| Operator | Definition | Example(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 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* |
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 |
| 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:info@example.com |
| filename: | Search for an attachment by name or type |
Example - filename:physicshomework.txt Example - label:work filename:pdf |
|
" " |
Used to search for an exact phrase* *Capitalization isn't taken into consideration |
Example - "i'm feeling lucky" Example - subject:"dinner and a movie" |
| ( ) |
Used to group words Used to specify terms that shouldn't be excluded |
Example - from:amy(dinner OR movie) Example - subject:(dinner 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: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 |
| 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* *Dates must be in yyyy/mm/dd format. |
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:username@gmail.com Meaning - Any message with username@gmail.com 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). |
Source:https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=7190
