It can be frustrating trying to find an email that you got a long time ago.
You might vaguely remember who sent it or what info was in the email, but if you don’t know how to search for it, it could take awhile clicking page by page scanning your Gmail inbox.
If you are proactive about organizing your account, you could set up labels, stars, and other features offered by Gmail.
However, setting up those features now won’t help you find an old email.
Like a Google Search
Since Gmail is a product of Google, the largest search engine in the world, you can understand why they made it easy to search within your Gmail account.
Gmail Search Operators
Searching in Gmail is much more than putting keywords into the search box and hitting the enter key. Using search operators and modifiers, you can get much better Gmail search results.
Let’s start with the basics.
1. Search by Keyword
For the most basic search, you just type in your keyword into the search box and search and won’t need any modifiers.
2. Find Exact Words & Phrases
To find an exact word or phrase, put quotation marks (“”) around the keyword(s). For example:
“lunch meeting”
That would give you results with that exact phrase within an email, but it will not show emails that just have the word lunch or just the word meeting.
Advanced Search Operators You Can Use With Gmail
Here are some slightly more advanced search modifiers you can use in your Gmail search box.
| What you can search by | Search operator & example |
|---|---|
| Specify the sender | from: Example: from:karen |
| Specify a recipient | to: Example: to:kevin |
| Specify a recipient who received a copy | cc: bcc: Example: cc:manager |
| Words in the subject line | subject: Example: subject:complaint |
| Messages that match multiple terms | OR or { } Example: from:sara OR from:dave Example: {from:sara from:dave} |
| Remove messages from your results using a dash. In this example, emails containing the word tacos will be removed. | – Example: dinner -tacos |
| Messages that have a certain label | label: Example: label:people |
| Messages that have an attachment | has:attachment Example: has:attachment |
| Find messages with words near each other. Use the number to say how many words apart the words can be. Add quotes to find messages in which the word you put first stays first. | AROUND Example: holiday AROUND 12 vacation Example: “secret AROUND 23 birthday” |
| Messages that have a Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides attachment or link | has:drive has:document has:spreadsheet has:presentation Example: has:drive |
| 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 |
| 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, snoozed, unread, or read messages | is:starred is:snoozed 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:carl 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:2006/05/11 Example: after:07/19/2011 Example: before:2015/02/17 Example: before:03/16/2016 |
| 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 |
| Search by email for delivered messages | deliveredto: Example: deliveredto:example@gmail.com |
| Messages in a certain category | category:primary category:social category:promotions category:updates category:forums category:reservations category:purchases Example: category:updates |
| 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. |
Hopefully these Gmail search modifiers and operators will help you finally find that old email you’ve been looking for.
Very detailed list of modifiers.
These were actually really cool. I knew most of the simple modifiers but not some of the harder ones.
These are really helpful gmail modifiers. Good list of them.
This has definitely helped me improve the efficiency of my Gmail organization. Saved this blog in case I need help later.