Search operators you can use with Gmail
You can use words or symbols called search operators to filter your Gmail search results. You can also combine operators to filter your results even more.
How to use a search operator
- Open Gmail.
- In the search box, type the search operator.
Search operators you can use
Tip: Once you do a search using search operators, you can use the results to set up a filter for these messages.
What you can search by
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Search operator & example
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Specify the sender
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From:
Example: from:amy
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Specify a recipient
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To:
Example: to:david
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Words in the subject line
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Subject:
Example: subject:dinner
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Messages that match multiple terms
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OR or { }
Example: from:amy OR from:david
Example: {from:amy from:david}
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Remove messages from your results
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-
Example: dinner -movie
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Find messages with words near each other. Use the number to say how many words apart the words can be
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AROUND
Example: dinner AROUND 5 friday
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Messages that have a certain label
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Label:
Example: label:friends
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Messages that have an attachment
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Has:attachment
Example: has:attachment
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Messages that have a Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides attachment or link
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Has:drive
Has:document
Has:spreadsheet
Has:presentation
Example: has:drive has:document
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Messages that have a YouTube video
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Has:youtube
Example: has:youtube
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Messages from a mailing list
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List:
Example: list:info@example.com
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Attachments with a certain name or file type
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Filename:
Example: filename:pdf
Example: filename: homework.txt
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Search for an exact word or phrase
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" "
Example: "dinner and movie tonight"
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Group multiple search terms together
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( )
Example: subject:(dinner movie)
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Messages in any folder, including Spam and Trash
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In:anywhere
Example: in:anywhere movie
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Search for messages that are marked as important
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is:important
label: important
Example: is:important
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Starred, unread, or read messages
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is:starred
is:unread
is:read
Example: is:read is:starred
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Messages that include an icon of a certain color
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has:yellow-star
has: blue-info
Example: has:purple-star
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Recipients in the cc or bcc field
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cc:
bcc:
Example: cc:david
Note: You can't find messages that you received on bcc.
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Search for messages sent during a certain time period
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after:
before:
older:
newer:
Example: after:2004/04/16
Example: before:2004/04/18
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Search for messages older or newer than a time period using d (day), m (month), and y (year)
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older_than:
newer_than:
Example: newer_than:2d
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Chat messages
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Is:chat
Example: is:chat movie
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Messages delivered to a certain email address
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Deliveredto:
Example: deliveredto:username@gmail.com
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Messages in a certain category
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Category:
Example: category:updates
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Messages larger than a certain size in bytes
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Size:
Example: size:1000000
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Messages larger or smaller than a certain size in bytes
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larger:
smaller:
Example: larger:10M
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Results that match a word exactly
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+
Example: +unicorn
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Messages with a certain message-id header
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Rfc822msgid:
Example: rfc822msgid:200503292@example.com
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Messages that have or don't have a label
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has:userlabels
has:nouserlabels
Example: has:nouserlabels
Note: Labels are only added to a message, and not an entire conversation.
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