Gmail Advanced Search

 

Operator	Definition	Example(s)
from:	Used to specify the sender	Example - from:amy Meaning - Messages from Amy
to:	Used to specify a recipient	Example - to:david Meaning - All messages that were sent to David (by you or someone else)
subject:	Search for words in the subject line	Example - subject:dinner Meaning - Messages that have the word "dinner" in the subject
OR	Search for messages matching term A or term B* *OR must be in all caps	Example - from:amy OR from:david Meaning - Messages from Amy or from David
- (hyphen)	Used to exclude messages from your search	Example - dinner -movie Meaning - Messages that contain the word "dinner" but do not contain the word "movie"
label:	Search for messages by label* *There isn't a search operator for unlabeled messages	Example - from:amy label:friends Meaning - Messages from Amy that have the label "friends" Example - from:david label:my-family Meaning - Messages from David that have the label " My Family"
has:attachment	Search for messages with an attachment	Example - from:david has:attachment Meaning - Messages from David that have an attachment
filename:	Search for an attachment by name or type	Example - filename:physicshomework.txt Meaning - Messages with an attachment named "physicshomework.txt " Example - label:work filename:pdf Meaning - Messages labeled "work" that also have a PDF file as an attachment
" " (quotes)	Used to search for an exact phrase* *Capitalization isn't taken into consideration	Example - "i'm feeling lucky" Meaning - Messages containing the phrase "i'm feeling lucky" or "I'm feeling lucky" Example - subject:"dinner and a movie" Meaning - Messages containing the phrase "dinner and a movie" in the subject
( )	Used to group words Used to specify terms that shouldn't be excluded	Example - from:amy(dinner OR movie) Meaning - Messages from Amy that contain either the word "dinner" or the word "movie" Example - subject:(dinner movie) Meaning - Messages in which the subject contains both the word "dinner" and the word "movie"
in:anywhere	Search for messages anywhere in your account* *Messages in 'Spam' and 'Trash' are excluded from searches by default	Example - in:anywhere subject:movie Meaning - Messages in 'All Mail', 'Spam', and 'Trash' that contain the word "movie"
in:inbox in:trash in:spam	Search for messages in 'Inbox', 'Trash', or 'Spam'	Example - in:trash from:amy Meaning - Messages from Amy that are in the trash
is:starred is:unread is:read	Search for messages that are starred, unread or read	Example - is:read is:starred from:David Meaning - Messages from David that have been read and are marked with a star
cc: bcc:	Used to specify recipients in the 'cc' or 'bcc' fields* *Search on bcc: cannot retrieve messages on which you were blind carbon copied	Example - cc:david Meaning - Messages that were cc-ed to David
after: before:	Search for messages after or before a certain date* *Date must be in yyyy/mm/dd format.	Example - after:2004/04/17 before:2004/04/18 Meaning - Messages sent on April 17, 2004.* *More precisely: Messages sent on or after April 17, 2004, but before April 18, 2004.