Can't search items with ' in title

Question

I have a simple generic list with no customization (only the title column is present).

I put some values in the list, including one as It's working.

When I search this value, I get no result. I'm convinced this is due to the single quote 'in the title.

Here's searches I tried, and their results :

I don't understand these results. Quotes seems to cause trouble in finding the value, but quotes are required to search for the whole value.

My context is a modern sharepoint search page.

I also noticed the same behavior using the search query tool. When I put the candidate search string in the tool, it fail with an error 400:

/_api/search/query?querytext='"it's+working"'&rowlimit=50&clienttype='ContentSearchRegular' ==> give error : query string is missing or invalid.

I also tried using the legacy osssearchresults.aspx page. No more progress.

What's puzzling me is that the same test ("it's working") works as expected on a local SP2013 environment..

How can I search for item with the Title equals to it's working ?

What did I missed ?

Try reindex this list. Gear>List Settings>Advanced Settings>Reindex List — Marko Tica, Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 10:02
@MarkoTica: I already tried this, several times, on the list and on the web itself. Moreover, the data in the index seems correct. Using Search query tool, I can see the title is correct — Steve B, Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 14:21

Steve B · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-19 14:30:01Z

1

I finaly was able to perform query against data with single quote.

I created a new managed property, where I check "Exact matching" option.

Querying against this managed property worked with my single quote.

Ex:

MyBrandNewManagedProp:"It's working"

As a side note, I contacted the Microsoft Support. The only response I got is that's "by design" and it won't be solved.

answered Jun 19, 2020 at 14:30

Steve B

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Michael Han · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-09 09:37:58Z

0

Per my test, I could search items with ' in title without any issues on my end. Below are my test results:

answered Jun 9, 2020 at 9:24

Michael Han

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You test isn't accurate. You are searching is equivalent to (Title:it's) OR (working) which is not correct. It may returns the result but also any other data that match one of the two predicate. I need to retrieve items that have exactly "It's working" in its title
– Steve B
Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 9:28
I also tried Title:"it's working". Also get the search result.
– Michael Han
Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 9:37
1

Thanks. I start to think there's something broken in the platform. I never have issue like this. I guess I'll have to open a ticket. Thanks
– Steve B
Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 12:02
You could try to test in different site collections.
– Michael Han
Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 9:14
I tried in two different tenants
– Steve B
Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 13:13

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