Narrow your search

You can find exactly what you’re looking for with Google Cloud Search by using symbols and special words called search operators. Search operators deliver more relevant results by matching certain attributes, such as the content owner or last modified date.

Search operators

Use operators in your search

  1. Sign in to Cloud Search at cloudsearch.google.com.

    If you can't sign in, your account doesn't have Cloud Search. Learn more

  2. In the search box, type your search terms, leaving a space at the end.
  3. Add the operator and its value after your search terms. Don't put any spaces between the operator and its value.

For example, to find content that was created by a particular team member, after a certain date, use the owner: and after: operators in your search query. For more details and other examples, see the list of operators below.

List of search operators

Symbols and standard operators

Use all capital letters for standard operators or they will be treated as search terms instead of operators.

Operator Description
“ “ (quotes) Find content that includes the exact word, or set of words, in the same order as what's inside the quotes. Capitalization is ignored.

Example query:
“market analysis"
- (minus) Find content that does not include the specific word or operator term.

Note: You have to use this operator with a search term or another operator, it doesn’t work alone.

Example queries:
payroll -reports
inventory -owner:me
sales contenttype:doc -owner:me
AND
&		 By default, only pages that include all of your search terms are returned. You don’t need to include AND between the terms.

Example query:
sales reports
sales & reports
OR
|		 Find content that includes at least one of the words or operator terms.

Example queries:
sales OR marketing
sales | marketing
sales from:(marysmith OR johndoe)
NOT Find content that does not include the specific word or operator term.

Example query:
sales NOT marketing
Cloud Search operators

When entering multiple values for the same operator, group them together in parentheses; for example, from:(username1 OR username2).

Operator Description
source: Find content from a particular source, including Gmail, Drive, Sites, Groups, Calendar.

Example query:
training source:mail
contenttype: Find Drive and Groups content or attachments of a particular type, including doc, spreadsheet, presentation, PDF, image, video, drawing, folder.

Example query:
training contenttype:doc
filetype: Find Google Groups content or attachments with a particular file extension; for example, .doc, .html, .jpeg, .pdf, .xlsx. Find Google Sites content with type .html.

Example query:
training filetype:(doc OR pdf)
site: Find Google Sites content.

Example query:
training site:drive.google.com
owner: Find content you own or content that’s owned by a particular person and shared with you.

Example queries:
reports owner:me
reports owner:marysmith
from: Find emails or calendar events:
  • From you
  • From a particular person or group to you
Find other types of content:
  • Created by you
  • Created by a particular person and shared with you

Example queries:
reports from:me source:drive
reports from:(marysmith OR johndoe)
to: Find emails or calendar events:
  • Received by you (because it was sent directly to you, to a group you belong to, or to someone else and you were copied)
  • Sent to a particular person by you or by someone who copied you

Example queries:
reports to:me from:marysmith
reports to:golf-club-members
before: Find content created or edited before a certain date (using the date format MM/DD/YYYY).

Example query:
orders before:09/30/2015
after: Find content created or edited after a certain date (using the date format MM/DD/YYYY).

Example queries:
orders after:09/20/2015
orders after:09/20/2015 before:09/30/2015

Tip: Another way to refine your results is by using the search filters at the top of the results page.

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