Search & find a file in Google Drive

There are many ways to search for your files in Drive. To quickly narrow your search by File type, People, Date Modified, and more, use filter chips. You can use filter chips on their own or in combination with other search terms, like file names or text within the file.

If you think that someone accessed your Google Drive without your permission, we recommend you take steps to make your account more secure.

If someone else created the file, they can delete, rename, and restore it. Contact the person who created the file and ask them to restore it or share it with you again.

Search & filter your files

To narrow the list of files in Drive, you can use filter chips, conventional search, or both. If you start with filter chips, you can search and filter by:

Type
People
Modified

These search filters also appear inside the search bar and will filter results directly within the search dropdown box. You can select from the same filters listed above, or start typing the desired filter to see a suggestion. For example, if you type “doc,” a suggested filter chip appears that lets you filter by Documents within the search dropdown box.

After you select the desired filter chip, select:

Your file from the newly filtered list in the search box.
To get more results, hit “Enter.”

You can layer these filters with additional text as well. For example, if you select “Type=Presentations” and then type “Client” in the search box, your results are filtered to all Presentations with the word “Client.”

To remove a filter chip: On the right of the chip, click Remove .
To remove all filter chips: At the end of the chips, click Clear filters.

Tip: Your search results are automatically sorted by relevance. Click any of the column headers to sort by that column. To sort by relevance again, click More sorting options More .

Use advanced search

Important: Not all examples work on all devices.

Advance search type	Definition	Example
Quotes	Find documents that contain an exact word or phrase.	Example: `"match this phrase exactly"`
Minus sign	Find documents that exclude a particular word. If you want "salsa," but not "dancing.”	Example: `salsa -dancing`
owner	Find documents owned by a specific person.	Example: `owner:bob@gmail.com`
pendingowner	Find files you’re a pending owner of. Important: You can only search for files that you’re the pending owner of.	Example: `pendingowner:me`
creator	Find documents in shared drives created by a specific person.	Example: `creator:jane@yourdomain.com`
to	Find documents you shared with a specific person or group or documents shared with you.	Examples: `to:me` `to:bob@gmail.com` `to:bobsgroup@googlegroups.com`
from	Find documents a specific person shared with you or you shared	Examples: `from:me` `from:bob@gmail.com`
app	Search by app name. This includes any app connected to your Google Drive account	Examples: `app:"Google Apps Script"` `app:"Google Jamboard"` `app:"Google Meet"`
sharedwith	Find documents a specific Workspace account or group has access to. Exclude files the account owns.	Examples: `sharedwith:me` `sharedwith:bob@gmail.com` `sharedwith:external` External includes groups where one or more members aren't part of your Google Workspace organization `sharedwith:public`
is:starred	Find items that you starred.	`is:starred`
is:trashed	Find items moved to trash.	`is:trashed`
type	Search by document type: Folder Document Spreadsheet Presentation PDF Image Video Drawing Form Site Script Table Email layout Jam file	Examples: `type:document` `type:forms` `type:spreadsheet` `type:email-layout`
before & after	Find items modified before or after a certain date. Format the date as YYYY-MM-DD.	Examples: `before:2021-05-02` `after:2021-05-01`
createdbefore & createdafter	Find items created before or after a certain date. Format the date as YYYY-MM-DD.	Examples: `createdbefore:2022-05-02` `createdafter:2022-05-01`
title	Search for items by title.	Example: `title:Conference 2021`
followup	Find files that have any action items or suggestions assigned to you.	Examples: `followup:any` `followup:suggestions` `followup:actionitems`
unorganized	Find a file you created in someone else's folder if they delete that folder. Your file isn't deleted. It's automatically moved to your My Drive. Important: Only you can delete the files you own.	Example: `is:unorganized owner:me`

Find files by size

To find files by size:

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
On the left, click Storage.
To sort by file size: on the right, click Storage used.
To reverse the sort order: On the right, click Storage used.

Find missing files

Consider these special cases if the steps above don’t work

Find files you created

If you created a file in Drive and can't find it, it may be an orphan that lost its parent folders. The file still exists but is harder to find.

Learn how files lose their folder

A file may lose its folder if:

You create a file in someone else's folder and they delete that folder. The file isn't deleted. It automatically moved to your "My Drive."
Tip: No one but you can delete files you own.
You share a folder with someone and they delete your file from the folder. The file isn't deleted. It automatically moved to your "My Drive."

Find your orphaned files

In the Drive search field, enter: is:unorganized owner:me.
When you find the file, move it to a folder in “My Drive” so it's easier to find next time.

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