Aside from the regular search that Gmail offers, it also has some very handy advanced search operators. The following is a list of the most commomly used operators. You can also use advanced search operators by clicking on Show search options beneath the Gmail search box.
from:
Example - from:amy
Meaning - Messages from Amy
to:
Example - to:david
Meaning - All messages that were sent to David (by you or someone else)
subject:
Example - subject:dinner
Meaning - Messages that have the word "dinner" in the subject
OR
Example - from:amy OR from:david
Meaning - Messages from Amy or from David
-
Example - dinner -movie
Meaning - Messages that contain the word "dinner" but do not contain the word "movie"
label:
Example - from:amy label:friends
Meaning - Messages from Amy that have the label "friends"
Example - from:david label:my-family
Meaning - Messages from David that have the label "My Family"
has:attachment
Example - from:david has:attachment
Meaning - Messages from David that have an attachment
list:
Example - list:info@example.com
Meaning - Messages with the words info@example.com in the headers, sent to or from this list
filename:
Example - filename:physicshomework.txt
Meaning - Messages with an attachment named "physicshomework.txt"
Example - label:work filename:pdf
Meaning - Messages labeled "work" that also have a PDF file as an attachment
" " (quotes)
Example - "i'm feeling lucky"
Meaning - Messages containing the phrase "i'm feeling lucky" or "I'm feeling lucky"
Example - subject:"dinner and a movie"
Meaning - Messages containing the phrase "dinner and a movie" in the subject
( )
Example - from:amy(dinner OR movie)
Meaning - Messages from Amy that contain either the word "dinner" or the word "movie"
Example - subject:(dinner movie)
Meaning - Messages in which the subject contains both the word "dinner" and the word "movie"
in:anywhere
Example - in:anywhere movie
Meaning - Messages in All Mail, Spam, and Trash that contain the word "movie"
in:inbox
in:trash
in:spam
Example - in:trash from:amy
Meaning - Messages from Amy that are in Trash
in:starred
in:unread
in:read
Example - is:read is:starred from:David
Meaning - Messages from David that have been read and are marked with a star
cc:
bcc:
Example - cc:david
Meaning - Messages that were cc-ed to David
after:
before:
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
Example - is:chat monkey
Meaning - Any chat message including the word "monkey".
deliveredto:
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).
