Gmail: Using advanced search

Operator

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*
*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

list:

Search for messages on mailing lists

Example: list:[email protected]
Meaning: Messages with the words [email protected] in the headers, sent to or from this list

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 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
has:red-bang
has:orange-guillemet
has:yellow-bang
has:green-check
has:blue-info
has:purple-question

Search for messages with a particular star

Example: has:purple-star from:David
Me
aning: Messages from David that are marked with a purple 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 sent 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.*
*More precisely: Messages sent after 12:00 AM (or 00:00) April 16, 2004 and before April 18, 2004.

is:chat

Search for chat messages

Example: is:chat monkey
Meaning: Any chat message including the word "monkey."

deliveredto:

Search for messages within a particular email address in the Delivered-To line of the message header

Example: deliveredto:[email protected]
Meaning: Any message with [email protected] in the Delivered-To: field of the message header (which can help you find messages forwarded from another account or ones sent to an alias).

circle:

Search for messages that were sent from someone who you added to a particular Google+ circle

Example: circle:friends
Meaning: Any message that was sent by a person in your "Friends" circle.
Examples: circle:"soccer friends (team blue)" or circle:"my "fab four""
Notes: For circle names that include a space, parentheses, curly brackets, or vertical bar, add quotes around the name. For names that include quotes, add a back slash immediately before the quotes.

has:circle

Search for all messages that were sent from someone who you added to your Google+ circles

Example: has:circle
Meaning: Any message that was sent by a person in any of your circles.