapes found exceeds the limit you specify.
3. Click OK.
2. Open the Shapes window, if it's not already open.

How

• On the View menu, click Shapes Window.
3. In the Search for Shapes box, type one or more words that describe the shape you want. You can separate words with spaces, commas, or semicolons.

For example, to find shapes that represent office chairs, type chair.

4. Click or press ENTER.

The results are added to a search results stencil.

Note  If you have an Internet connection and the search properties are set to search the Internet, Visio searches Visio Web Shapes for shapes that meet your search criteria and then displays those shapes in the results.

5. When you find the shape you want, drag it onto the drawing page.

Note  Searching on the Internet using the Search for Shapes feature in Visio returns only shapes provided by Microsoft.

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