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.
Use operators in your search
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- In the search box, type your search terms, leaving a space at the end.
- 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
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: |
- (dash) | 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: |
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: |
OR | |
Find content that includes at least one of the words or operator terms.
Example queries: |
NOT | Find content that does not include the specific word or operator term.
Example query: |
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: |
contenttype: | Find Drive and Groups content or attachments of a particular type, including doc, spreadsheet, presentation, PDF, image, video, drawing, folder.
Example query: |
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: |
site: | Find Google Sites content.
Example query: |
owner: | Find content you own or content that’s owned by a particular person and shared with you.
Example queries: |
from: | Find emails or calendar events:
Example queries: |
to: | Find emails or calendar events:
Example queries: |
before: | Find content created or edited before a certain date (using the date format MM/DD/YYYY).
Example query: |
after: | Find content created or edited after a certain date (using the date format MM/DD/YYYY).
Example queries: |
Tip: Another way to refine your results is by using the search filters at the top of the results page.