Google Advance Search Operators

The following is an alphabetical list of the search operators. This list includes operators that are not in Google's online help. Each entry typically includes the syntax, the capabilities, and an example. Some of the search operators won't work as intended if you put a space between the ":" and the subsequent query word. If you don't care to check which search operators require no space after the colon, always place the keyword immediately next to the colon. Many search operators can appear anywhere in your query. In our examples, I placed the search operator as far to the right as possible. We did this since the Advanced Search form writes queries in this way. Also, such a convention makes it clearer as to which operators are associated with which terms.

allinanchor:
If you start your query with allinanchor:, Google restricts results to pages containing all query terms you specify in the anchor text on links to the page. For example, [ allinanchor: best museums sydney ] will return only pages in which the anchor text on links to the pages contain the words "best," "museums," and "sydney."

Anchor text is the text on a page that is linked to another web page or a different place on the current page. When you click on anchor text, you will be taken to the page or place on the page to which it is linked. When using allinanchor: in your query, do not include any other search operators. The functionality of allinanchor: is also available through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

allintext:
If you start your query with allintext:, Google restricts results to those containing all the query terms you specify in the text of the page. For example, [ allintext: travel packing list ] will return only pages in which the words "travel," "packing," and "list" appear in the text of the page. This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

allintitle:
If you start your query with allintitle:, Google restricts results to those containing all the query terms you specify in the title. For example, [ allintitle: detect plagiarism ] will return only documents that contain the words "detect" and "plagiarism" in the title. This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

In Image Search, the operator allintitle: will return images in files whose names contain the terms that you specify.

In Google News, the operator allintitle: will return articles whose titles include the terms you specify.

allinurl:
If you start your query with allinurl:, Google restricts results to those containing all the query terms you specify in the URL. For example, [ allinurl: google faq ] will return only documents that contain the words "google" and "faq" in the URL. This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

In URLs, words are often run together. They need not be run together when you're using allinurl:.

In Google News, the operator allinurl: will return articles whose titles include the terms you specify.

author:
If you include author: in your query, Google will restrict your Google Groups results to include newsgroup articles by the author you specify. The author can be a full or partial name or email address. For example, [ children author:john author:doe ] or [ children author:doe@someaddress.com ] return articles that contain the word "children" written by John Doe or doe@someaddress.com.

Google will search for exactly what you specify. If your query contains [ author:"John Doe" ], Google won't find articles where the author is specified as "Doe, John."

bphonebook:
If you start your query with bphonebook:, Google shows business white page listings for the query terms you specify. For example, [ bphonebook: google mountain view ] will show the phonebook listing for Google in Mountain View.

cache:
The query cache:url will display Google's cached version of a web page, instead of the current version of the page. For example, [ cache:www.eff.org ] will show Google's cached version of the Electronic Frontier Foundation home page.

Note: Do not put a space between cache: and the URL (web address).

On the cached version of a page, Google will highlight terms in your query that appear after the cache: search operator. For example, [ cache:www.pandemonia.com/flying/ fly diary ] will show Google's cached version of Flight Diary in which Hamish Reid's documents what's involved in learning how to fly with the terms "fly" and "diary" highlighted.

define:
If you start your query with define:, Google shows definitions from pages on the web for the term that follows. This advanced search operator is useful for finding definitions of words, phrases, and acronyms. For example, [ define: blog ] will show definitions for "Blog" (weB LOG).

ext:
This is an undocumented alias for filetype:.

filetype:
If you include filetype:suffix in your query, Google will restrict the results to pages whose names end in suffix. For example, [ web page evaluation checklist filetype:pdf ] will return Adobe Acrobat pdf files that match the terms "web," "page," "evaluation," and "checklist." You can restrict the results to pages whose names end with pdf and doc by using the OR operator, e.g. [ email security filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc ].

When you don't specify a File Format in the Advanced Search Form or the filetype: operator, Google searches a variety of file formats, see the table in the File Type Conversion section.

group:
If you include group: in your query, Google will restrict your Google Groups results to newsgroup articles from certain groups or subareas. For example, [ sleep groups:misc.kids.moderated ] will return articles in the group misc.kids.moderated that contain the word "sleep" and [ sleep groups:misc.kids ] will return articles in the subarea misc.kids that contain the word "sleep."

id:
This is an undocumented alias for info:.

inanchor:
If you include inanchor: in your query, Google will restrict the results to pages containing the query terms you specify in the anchor or links to the page. For example, [ restaurants inanchor:gourmet ] will return pages in which the anchor text on links to the pages contain the word "gourmet" and the page contains the word "restaurants."

info:
The query info:url will present some information about the corresponding web page. For instance, [ info:gothotel.com ] will show information about the national hotel directory GotHotel.com home page. Note: There must be no space between the info: and the web page url.

This functionality can also be obtained by typing the web page url directly into a Google search box.

insubject:
If you include insubject: in your query, Google will restrict articles in Google Groups to those that contain the terms you specify in the subject. For example, [ insubject:"falling asleep" ] will return Google Group articles that contain the phrase "falling asleep" in the subject.

Equivalent to intitle:.

intext:
The query intext:term restricts results to documents containing term in the text. For instance, [ Hamish Reid intext:pandemonia ] will return documents that mention the word "pandemonia" in the text, and mention the names "Hamish" and "Reid" anywhere in the document (text or not). Note: There must be no space between the intext: and the following word.

