Google Advanced search
Advanced search operators are query words or symbols that perform special actions in Gmail search. These operators allow you to find what you're
looking for quickly and accurately. They can also be used to set up filters so you can organize your inbox automatically. Some of the most useful
operators are listed below. You can also refine your search by clicking the arrow in the search box.
Operator
Definition
Examples
from:
Used to specify the sender
Example: from:amy
Meaning: Messages from Amy
to:
Used to specify a recipient,
including "cc:" and "bcc:" fields
Example: to:david
Meaning: All messages that were sent to David (by you/someone else)
subject:
Search for words in the subject line
Example: subject:dinner
Meaning: Messages that have the word "dinner" in the subject
OR
Search for messages matching
term A or term B*
*OR must be in all caps
Example: from:amy OR from:david
Meaning: Messages from Amy or from David
(hyphen)
Used to exclude messages from
your search
Example: dinner -movie
Meaning: Messages that contain the word "dinner" but do not contain
the word "movie"
label:
Search for messages by label
Example: from:amy label:friends
Meaning: Messages from Amy that have the label "friends"
Example: from:david label:my-family
Meaning: Messages from David that have the label "My Family"
has:attachment
Search for messages with an
attachment
Example: from:david has:attachment
Meaning: Messages from David that have an attachment
list:
Search for messages on mailing
lists
Example: list:info@example.com
Meaning: Messages with the words info@example.com in the headers,
sent to or from this list
filename:
Search for an attachment by name
or type
Example: filename:physicshomework.txt
Meaning: Messages with an attachment named "physicshomework.txt"
Example: label:work filename:pdf
Meaning: Messages labeled "work" that also have a PDF file as an
attachment
""
(quotes)
()
Used to search for an exact
phrase*
*Capitalization isn't taken into
consideration
Example: "i'm feeling lucky"
Meaning: Messages containing the phrase "i'm feeling lucky" or "I'm
feeling lucky"
Used to group words
Used to specify terms that
shouldn't be excluded
Example: from:amy (dinner OR movie)
Meaning: Messages from Amy that contain either the word "dinner" or
the word "movie"
Example: subject:"dinner and a movie"
Meaning: Messages containing the phrase "dinner and a movie" in the
subject
Example: subject:(dinner movie)
Meaning: Messages in which the subject contains both the word
"dinner" and the word "movie"
in:anywhere
Search for messages anywhere in
Gmail*
*Messages in Spam and Trash are
excluded from searches by default
Example: in:anywhere movie
Meaning: Messages in All Mail, Spam, andTrash that contain the
word "movie"
in:inbox
in:trash; in:spam
Search for messages
in Inbox,Trash, or Spam
Example: in:trash from:amy
Meaning: Messages from Amy that are inTrash
is:important
label:important
Search within messages
thatPriority Inbox considers
important.
Example: is:important from:janet
Meaning: Messages from Janet that were marked as important
by Priority Inbox
is:starred
is:unread
is:read
Search for messages that are
starred, unread, or read
Example: is:read is:starred from:David
Meaning: Messages from David that have been read and are marked
with a star
has:yellow-star
has: red-bang
has: green-check
has: blue-info
Search for messages with a
particular star (red, orange, green,
blue, purple, orange-guillemet,
purple-question, yellow-bang
Example: has:purple-star from:David
Meaning: Messages from David that are marked with a purple star
cc:
Used to specify recipients in
Example: cc:david
bcc:
thecc: or bcc: fields*
*Search on bcc: cannot retrieve
messages on which you were blind
carbon copied
Meaning: Messages that were cc-ed to David
after:
before:
older:
newer:
Search for messages sent or
received during a certain period of
time
(using the date format yyyy/mm/dd)
Example: after:2004/04/16 before:2004/04/18
Meaning: Messages sent between April 16, 2004 and April 18, 2004.*
*More precisely: Messages sent after 12:00 AM (or 00:00) April 16,
2004 and before April 18, 2004.
older_than
newer_than
Similar to older and newer, but
allows relative dates using d, m,
and y for day, month, and year
Example: newer_than:2d
Meaning: Finds messages sent within the last two days.
is:chat
Search for chat messages
Example: is:chat monkey
Meaning: Any chat message including the word "monkey."
deliveredto:
Search for messages within a
particular email address in the
Delivered-To line of the message
header
Example: deliveredto:username@gmail.com
Meaning: Any message with username@gmail.com in the DeliveredTo: field of the message header (which can help you find messages
forwarded from another account or ones sent to an alias).
circle:
Search for messages that were
sent from someone who you added
to a particular Google+ circle
Example: circle:friends
Meaning: Any message that was sent by a person in your "Friends"
circle.
Examples: circle:"soccer friends (team blue)" or circle:"my \"fab
four\""
Notes: For circle names that include a space, parentheses, curly
brackets, or vertical bar, add quotes around the name. For names that
include quotes, add a back slash immediately before the quotes.
has:circle
Search for all messages that were
sent from someone who you added
to your Google+ circles
Example: has:circle
Meaning: Any message that was sent by a person in any of your
circles.
category:
Search for messages within a
category
Example: category:updates
Meaning: All messages in the Updates category.
Example: category:social Mindy
Meaning: Messages in the Social category that include Mindy.
size:
Search for messages larger than
the specified size in bytes
Example: size:1000000
Meaning: All messages larger than 1MB (1,000,000 bytes) in size.
larger:
smaller:
Similar to size: but allows
abbreviations for numbers
Example: larger:10M
Meaning: All messages of at least 10M bytes (10,000,000 bytes) in
size.
+
(plus sign)
Match the search term exactly
Example: +unicorn
Meaning: Finds messages containing unicorn but not unicorns or
unciorn
rfc822msgid:
Find a message by the message-id
header
Example:rfc822msgid:200503292@example.com
Meaning: Locates the exact message with the specified SMTP
message-id. Learn more about headers.
has:userlabels
has:nouserlabels
Search for messages that have
and have not had labels that you
created applied to them.
NOTE: Gmail applies labels to
individual messages, not to
conversation threads.
Example: has:nouserlabels
Meaning: Finds all messages without any of your own labels (excludes
automatic labels like inbox, spam, and trash). Since Gmail applies
labels to individual messages, you might see results that appear to
have labels; in this case, another message in the same conversation
thread has had a label applied to it.
Boolean operators
You can use boolean operators such as 'OR' when searching in Gmail.
For example, to look for messages from username@gmail.com and messages that contain the subject line 'Meeting reminder', you can enter
'username@gmail.com OR meeting reminder' in your Gmail search box.
Using these along with Gmail's advanced operators can be a great way of making your search criteria more powerful. The 'or' function in Gmail is
represented by 'OR,' and the 'not' function is represented by a minus (-). You also can use quotes (" ") to specify an exact phrase.
