How do I search Gmail efficiently ?

Search operators you can use with Gmail

You can use words or symbols called search operators to filter your Gmail search results. You can also combine operators to filter your results even more.

How to use a search operator

  1. Open Gmail.
  2. In the search box, type the search operator.

Search operators you can use

Tip: Once you do a search using search operators, you can use the results to set up a filter for these messages.

What you can search bySearch operator & example
Specify the sender

from:

Example: from:amy

Specify a recipient

to:

Example: to:david

Words in the subject line

Subject:

Example: subject:dinner

Messages that match multiple terms

OR or { }

Example: from:amy OR from:david

Example: {from:amy from:david}

Remove messages from your results

-

Example: dinner -movie

Find messages with words near each other. Use the number to say how many words apart the words can be

AROUND

Example: dinner AROUND 5 friday

Messages that have a certain label

label:

Example: label:friends

Messages that have an attachment

has:attachment

Example: has:attachment

Messages that have a Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides attachment or link

has:drive

has:document

has:spreadsheet

has:presentation

Example: has:drive has:document

Messages that have a YouTube video

has:youtube

Example: has:youtube

Messages from a mailing list

list:

Example: list:info@example.com

Attachments with a certain name or file type

filename:

Example: filename:pdf

Example: filename: homework.txt

Search for an exact word or phrase

" "

Example: "dinner and movie tonight"

Group multiple search terms together

( )

Example: subject:(dinner movie)

Messages in any folder, including Spam and Trash

in:anywhere

Example: in:anywhere movie

Search for messages that are marked as important

is:important

label: important

Example: is:important 

 

Starred, unread, or read messages

is:starred

is:unread

is:read

Example: is:read is:starred

Messages that include an icon of a certain color

has:yellow-star

has:blue-info

Example: has:purple-star

Recipients in the cc or bcc field

cc:

bcc:

Example: cc:david

Note: You can't find messages that you received on bcc.

Search for messages sent during a certain time period

after:

before:

older:

newer:

Example: after:2004/04/16

Example: before:2004/04/18

Search for messages older or newer than a time period using d (day), m (month), and y (year)

older_than:

newer_than:

Example: newer_than:2d

Chat messages

is:chat

Example: is:chat movie

Messages delivered to a certain email address

deliveredto:

Example: deliveredto:username@gmail.com

Messages in a certain category

category:

Example: category:updates

Messages larger than a certain size in bytes

size:

Example: size:1000000

Messages larger or smaller than a certain size in bytes

larger:

smaller:

Example: larger:10M

Results that match a word exactly

+

Example: +unicorn

Messages with a certain message-id header

Rfc822msgid:

Example: rfc822msgid:200503292@example.com 

Messages that have or don't have a label

has:userlabels

has:nouserlabels

Example: has:nouserlabels 

Note: Labels are only added to a message, and not an entire conversation.


Credits to https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190?hl=en
 
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