Gmail Search Operators

Gmail search uses operators that combine with AND by default. Use OR for alternatives, parentheses for grouping, and minus for exclusion.

Sender and Recipient

from:alice@example.com matches sender email or name. to:bob@company.com matches recipients. cc:team@company.com and bcc:secret@company.com match copy recipients. Use deliveredto:me@example.com for the actual delivery address (useful with aliases).

Subject and Content

subject:quarterly report searches subject lines. Plain text searches both subject and body. "exact phrase" requires exact match including word order.

Date Ranges

after:2024/01/15 and before:2024/02/01 use YYYY/MM/DD format. newer_than:7d and older_than:2m use relative time—d (days), m (months), y (years). Combine for ranges: after:2024/01/01 before:2024/02/01.

Message Properties

is:unread or is:read for read status. is:starred for starred messages. is:important for priority inbox. is:snoozed for snoozed items. has:attachment for messages with any attachment. has:drive or has:document for Google Drive links.

Labels and Location

in:inbox, in:sent, in:drafts, in:trash, in:spam, in:anywhere (includes trash/spam). label:work matches custom labels. category:primary, category:social, category:promotions, category:updates, category:forums for inbox categories.

Attachments

filename:pdf matches attachment type. filename:report.xlsx matches specific filenames. has:attachment for any attachment. Combine: has:attachment filename:pdf for PDF attachments.

Size

larger:10M and smaller:5M filter by size. Use K, M, or raw bytes. size:5000000 is exactly 5MB.

Advanced

AROUND 5 finds words within N words of each other: meeting AROUND 5 budget finds "meeting" within 5 words of "budget". OR combines alternatives: from:alice OR from:bob. Minus excludes: project -status finds "project" without "status". Parentheses group: (from:alice OR from:bob) after:2024/01/01.

Common Patterns

Find unread from specific sender: is:unread from:boss@company.com

Recent attachments: has:attachment newer_than:7d

Everything from a domain: from:@company.com

Large old emails to clean up: larger:10M older_than:1y

Newsletters to unsubscribe: unsubscribe category:promotions older_than:30d

Sent but no reply: in:sent to:client@company.com newer_than:7d

Thread search: subject:"Q4 planning" from:team@company.com