Putting intext: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting allintext: at the front of your query, e.g., [ intext:handsome intext:poets ] is the same as [ allintext: handsome poets ].

intitle:
The query intitle:term restricts results to documents containing term in the title. For instance, [ flu shot intitle:help ] will return documents that mention the word "help" in their titles, and mention the words "flu" and "shot" anywhere in the document (title or not). Note: There must be no space between the intitle: and the following word.

Putting intitle: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting allintitle: at the front of your query, e.g., [ allintitle: google search ].

inurl:
If you include inurl: in your query, Google will restrict the results to documents containing that word in the url. For instance, [ inurl:print site:www.googleguide.com] searches for pages on Google Guide in which the URL contains the word "print." It finds pdf files that are in the directory or folder that I named "print" on the Google Guide website. The query [ inurl:healthy eating ] will return documents that mention the words "healthy" in their url, and mention the word "eating" anywhere in the document (url or no). Note: There must be no space between the inurl: and the following word.

Putting inurl: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting allinurl: at the front of your query, e.g., [ inurl:healthy inurl:eating ] is the same as [ allinurl: healthy eating ].

In URLs, words are often run together. They need not be run together when you're using inurl:.

link:
The query link:URL shows pages that point to that URL. For example, to find pages that point to Google Guide's home page, enter:

[ link:www.googleguide.com ]

Find links to the Google home page not on Google's own site.

[ link:www.google.com -site:google.com ]

location:
If you include location: in your query on Google News, only articles from the location you specify will be returned. For example, [ queen location:uk ] will show articles that match the term "queen" from sites in the United Kingdom.

movie:
If you include movie: in your query, Google will find movie-related information. For examples, see Google's Blog.

msgid:
If you include msgid: in your query, Google will restrict your Google Groups results to a newsgroup article with the specified message ID. For example, [ msgid: ] will return the article whose message id is .

phonebook:
If you start your query with phonebook:, Google shows all white page listings for the query terms you specify. For example, [ phonebook: Krispy Kreme Mountain View ] will show the phonebook listing of Krispy Kreme donut shops in Mountain View.

related:
The query related:URL will list web pages that are similar to the web page you specify. For instance, [ related:www.consumerreports.org ] will list web pages that are similar to the Consumer Reports home page. Note: Don't include a space between the related: and the web page url. You can also find similar pages from the Similar pages link on Google's main results page, and from the similar selector in the Page-Specific Search area of the Advanced Search page. If you expect to search frequently for similar pages, consider installing a GoogleScout browser button, which scouts for similar pages.

rphonebook:
If you start your query with rphonebook:, Google shows residential white page listings for the query terms you specify. For example, [ rphonebook: monty python Oakland ] will show the phonebook listing for Monty Python in Oakland.

safesearch:
If you include safesearch: in your query, Google will exclude adult-content. For example, [ safesearch:breasts ] will search for information on breasts without returning adult or pornographic sites.

site:
If you include site: in your query, Google will restrict your search results to the site or domain you specify. For example, [ admissions site:www.lse.ac.uk ] will show admissions information from London School of Economics' site and [ peace site:gov ] will find pages about peace within the .gov domain. You can specify a domain with or without a period, e.g., either as .gov or gov.

Note: Do not include a space between the "site:" and the domain.

You can use many of the search operators in conjunction with the basic search operators +, -, OR, " ." For example, to find information on Windows security from all sites except Microsoft.com, enter:

[ windows security -site:microsoft.com ]

You can also restrict your results to as ite or domain through the domains selector on the Advanced Search page.

source:
If you include source: in your query, Google News will restrict your search to articles from the news source with the ID you specify. For example, [ election source:new_york_times ] will return with the word "election" that appear in the New York Times.

To find a news source ID, enter a query that includes a term and the name of the publication you're seeking. You can also specify the publication name in the "news source" field in the Advanced News Search form. You'll find the news source ID in the query box, following the source: search operator. For example, if the search box contains [ peace source:ha_aretz ], then the news source ID is ha_aretz. This query will only return articles that include the word "peace" from the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.

stocks:
If you start your query with stocks:, Google will interpret the rest of the query terms as stock ticker symbols, and will link to a page showing stock information for the symbols you specify. For instance, [ stocks:brcm brcd ] will show information about Broadcom Corporation and Brocade Communications System. Note: Specify ticker symbols not company names. If you enter an invalid ticker symbol, you'll be told so and taken to a page where you can look up a valid ticker symbol. You can also obtain stock information by entering one or more NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, or mutual fund ticker symbols in Google's query box, e.g., [ brcm brcd ] and then clicking on the "Show stock quotes" link that appears near the top of the results page.

store:
If you include store: in your query, Froogle will restrict your search to the store ID you specify. For example, [ polo shirt store:llbean ] will return listings that match the terms "polo" and "shirt" from the store L. L. Bean.

To find a store ID, enter the name of the store and click on the link "See all results from store." You'll find the store ID in the query box, after the store: search operator.

weather
If you include weather in your query, Google will include weather for the location you specify. Since weather is not an advanced operator, there is no need to include a colon after the word. For example, [ weather Sunnyvale CA ] will return the weather for Sunnyvale, California and [ weather 94041 ] will return the weather for the city containing the zip code 94041, which is Mountain View, California.

Google Advanced Operators (Cheat Sheet)