Search & find a file in Google Drive

If you can’t find files in Google Drive, you can use search chips or conventional search to find files. You can also sort and filter search results.

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.

Use search chips

To narrow down the list of files in Drive, you can use search chips. You can search and filter:

• Type
• People 
• Modified

These chips appear below the search bar and search all files, folders, and subfolders within that view, like My Drive, Recent, or Trash.

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

Search for your files

1. On your computer, sign into drive.google.com.
2. At the top, enter a word or phrase into the search box.
3. On your keyboard, press Enter.

Drive search categories

In Drive, you can search by:

• File title
• File contents
• File type
• Other metadata, like:
  • Description field
  • Shared labels
  • File location
  • Owner
  • Creator
  • Last modified date
  • Approvals
  • Follow-ups
  • Items or words featured in pictures, PDF files, or other files stored on your Drive

Filter your Drive results

To find files more easily in Drive, you can narrow search results by filtering them.

Filter using chips:

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
2. At the top, type a word or phrase into the search box.
3. Press Enter.
4. To narrow your search, use the filter chips below the search box to filter on these criteria:
   1. Location: Searches in a specific folder, for example: “My Drive”, "Trash," or "Starred.”
   2. Type: File types such as documents, images, or PDFs.
   3. People: Searches for people associated with the file (all, owned, or shared by.)
   4. Modified: The date a file was last edited.
   5. Title only: Searches only for the title or name of a file.
   6. Labels: Searches for labels applied to your file.
   7. To do: Items that may require your attention, including approvals, follow ups, and ownership transfers.
5. To remove a filter chip, on the right of the chip, click Remove .
6. To remove all filter chips, on the far right of all chips, click Clear filters.

Filter using search options:

• On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
• At the top, type a word or phrase into the search box.
• Press Enter.
• To narrow your search, click Search options .
• Fill out any of the following sections:
  • Type: File types such as documents, images, or PDFs.
  • Owner: Searches for the owner or creator of a file.
  • Has the words: Searches for words and phrases within docs.
  • Item name: Searches only for the title or name of a file.
  • Location: Searches in a specific folder, for example: "Trash," "Starred," or “Encrypted.”
  • Date modified: The date a file was last edited.
  • Labels: Searches for labels applied to your file.
  • Approvals: A status, whether a file awaits your approval or another person’s approval.
  • Shared to: Who you have shared the file with.
  • Follow ups: A status, whether a file has action items assigned to you, or if there are suggestions in files you own.
• At the bottom, click Search.

Tip: To sort by relevance after you click “Search,” click More sorting options.

Use advanced search

Tip: 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:[e-mail]
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:[e-mail]
to	Find documents you shared with a specific person or group or documents shared with you.	Examples: to:me to:[e-mail] to:[e-mail]
from	Find documents a specific person shared with you or you shared	Examples: from:me from:[e-mail]
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:[e-mail] 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

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
2. On the left, click Storage.
3. To sort by file size, on the right, click Storage used.

To reverse the sort order, on the right, click Storage used.

Related resources

• Recover a deleted file
• Reorder your files