Gmail Search Operators

Search Operators You Can Use With Gmail
You can use words or symbols called search operators to filter your Gmail search results. You can also combine operators to filter your results even more.
How to use a search operator
- Open Gmail.
- In the search box, type the search operator.
Search operators you can use
Tip: Once you do a search using search operators, you can use the results to set up a filter for these messages.
What you can search by |
Search operator & example |
Specify the sender |
from: Example: from:amy
|
Specify a recipient |
to: Example: to:david
|
Words in the subject line |
Subject: Example: subject:dinner
|
Messages that match multiple terms |
OR or { } Example: from:amy OR from:david Example: {from:amy from:david}
|
Remove messages from your results |
- Example: dinner -movie
|
Find messages with words near each other. Use the number to say how many words apart the words can be |
AROUND Example: dinner AROUND 5 friday
|
Messages that have a certain label |
label: Example: label:friends
|
Messages that have an attachment |
has:attachment Example: has:attachment
|
Messages that have a Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides attachment or link |
has:drive has:document has:spreadsheet has:presentation Example: has:drive has:document
|
Messages that have a YouTube video |
has:youtube Example: has:youtube
|
Messages from a mailing list |
list: Example: list:info@example.com
|
Attachments with a certain name or file type |
filename: Example: filename:pdf Example: filename: homework.txt
|
Search for an exact word or phrase |
" " Example: "dinner and movie tonight"
|
Group multiple search terms together |
( ) Example: subject:(dinner movie)
|
Messages in any folder, including Spam and Trash |
in:anywhere Example: in:anywhere movie
|
Search for messages that are marked as important |
is:important label: important Example: is:important
|
Starred, unread, or read messages |
is:starred is:unread is:read Example: is:read is:starred
|
Messages that include an icon of a certain color |
has:yellow-star has:blue-info Example: has:purple-star
|
Recipients in the cc or bcc field |
cc: bcc: Example: cc:david Note: You can't find messages that you received on bcc.
|
Search for messages sent during a certain time period |
after: before: older: newer: Example: after:2004/04/16 Example: before:2004/04/18
|
Search for messages older or newer than a time period using d (day), m (month), and y (year) |
older_than: newer_than: Example: newer_than:2d
|
Chat messages |
is:chat Example: is:chat movie
|
Messages delivered to a certain email address |
deliveredto: Example: deliveredto:username@gmail.com
|
Messages in a certain category |
category: Example: category:updates
|
Messages larger than a certain size in bytes |
size: Example: size:1000000
|
Messages larger or smaller than a certain size in bytes |
larger: smaller: Example: larger:10M
|
Results that match a word exactly |
+ Example: +unicorn
|
Messages with a certain message-id header |
Rfc822msgid: Example: rfc822msgid:200503292@example.com
|
Messages that have or don't have a label |
has:userlabels has:nouserlabels Example: has:nouserlabels Note: Labels are only added to a message, and not an entire conversation. |
For a step by step guide on how to organise your inbox, click on this link.
Sources:
- Gmail Help. (2017) Search Operators You Can Use With Gmail. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190?hl=en&ref_topic=3394593 [accessed on 19/07/2017]
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