1
If you're not finding what you're searching for after using our basic search tips, try a search operator. Add one of these symbols to your search terms in the Google search box to gain more control over the results that you see. Don’t worry about memorizing the operators - you can use the Advanced Search page to generate many of these searches.
Search for an exact word or phrase "search query"
|
Use quotes to search for an exact word or set of words. This option is handy when searching for song lyrics or a line from literature. [ "imagine all the people" ]
Tip: Only use this if you're looking for a very precise word or phrase, because otherwise you could be excluding helpful results by mistake.
|
Exclude a word -query
|
Add a dash (-) before a word or site to exclude all results that include that word. This is especially useful for synonyms like Jaguar the car brand and jaguar the animal. [ jaguar speed -car ] or [ pandas -site:wikipedia.org ]
Tip: You can also exclude results based on other operators, like excluding all results from a specific site.
|
Include similar words ~query
|
Normally, synonyms might replace some words in your original query. Add a tilde sign (~) immediately in front of a word to search for that word as well as even more synonyms. [ ~food facts ] includes results for "nutrition facts"
|
Search within a site or domain site: query
|
Include "site:" to search for information within a single website like all mentions of "Olympics" on the New York Times website. [ Olympics site:nytimes.com ]
Tip: Also search within a specific top-level domain like .org or .edu or country top-level domain like .de or .jp. [ Olympics site:.gov ]
|
Include a "fill in the blank" query * query
|
Use an asterisk (*) within a query as a placeholder for any unknown or "wildcard" terms. Use with quotation marks to find variations of that exact phrase or to remember words in the middle of a phrase. [ "a * saved is a * earned" ]
|
Search for either word query OR query
|
If you want to search for pages that may have just one of several words, include OR (capitalized) between the words. Without the OR, your results would typically show only pages that match both terms. [ olympics location 2014 OR 2018 ]
Tip: Enclose phrases in quotes to search for either one of several phrases. [ "world cup 2014" OR "olympics 2014" ]
|
Search for a number range number..number
|
Separate numbers by two periods (with no spaces) to see results that contain numbers in a given range of things like dates, prices, and measurements. [ camera $50..$100]
Tip: Use only one number with the two periods to indicate an upper maximum or a lower minimum. [ world cup winners ..2000 ]
|
2.
Punctuation and symbols in search
Generally, most punctuation and special characters are ignored in Google Search. However, you can use some characters that modify search terms to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
Symbol
|
How it is helpful
|
Plus sign (+)
|
Search for things like blood type [ AB + ] or for a Google+ page like [ +Chrome ]
|
"At" sign (@)
|
Find social tags like [ @google ] or [ @ladygaga]
|
Ampersand (&)
|
Find strongly connected ideas and phrases like [ Brothers & Sisters ] or [ A&E ]
|
Percent (%)
|
Search for a percent value like [ 40% of 80 ] or [ 10% of .1 ]
|
Dollar sign ($)
|
Indicate prices, so [ nikon 400 ] and [ nikon $400 ] give different results
|
Hashtag/number sign (#)
|
Search for trending topics indicated by hashtags like [ #lifewithoutgoogle ]
|
Dash (-)
|
Indicate that words around it are strongly connected as in [ twelve-year-old dog ] and [ cross-reference ]
|
Underscore symbol (_)
|
Connected two works like [ quick_sort ]. Your search results will find this pair of words either linked together (e.g., quicksort) or connected by an underscore (e.g., quick_sort).
|
Even though the symbols listed above are supported in search, including them in your searches doesn’t always improve the results. In these cases, you may see suggested results for that search without punctuation if those results seem more useful.
3
Type of page you're looking for
|
How to find it
|
Search for pages that link to a URL
|
Use the "link:" operator.
For example, to find pages that link to www.google.com, use [ link:google.com ]. You can also search for links to specific pages like [ link:google.com/images ].
|
Search for pages that are similar to a URL
|
Use the "related:"
For example, to find pages similar to www.nytimes.com, search for [ related:nytimes.com ].
|
Search for results from a specific site
|
Use the "site:" operator.
For example, to find information about golden retrievers from the American Kennel Club, search for [ golden retreivers site:akc.org ].
|