A search that comes back empty rarely means the record is gone or was never saved. DivePilot's search follows a few strict rules, and a name typed a little differently from how it is stored finds nothing. Check the rules below before you create the customer or booking a second time.

How names are matched

The top bar search and the search fields on Customers, Bookings and Documents all match names the same way:

  • Capital letters do not matter, and part of a name is enough: ross finds Rossi. Extra spaces before, after or between the words make no difference.
  • One word is looked for inside the first name or the last name.
  • Two or more words are split into a first name and a last name at every possible point. For Anna Maria Rossi, that tries Anna Maria with Rossi and Anna with Maria Rossi, each in either order. The whole text is also looked for inside the first name alone and inside the last name alone.
  • The words inside one name must keep their order: Maria Anna does not find Anna Maria.
  • Accents must match. Muller does not find Müller, and Jose does not find José.

For a customer with the first name Anna Maria and the last name Rossi:

You type Result
Rossi, Anna Rossi, Rossi Anna or Maria Rossi Found
Anna Maria Found: the whole text is in the first name
Anna Maria Rossi or Rossi Anna Maria Found: Anna Maria is the first name and Rossi the last name
Maria Anna Not found: the first name has Anna before Maria

A last name with a space, such as van Dijk or De Luca, works the same way. For Jan van Dijk, van Dijk, Dijk, Jan van Dijk and van Dijk Jan all find him.

What each search looks at

Search Matches Good to know
Top bar Search Customers by name or email, bookings by customer name, booking number or date, boat trips by boat name or date, users by name or email Needs at least two characters
Customers Name or email Each tab searches only its own list
Bookings Customer name or booking number The type and status filters still apply, so set them back to All types and All statuses
Documents Customer name or waiver title Waivers of archived customers are not listed

None of these searches look at phone numbers, certification numbers or notes. Search for the name instead.

Only five results per group

The top bar shows at most five customers, five bookings, five boat trips and five users, with no link to see more. Bookings and trips come newest date first, so an older booking of a regular guest is pushed out by newer ones. Customers come in no fixed order. When a common name finds exactly five, search on the Customers or Bookings page instead, which pages through every match.

Dates and boat trips

Boat trips are found only by the boat's name or by their date, and only in the top bar. Type the date as 2026-09-17 or 17.09.2026, with both digits for day and month. Other forms such as 17/09/2026, 17.9.2026 or 17 Sep find nothing. The same date also finds the bookings for that day. To browse trips by day, use the calendar or list under Boat trips.

Archived and anonymised customers

  • A customer someone deleted is on the Archived tab of Customers, which has its own search. The top bar never lists them as customers, but their bookings still come up.
  • An anonymised customer's name and email are erased, and the top bar leaves anonymised customers out altogether, so no search finds them.

See Archive, export or anonymise a customer.

Still two records?

If a search finds the same guest twice, that is a real duplicate, not a search problem: online bookings and self-registrations always create a new customer. See Merge duplicate customers.

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