Google advanced search operators are special commands or symbols that you can use to refine your search queries and get more accurate and specific search results. These operators can help you narrow your search to a specific website, exclude certain terms from your search results, search for exact phrases, search for results within a particular date range, and much more.
5 commonly used Google advanced search operators
site:
This operator allows you to search for results from a specific website or domain. For example, if you want to search for results from the Wikipedia website, you can use the operator “site:wikipedia.org”.
intitle:
This operator searches for web pages that contain your keywords in the title of the page. For example, if you want to search for pages that have the word “apple” in the title, you can use the operator “intitle:apple”.
inurl:
This operator searches for web pages that contain your keywords in the URL of the page. For example, if you want to search for pages that have the word “technology” in the URL, you can use the operator “inurl:technology”.
filetype:
This operator searches for files of a specific type, such as PDFs or images. For example, if you want to search for PDF files that contain information about computers, you can use the operator “filetype:pdf computers”.
related:
This operator searches for pages that are related to a specific website. For example, if you want to find websites that are similar to the BBC website, you can use the operator “related:bbc.co.uk”.
A detailed list of Google advanced search commands
| Search operator | Purpose | Practical example |
| “ ” | Search for results that mention a word or phrase. | “bill gates” |
| OR | Search for results related to X or Y. | car or bike |
| | | Same as OR: | car | bike |
| AND | Search for results related to X and Y. | car and bike |
| – | Search for results that don’t mention a word or phrase. | car -tesla |
| * | Wildcard matching any word or phrase. | car * colour |
| ( ) | Group multiple searches. | (truck or car) ford |
| define: | Search for the definition of a word or phrase. | define:gearbox |
| cache: | Find the most recent cache of a webpage. | cache:ford.com |
| filetype: | Search for particular types of files (e.g., PDF). | user manual filetype:pdf |
| ext: | Same as filetype: | user manual ext:pdf |
| site: | Search for results from a particular website. | site:ford.com |
| related: | Search for sites related to a given domain. | related:ford.com |
| intitle: | Search for pages with a particular word in the title tag. | intitle:transmission |
| allintitle: | Search for pages with multiple words in the title tag. | allintitle:gearbox transmission |
| inurl: | Search for pages with a particular word in the URL. | inurl:gearbox |
| allinurl: | Search for pages with multiple words in the URL. | allinurl:gearbox oil |
| intext: | Search for pages with a particular word in their content. | intext:changing gearbox oil |
| allintext: | Search for pages with multiple words in their content. | allintext:changing gearbox oil |
| weather: | Search for the weather in a location. | weather:london |
| stocks: | Search for stock information for a ticker. | stocks:ford |
| map: | Force Google to show map results. | maps:hyde park |
| movie: | Search for information about a movie. | movie:top gun |
| in | Convert one unit to another. | $123 in GBP |
| source: | Search for results from a particular source in Google News. | ford source:autocar |
| before: | Search for results from before a particular date. | ford before:2010-01-01 |
| after: | Search for results from after a particular date. | ford after:2010-01-01 |
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