Use filters to narrow down search results, or use them for database-like queries. 

Use the `Filter` method to filter _string fields_ in several ways. Below are use cases and examples illustrating the methods.

## Existence

To search for documents where a string field has a value, use the Exists method. The following search finds blog posts that have a title. The following code is similar to the LINQ query `Where(x => x.Title != null)`.

Like all filters, it can be negated using an exclamation point (!). For example, to find all blog posts that lack a title, use the following code.

## Exact match

For exact matching, use the `Match` method. The following search matches blog posts titled _Find_ but not those titled _find,_ _fInd_, _Find rocks!_ or  _Hello Find_. The LINQ equivalent is **Where(x => x.Title == Find)**.

## Case-insensitive match

For exact matching without regard to case, use the `MatchCaseInsensitive` method. The following search matches blog posts titled _Find_, _find_ and _fInd_ but not those titled _Find rocks!_ or _Hello Find_. The following search is similar to the LINQ query `Where(x => x.Title.ToLower() == Find.ToLower())`.

## Match by beginning of a string (startsWith)

The `Prefix` method lets you match by the beginning of a string. The following search matches blog posts titled _Find_ and _Find rocks!_ but not _find_, _Finding_ or _Hello Find_.

Use the `PrefixCaseInsensitive` method to match by the beginning of a string in a case-insensitive way. The following search matches blog posts titled _Find_, _Find rocks!_ and _Find_ but not _Finding_ or _Hello Find_.

## Match by beginning of any word (wildcard, autocomplete)

In some situations, such as when building autocomplete or search-as-you-type functionality, you want to filter on whether any word in a string starts with a certain string. Achieve this with the `AnyWordBeginsWith` method.

The above query matches blog posts titled _Banana_, _banana_,_Banana split_ or _Yellow bananas_. It does not match blog posts titled _Abandon,_ because no word in that title starts with _ban_ (although it contains those characters).

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Note

While the `Match` and `Prefix` methods are case-sensitive and have case-insensitive counterparts, the `AnyWordBeginsWith` method is not case-sensitive and has no case-sensitive counterpart.

## Match by range

The `InRange` method lets you filter on string fields that match a specific range. For instance, the following search matches blog posts titled _A_, _Aa_, and _B_ but not those titled _Bb_ or _C_.

## Match by a set of values

The In method filters on string fields that match an explicit list of values. For instance, the following search matches blog entries titled _A_, _B_ and _C_.

## Filter on string collections

You also can use the `Exists`, `Match`, `In`, and `MatchCaseInsensitive` methods for properties that implement `IEnumerable<string>`. The following search uses _Exists_ and matches blog posts that have at least one tag.

The following search matches any blog post that has the tag **Find**. It does not limit the results to only blog posts tagged with Find.