Tips, Operators, and Commands to Know
These special Google search tips, operators, and commands will help you narrow down your search results and always get the exact results you’re looking for.
How many times have you searched Google only to get a bunch of incorrect or unrelated search results that you wish you could filter out? Well, with a few search shortcuts, you can narrow down your search results and always get the exact results you’re looking for.
You’ll find these shortcuts in our Google Search cheat sheet below. It contains various search tips, operators, and commands to help you filter content by site, timelines, context, and more.
FREE DOWNLOAD: This cheat sheet is available as a downloadable PDF from our distribution partner, TradePub. You will have to complete a short form to access it for the first time only. Download The Google Search Shortcuts Cheat Sheet.
The Google Search Shortcuts Cheat Sheet
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Informational Search Queries | ||
| define | Returns a definition of the given term. | define gregarious |
| time | Returns the current time at a particular location. | time stockholm |
| to | Convert measurements from one unit to another. | 1 cup to tbsp |
| in | Convert measurements from one unit to another. | 1000USD in GBP |
| translate | Translates the queried terms into another specified language. | translate hello world german |
| map | Returns map result. | map new york |
| stocks | Returns stock information. | stocks sbux |
| weather | Returns the weather forecast for the given location or ZIP code. | weather 90210 |
| Basic Search Symbols | ||
| – | Excludes search results that include this term. | best tablets -drawing |
| | | Returns search results that match terms on either side of the pipe. The same as writing “OR” between search terms. | computer | tablet |
| @ | Returns search results that match a particular social media site. | phone recall @twitter |
| # | Returns search results that include a specific hashtag. | #throwbackthursday |
| “” | Returns search results that include all terms within quotes in the exact given order. | “never gonna give you up” |
| * | Returns search results where any words can be matched in place of the asterisk. | best * in america |
| .. | When placed between two numbers, returns search results that match within the number range. | chromebook $200..$500 |
| () | Used to group search terms and control the search logic of the query. | (best | worst) office suite |
| $ | Returns prices. | mac $1000 |
| Popular Search Operators | ||
| cache: | Show Google’s cached version of a specific page. | cache:makeuseof.com |
| filetype: | Returns only search results that match a particular file extension. | sleep study filetype:pdf |
| related: | Returns other websites that are similar to the queried website. | related:nytimes.com |
| site: | Returns only search results from a particular website. | productivity tips site:makeuseof.com |
| Other Search Operators | ||
| inanchor: | Returns pages that are linked to using anchor text matching the search query. | |
| allinanchor: | Same as inanchor, but matching every term that appears after allinanchor. | |
| intext: | Returns only search results that match in the page’s body. | |
| allintext: | Same as intext, but matching every term that appears after allintext. | |
| intitle: | Returns only search results that match in the page’s title. | |
| allintitle: | Same as intitle, but matching every term that appears after allintitle. | |
| inurl: | Returns only search results that match in the page’s URL. | |
| allinurl: | Same as inurl, but matching every term that appears after allinurl. | |
The most useful shortcuts are site:, filetype:, and to, but all of these operators and commands are good to know.
More Google Search Resources to Discover
In addition to searching Google, you should also get acquainted with these advanced search operators for Gmail. And did you know that there are some cool games hidden in Google Search? Once you’re familiar with all these advanced tools, you can put them to good use. For example, advanced Google Search comes in handy when you’re trying to find a book without knowing the title or author!
We’ll wrap up with a word of caution: don’t trust all types of Google Search results blindly.
Read Next
About The Author
