Wonder why your Google searches aren’t as relevant as they should be? Ever have problems finding what you’re looking for? Of course! If you’ve ever plugged a search into Google and wondered why the returned results are different than what you were hoping to see, you’re not alone. Even though search technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over the last several years, search engines are still somewhat limited to what they are able to do, and they certainly haven’t evolved to being able to read the average searcher’s mind. Many searchers simply get used to being frustrated with their search results – but it definitely does not have to be that way.
To solve this problem, it’s always useful to have a good grasp on some basic (and quite a few not so basic!) Google search commands that can help you find what you’re looking for quickly and easily. From word definitions to math problems to searching within the text of a website, book, or magazine, these advanced Google search commands will help you quickly find what you’re looking for the next time you use the world’s most popular search engine to find something.
| Google Shortcut | Finds Pages That Have… |
| Android AND phone | the words Android and phone |
| texting OR driving | either the word texting or the word driving |
| “three blind mice” | the exact phrase three blind mice |
| computer -motherboard | the word computer but NOT the word motherboard |
| Godfather +2 | movie title including the number 2 |
| ~neighborhood | looks up the word auto and synonyms |
| define:miraculous | definitions of the word miraculous |
| ring around the * rosie | the words ring around the roside separated by one or more words |
| + | addition; 978+456 |
| – | subtraction; 978-456 |
| * | multiplication; 978*456 |
| / | division; 978/456 |
| % of | percentage; 50% of 100 |
| ^ | raise to a power; 4^18 (4 to the eighteenth power) |
| old in new (conversion) | 45 celsius in Fahrenheit |
| site:(search only one website) | site:websearchsecrets.com “find people” |
| link:(find linked pages) | link:www.websearchsecrets.com |
| #…#(search within a number range) | Android phone $200…$300 |
| daterange:(search within a specific date range) | bosnia daterange:200508-200510 |
| safesearch: (exclude adult content) | safesearch:breast cancer |
| info: (find info about a page) | info:www.websearchsecrets.com |
| related: (related pages) | related:www.websearchsecrets.com |
| cache: (view cached page) | cache:google.com |
| filetype:(restrict search to specific filetype) | zoology filetype:ppt |
| allintitle: (search for keywords in page title) | allintitle:”nike” running |
| inurl:(restrict search to page URLs) | inurl:chewbacca |
| site:.edu (specific domain search) | site:.edu, site:.gov, site:.org, etc. |
| site:country code (restrict search to country) | site:.br “rio de Janeiro” |
| intext:(search for keyword in body text) | intext:parlor |
| allintext: (return pages with all words specified in body text) | allintext:north pole |
| book(search book text) | book The Lord of the Rings |
| phonebook:(find a phone number) | phonebook:Google CA |
| bphonebook: (find business phone numbers) | bphonebook:Intel OR |
| rphonebook:(find residential phone numbers) | rphonebook:Joe Smith Seattle WA |
| movie:(search for showtimes) | movie:wallace and gromit 97110 |
| stocks:(get a stock quote) | stocks:wrld |
| weather:(get local weather) | weather:97132 |
Most searches are not successful the very first time, but these advanced search tips can help you get where you need to go faster and more efficiently.Once you have all of the above search commands mastered, you should see a marked increase in the quality of your search results. Of course, it’s always smart to experiment a little with how you frame your search query; after all, if at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again (but just use a different search string!).