A system and method for leveraging a collaborative document or information management system for improving searches for multiple users are provided, referred to as a collaborative search system. A search may be based on keywords within a document or supplemental information, such as data classification tags associated with the document. Searches may be performed on live data within a company as well as on backup or other secondary copies of data. The system may also maintain an index of all of the content available anywhere within the company. The collaborative search system provides an integrated collaborative search experience to collaborative participants, such that multiple users can participate in a search.