Advanced Search Operators or Shortcuts for Gmail

Are you going to use your Gmail search bar to search for messages, recipients etc.? Then advanced search operators will help you refine your search. Advanced search operators or shortcuts are query words or symbols that perform special actions in Gmail search. These operators allow you to find what you’re looking for quickly and accurately. They can also be used to set up filters so you can organize your inbox automatically. Some of the most useful Gmail search operators are listed below.

Advanced Search Operators or Shortcuts For Gmail

However, there are lots of advanced search operators are used for Gmail but here I listed only the most frequently used and needy Gmail search operators for you.

Operator/Shortcut	Action/Definition	Examples
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	Example: from:amy label:friends Meaning: Messages from Amy that have the label "friends"
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"
" " (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
in:anywhere	Search for messages anywhere in Gmail* *Messages in Spam and Trash are excluded from searches by default	Example: in:anywhere 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 Trash
is:important label:important	Search within messages that Priority Inbox considers important.	Example: is:important from:janet Meaning: Messages from Janet that were marked as important by Priority Inbox
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
has:yellow-star has:red-star has:orange-star has:green-star has:blue-star has:purple-star	Search for messages with a particular star	Example: has:purple-star from:David Meaning: Messages from David that are marked with a purple star
after: before: older: newer:	Search for messages sent or received during a certain period of time (using the date format yyyy/mm/dd)	Example: after:2004/04/16 before:2004/04/18 Meaning: Messages sent between April 16, 2004 and April 18, 2004.*
category:	Search for messages within a category	Example: category:updates Meaning: All messages in the Updates category.

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So guys, these are some very important and frequently used search operators for your Gmail account. I will keep this table updating by adding new operators along with time.