The top 10 advanced Google Search operators everyone should use
Google is the global market leader when it comes to online search. It’s how most of us use the internet. Even though a growing number of people use theirawesome new smart speakersto search the web, they won’t replace traditional keyboard-based searches anytime soon. Despite Google’s universal familiarity, many people are unaware of some of its useful tricks to help you get the most out of your searches.
Searching for your query might not give you the best results. Learning and using Google Search operators is paramount for getting the best out of Google. Here are the 10 best advanced Google Search operators you need to know to refine your search.
What are advanced Google Search operators?
When you search for a query on Google, you get anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions of search results. Because you may not go beyond the first few pages of Google Search, you’re likely losing out on better answers. That’s where advanced Google Search operators can help you.
Google Search operators, also known as advanced search operators, are special symbols and terms that refine your searches. You can use these advanced operators to remove results containing specific terms, search for your exact query match, search on specific websites, search for specific file types, and so on.
Refine your results while searching using these search operators so that the best results are featured on the first page.
Use these advanced Google Search operators to refine your search results
Let’s check out the best advanced Google Search operators and how to use them to refine your searches.
When using advanced search operators in Google Search, do not add a space after the operator.
Exact-match search
Searching for a keyword or phrase on Google shows you a broad match for that search query. If you want Google to search for pages that contain your exact phrase, place your search query inside quotes.
When you put a search term inside quotes, you tell Google that you are looking for an exact match to your search query. It’s the most basic and useful search operator to refine your search results. Mix quoted words with a more general search phrase for best results. The search string"Best Adroid smarwatches"returns pages with those exact words, but"Best ‘Android’ smartwatches"gives you more results about the best smartwatches and limits those results to stories with the word “Android” in them.
OR and AND search operators
If you want to search for multiple queries in the same search, use theORsearch operator. PutORbetween your search keywords, and Google shows you results containing any of your queries. Likewise, use the operatorANDto broaden your search results.
You must useORandANDin all caps for Google to consider it an advanced search operator.
Exclude search terms
One of the most helpful search operators is the minus (-)search operator. You can use this operator to remove specific keywords from the search results. It can refine your search results and help you get the correct results faster.
For example, if you search forGoogle Search operators, the first page results are mostly SEO websites that are not useful for regular users. To refine your search, search forGoogle Search operators -SEOto remove them from search results. Combine the-operator with quotes to exclude web pages with that exact word or phrase.
Search for specific file types
Google Search lets you refine your searches by file types. For example, if you are searching for a research paper, you can restrict the file type to PDF to get only those results that contain a PDF file. Here are the common file type search operators you can use:
Restrict search to specific websites
When you want to restrict your search to specific websites, use thesite:search operator. In Google Search, typesite:websiteurl, followed by your search term. Google Search restricts the results to your preferred website. You can narrow your search by using a precise web address withsite:. For example,site:google.comwon’t help you much because there are a lot of non-Google sites that end in “google.com.” On the other hand,site:blog.google.comallows you to search all of Google’s official blog posts.
Restrict search to specific sources
it’s possible to also refine your search using thesource:operator. It comes in handy when refining your news sources in Google News. Also, if your preferred news source has multiple offerings (such as a website and a YouTube channel), using thesource:operator instead of thesite:operator ensures that your search results are not restricted to only its website.
Another benefit of using thesource:operator is that Google shows results from other sources if your primary source has no coverage for your search topic.
Search in the title, URL, or body
By default, Google Search checks the page title, URL, and content body to give you relevant search results. If your search term appears in any of these places, Google includes the page in its search results. Advanced search operators allow you to ask Google Search to show you results only if your search terms appear in any of these places.
To get only those search results where your search query appears in the page title, use theintitle:orallintitle:search operators. Use the former when searching for a single word and the latter when searching for a phrase.
Similarly, you can use the search operators below to restrict your searches to the URL and body of the page.
Search for a price
If you want to search for products within your budget, use the$operator. For example, when looking for thebest Android smartwatches, use the search querybest Android smartwatches $200to find the best watches under $200.
Similarly, you can use a price range. To search for products in a price range, use thebest Chromebooks $200..$300query. Here, the$..$search operator tells Google to search for products in the set price range. The..range operator can be used with any kind of number, so you could look forbest e-reader 7..10 inchesorsushi 7pm..10pm.
Search social media
If you want your search to focus on social media results, use the@search operator. Enter your search query and follow it by@Twitteror@Facebook, for example, to find search results from these social media websites.
Search for related sites
If you love the content on a website and want to find similar websites, search for related websites on Google. Putrelated:in front of a web address you already know. For example, userelated:wikipedia.comto find websites similar to Wikipedia.
Get the best results for your Google searches
There are dozens of Google search operators for you to play with. That may be too many to memorize and have on hand for every search. Knowing these exist goes a long way next time you run into a dead end on your Google search. If you want to work on your Google-jutsu, look at our guides onadvanced search filters in Gmailanddeleting Google Search history.
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