You can find files in Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides by searching for:
- File title
- File contents
- Items featured in pictures, PDF files, or other files stored on your Drive
You can only search for files stored in My Drive. Files stored in folders shared with you won't appear in your search unless you add the folders to My Drive. Learn how to add files to My Drive.
You can also sort and filter search results.
Get quick access to your files
Under "Quick Access," you'll see recent and suggested files.
- To open a file, double-click the one you want.
- For more options, right-click the file.
Turn Quick Access on or off
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- At the top right, click Settings
General.
- Check or uncheck the box next to "Make relevant files handy when you need them in Quick Access"
General.Search for your files
- On your computer, sign into drive.google.com.
- At the top, type a word or phrase into the search box.
- On your keyboard, press Enter.
Search tips
- Search results will appear as you type.
- Google Drive searches the titles and content of all files you have permission to see.
- To see all results, press Enter on your keyboard.
Filter your Drive results
To find files more easily in Drive, you can narrow search results by filtering them.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- At the top, type a word or phrase into the search box.
- To narrow your search, click the Down arrow
.
- Fill out any of the following sections:
- Type: File types such as documents, images, or PDFs.
- Date modified: The date a file was last edited.
- Item name: Searches only for the title of the file.
- Has the words: Searches for words and phrases within documents.
- Owner: The person the file belongs to.
- Shared with: Who can view, comment, or edit the file.
- Location: Whether the file is in a specific folder, "Trash," or "Starred." You can also search for files available to people in your organization.
- Follow up: If the file has action items assigned to you, or suggestions in files you own.
- At the bottom, click Search.
.Find files by size
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- At the left, under storage, click your storage.
- Example: 13.4 GB of 15 GB used.
- To reverse the sort order, at the top right, click Storage used.
More search options
Advanced search in Google Drive
You can refine a search in Drive with these advanced searches.
Note: Not all examples work on all devices.
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 or shared by a specific person.
- Examples:
- owner:bob@gmail.com
- from:bob@gmail.com
creator:
- Find documents in a shared drive created by a specific person.
- Example: creator:jane@yourdomain.com
to:
- Find documents you shared with a specific person or a group.
- Examples:
- to:bob@gmail.com
- to:bobsgroup@googlegroups.com
is:starred
- Find items marked with a star.
is:trashed
- Find items that are trashed.
type:
- Search by the type of document: folder, document, spreadsheet, presentation, PDF, image, video, drawing, form, site, script, table, or jam file.
- Example: type:spreadsheet
Before & after
- Find items that were edited before or after a certain day. Format the date as YYYY-MM-DD.
- Examples:
- before:2014-05-01
- after:2014-05-01
title:
- Search by title
- Example: title:Conference 2014
app:
- Find Google Fusion Tables or Apps Script files.
- Examples:
- app:"Google Apps Script"
- app:"Google Fusion Tables"
Source:domain (Google for work or school)
- Search for items that have been shared across your organization’s entire domain, instead of items created by you or your group.
- Example: To search for files related to domain, use source:domain
