#
Efficient Searching in Gmail
If you can't seem to locate what you're after, give these tips a try. They make Gmail's search a lot "smarter" by applying specific filters that can tailor your results to what you're actually looking for rather than pages and pages of emails that just overwhelm.
The following items are called "search operators" as they apply operations to your search. For any of these, you enter them into the search box in Gmail just like any other search. You can also combine them for extremely powerful filtering (more below).
These aren't complex, so don't let the detail scare you off. Once you pick up what Google is laying down, it's pretty logical and most are easy to remember. Use them! They help a lot!
| What you can search by | operator | example query |
|---|---|---|
| Sender | from: |
from:rjtorres@studiotorres.com from:MagaPatriotEagle69 from:Bob Torres from:Business Name |
| Recipient ("did I send that email to...") | to: |
like above, but with to: |
| Recipient who was CC'd or BCC'd | cc: bcc: |
|
| Words in the subject line | subject: |
subject:construction schedules subject:my pet goat subject:HR complaint for Zach saying cocksucker etc. |
| Matching Multiple Terms | OR or { } |
from:zach OR from:bob {from:zach from:bob} from:Leo OR bernice etc. |
| Remove messages from results | -keyword to remove |
dinner -movie etc. |
| Find messages with words near each other. Use the number to say how many words apart the two words can be. Use quotes to find messages in which the word you put first stays first. | AROUND |
holiday AROUND 10 vacation "secret AROUND 25 birthday" |
| Messages with a certain label | label: |
label:family |
| Message has an attachment | has:attachment |
has:attachment |
| Attachments with a particular name or file type | filename: |
filename:pdf filename:invoice filename:plans.pdf |
| Search for an exact word or phrase | " " |
"dinner and a movie tonight" |
| Grouping multiple search terms together | ( ) |
subject:(dinner movie) |
| Search for messages in any folder, including spam and trash | in:anywhere |
in:anywhere invoice |
| Find messages marked important, starred, snoozed, or unread | is:importantis:starredis:snoozedis:unreadis:read |
is:read is:starred etc. |
| Search for messages sent during a certain period of time specified by date | after:before: |
after:04/23/2020 |
| Search for messages older or newer than a time period using days (d), months (m), and years (y) | older_than: newer_than: |
newer_than:2d older_than:3m |
#
Practical Example
For purposes of illustration, let's prentend that I sent you an invoice via email earlier this week and now you can't find it.
#
First try the regular search
Give something obvious a go, e.g. bob torres invoice first and see. Let's say that you do this and you get 1000+ results. Then what?
#
Narrow it down with what you know
Well, you know I usually send my invoices as attachments. You know that I also use my email address rjtorres@studiotorres.com whenever I invoice you. You also know that I sent it earlier this week. Here's a very specific search that will give you a narrow list of results:
from:rjtorres@studiotorres.com newer_than:5d has:attachment invoice
or, let's say, you're not sure which email address I used:
from:bob torres newer_than:5d has:attachment invoice
or, let's say I have sent you lots of invoices, some for studiotorres, some for roxworx, but you want to exclude roxworx invoices from your results:
from:bob torres newer_than:5d has:attachment invoice -roxworx
or, let's say I have an employee who might have sent it and you're not sure...
{from:bob from:josh} newer_than:5d has:attachment invoice or from:bob OR from:josh newer_than:5d has:attachment invoice
"oh shit, did I trash that by accident?" (also works for finding sent email and spam)
from:bob torres newer_than:5d has:attachment in:anywhere invoice
Hopefully this gives you a quick overview of how to get better results from Gmail! If you have any questions, get in touch!