How to search
Important: If you're offline, only emails synced to your device are visible. You can also use basic search operators. This feature is only available in some languages.
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app .
- At the top, in the search box, tap Search mail.
- Enter your search criteria.
- Tap Search .
- Your results include all messages except those in spam or trash.
- When you search a person’s email address, the results will also show emails that include their alias. To limit the search to only the original email, the search should be enclosed in double quotes. Example: "from:john.doe@gmail.com".
- When you search 'from:email", the results will also return Drive files shared by that email address.
Tip: You can also use search operators to filter your search results.
- For this feature to work, you must have the Web and App Activity setting turned on.
- To go to and control your saved activity, visit My Activity.
Search for your chat messages in Gmail
- Open the Gmail app .
- At the bottom, tap Chat .
- At the top, tap Search in chat.
- Search for what you want to find.
- Tap the chat you want to open.
Search within a label
You can now search messages under a specific Gmail label in the app to return results only within that label. You can also use search chips in the Gmail search box to refine label searches.
To search from your list of labels:
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app .
- At the top left, tap Menu .
- Tap the label you want to search in.
- Enter your search criteria.
- Under the search box, in the filter row, adjust your search filters.
To search from the search box:
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app .
- At the top, in the search box, tap Search mail.
- Enter your search criteria.
- Under the search box, in the filter row, adjust your search filters and choose the label you want to search in.
Clear search history
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Gmail app .
- At the top left, tap Menu Settings .
- Under “General,” tap Clear search history Clear.
Tip: Your search history will only be cleared from your device. You can also clear your search history from Google servers. Learn how to delete your activity.