Did you know that Google has a lot of search operators and filters? Here’s a list of all official operators and filters.
Search operators
If you’re not finding what you’re searching for after using our basic search tips, try a search operator. Add these symbols or words to your search terms in the Google search box to gain more control over the results that you see. Don’t worry about memorizing the operators – you can use the Advanced Search page to generate many of these searches.
site:nytimes.com
will work, but site: nytimes.com
will not.Search for an exact word or phrase “search query” |
Use quotes to search for an exact word or set of words. This option is handy when searching for song lyrics or a line from literature."imagine all the people" Tip: Only use this if you’re looking for a very precise word or phrase, because otherwise you could be excluding helpful results by mistake. |
Exclude a word -query |
Add a dash (- ) before a word or site to exclude all results that include that word. This is especially useful for synonyms like Jaguar the car brand and jaguar the animal.
Tip: You can also exclude results based on other operators, like excluding all results from a specific site. |
Search within a site or domain site:query |
If you are looking for more results from a certain website, include site: in your query. For example, you can find all mentions of “olympics” on the New York Times website like this:olympics site:nytimes.com Tip: Also search within a specific top-level domain like .org or .edu or country top-level domain like .de or .jp.olympics site:.gov |
Search for pages that link to a URL link:query |
Using the link: operator, you can find pages that link to a certain page. For example, you can find all the pages that link to google.com.link:google.com Tip: You can also search for links to specific pages, like google.com/images.link:google.com/images |
Search for pages that are similar to a URL related:query |
To find sites that are similar to a URL you already know, use the related: operator. For example, when you search for related sites to the New York Times, you’ll find other news publication sites you may be interested in.related:nytimes.com |
Include a “fill in the blank” query * query |
Use an asterisk (* ) within a query as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms. Use with quotation marks to find variations of that exact phrase or to remember words in the middle of a phrase."a * saved is a * earned" |
Search for either word query OR query |
If you want to search for pages that may have just one of several words, include OR (capitalized) between the words. Without the OR, your results would typically show only pages that match both terms.world cup location 2014 OR 2018 Tip: Enclose phrases in quotes to search for either one of several phrases."world cup location 2014" OR "world cup location 2018" |
Search for a number range number..number |
Separate numbers by two periods without spaces (.. ) to see results that contain numbers in a given range of things like dates, prices, and measurements.camera $50..$100 Tip: Use only one number with the two periods to indicate an upper maximum or a lower minimum.daytona 500 winners ..2000 |
Exceptions
Most search rules have exceptions to accommodate the ways that people commonly search. For example, Google will show calculator results for the query 34 * 87
rather than interpreting the asterisk as the “fill in the blanks” operator. In general, most punctuation and special characters are ignored, however there is a growing list of punctuation and symbols that are recognized in searches.
Filter results by type of content
Along the top of your page, you’ll see a number of ways to filter your content to see only results of one type. When you select More, you’ll see a drop down of additional products to choose from. For example, if you’re in the market to buy a new camera, do a search for digital camera
then click Shopping mode. Now you’ll see all sorts of digital cameras to buy, which you can then sort by price, brand, size and more.
By default, your results will show unfiltered results that include all types of content, so modes are a great way to see filtered results of one type of content, including:
- Images
- Maps
- Shopping
- News
- Videos
- Books
- Blogs
- Flights
- Discussions
- Recipes
- Applications
- Patents
Filter results by other criteria
You can use additional filters called Search tools to refine your query once you’ve decided which mode you’d like to use. Say you’re looking for images of planets, but you only want to see red ones.
Type planets in the search box, click Images then Search Tools and you’ll see ways to filter the images results you see by size, color, and type. Click Color then select the red filter. When you want to return to unfiltered results, click Clear underneath the search box.
These search tools will vary based on the the mode you’re in, but may include:
- Publish date: You can limit results according to when they are published on the Web. Options include any time or a custom range like past month.
- Verbatim search: You can find results for the exact words you searched for, and in the same order. Learn more about Verbatim
- Dictionary tool: You can find definitions, synonyms, images and more for your search term.
- Reading level: You can limit your search results to a specific reading level (Basic, Intermediate or Advanced). Learn more about filtering by Reading Level
- Private: If you’re signed in to your Google Account, you can choose to see content shared with you by your friends.
- Nearby: Only see results that might be especially relevant for your preferred location indicated underneath the search box.
- Visited pages/Not yet visited: If you’re signed in to your Google Account and have Web History turned on, you can limit the results to pages you have or have not already visited.
- Images: If you select Images mode, you can filter results by size, type and color. Learn more about the search tools specific to Google Images.
- Videos: If you select Videos mode, you can filter by video duration, quality and source.
- Recipes: Filter by ingredients, cook time and calories when using Recipes mode.
- Applications: In Applications mode, you can choose the price and OS for available apps.
- Patents: When searching through patents, you can select a patent’s filing or publishing date, the patent office it was filed in, filing status and type.
Some filters may not be available for all languages. Source: Google