Advanced search operators: How to refine your search for accurate results
Ever search for something on the internet and get thousands of results that don’t really match what you're looking for? Did you know you can get more accurate results by using “search operators"? These are special words, characters and commands you add to search term(s) to give you more refined and targeted results.
So how do you search for a keyword? Try these advanced search operators, alone or in combination, to get the results you need in seconds!
Boolean operators: The name may be unusual, but the search results are accurate!
Boolean search operators
You may be wondering what a “Boolean” is – or how to pronounce it! Boolean operators were named in honor of 19th century British mathematician George Boole, the inventor of Boolean algebra. Based on his system of logic, a Boolean search combines keywords with three “operators” – AND, OR and NOT – to refine and organize searches. To help produce more accurate and relevant results, the symbols *, () and “” can also be used with the Boolean search terms.
It is important to remember that the three operators must always be written in ALL CAPS to differentiate them from the search terms. Boolean search operators are commonly used in database searches and will work in internet search engines as well.
How Boolean search operators work
AND: If you want your search to contain more than one key word, you can add AND. A search for bacon AND eggs will return results that contain both the word “bacon” and the word “eggs.” AND is also useful in more complicated search phrases where the terms are grouped using parentheses, as shown below.
OR: This operator lets you search for several terms simultaneously. If you are interested in either bacon or eggs, you can search for bacon OR eggs. All the search results will contain one or the other keyword, and maybe both.
NOT: If you want results about bacon but don’t want them to include eggs, you can use NOT to sift that term out: bacon NOT eggs.
Quotation marks: If you want your search results to include an exact phrase, put it in quotation marks like this: “bacon and eggs recipe”.
Asterisk: Adding an asterisk to a word will expand your results to include variations on a word. For example, a search for develop* will include words like development, developing, developed, etc.
Parentheses: What if you want to combine several search terms – for example, you are looking for a breakfast recipe and you’d like it to contain bacon, eggs, or both? Typing breakfast recipeAND bacon OR eggs is confusing for the search engine, which doesn’t know how to prioritize the search terms. Parentheses make your search intention clearer – in this case by entering “breakfast recipe” AND (bacon OR eggs).
Does Google search use Boolean operators?
Today, strict Boolean operators are mostly used in database searched. You can use Boolean operators in a Google search, but they are not always necessary. For example, if you search for bacon eggs, by default Google and most web search engines will return the same results as a search for bacon AND eggs – namely, all listed results will contain both the word “bacon” and the word “eggs”.
Modern search engines such as Google, Bing, etc. allow many more search operators than the Boolean system. Some of them even duplicate the function of a Boolean operator. For example, the minus symbol can be used instead of NOT. So, you could use bacon NOT eggs or bacon -eggs to get results that contain the word bacon but not eggs.
Google advanced search operators
Looking for results in a specific language or on a specific website? Google and other search engines also work with search operators that you can simply type into the search bar to make your search much more granular. Advanced search operators for Google and other search engines go far beyond Boolean’s original system.
For example, if I wanted to search for the exact phrase “fish and chips”, limit my search to domains located in the United Kingdom and exclude bacon, my search phrase would look like this: “fish and chips” site:.co.uk -bacon. The important thing to remember when using this technique is that there can’t be a space between your search operator (e.g. site:) and the term that it applies to.
Here is a list of 30 advanced search operators you may find useful:
Search Operator
Meaning
Example
Basic Refinements
" (Quotation Marks)
Finds an exact match for a word or phrase.
"golden retriever"
- (Minus Sign)
Excludes specific terms.
dog -corgi -husky
* (Wildcard)
Substitutes for any word(s) in a phrase.
"best * for dogs"
OR
Finds results that include either of the terms.
labrador OR beagle
() (Parentheses)
Groups terms and operators for complex searches.
(poodle OR shih tzu) AND training
Site-Specific Search
site:
Searches within a specific website or domain.
puppies site:akc.org
related:
Finds websites similar to a given site.
related:dogtime.com
Title, URL, and Text Searches
intitle:
Searches for terms in the page title.
intitle:"dog grooming"
allintitle:
Ensures all specified terms appear in the title.
allintitle:dog training tools
inurl:
Searches for terms in the page URL.
inurl:puppy-care
allinurl:
Ensures all terms are in the URL.
allinurl:dog health tips
intext:
Searches for terms in the body text of pages.
intext:"feeding schedules for dogs"
allintext:
Ensures all terms are in the text of pages.
allintext:dog breeds family
Filetype and Format Searches
filetype:
Restricts results to specific file types.
dog training guide filetype:pdf
ext:
A synonym for filetype:.
dog breeds ext:docx
Date-Related Searches
before: and after:
Filters results by publication date.
puppy care after:2020 before:2023
Cache and Link-Related Searches
cache:
Displays Google’s cached version of a page.
cache:dogbreedsinfo.com
link:
Finds pages that link to a specified URL.
link:akc.org
Proximity Search
AROUND(X)
Finds terms within X words of each other.
dog AROUND(3) agility
Definition
define:
Provides definitions for a term.
define:canine
Search in a Specific Language
lang:
Filters results by language.
dog lang:fr
Google-Specific Features
stocks:
Searches for stock information.
stocks:PETM
weather:
Displays weather information.
weather:Philadelphia
movie:
Searches for movie information.
movie:A Dog's Purpose
map:
Brings up map results.
map:dog parks near me
source:
Restricts news results to a specific source.
dog breeds source:NYTimes
Number Range, Unit Conversion and Price Search
Price Search (currency + ..)
Finds items within a price range.
dog toys $10..$30
Unit Conversion (plain text)
Converts between units.
5 kg to lbs
.. (Number Range)
Searches within a numeric range.
dog size 20..50 lbs
Math/Measurement Conversion
Performs calculations or conversions.
30 inches to cm
30 inches in cm
location:
Searches for results from a specific location.
dog trainers location:Boston
inanchor:
Searches for terms in anchor text (linked text).
"adopt a dog"
You can combine these operators to create complex and highly refined queries. For example, searching for
will limit your search to PDFs on educational sites about dog training (excluding “basic”) where the words “obedience” and “training” appear close together and the content is related to products or services priced between $10 and $50.
Do search operators work with other search engines besides Google?
Yes, they do! All the advanced search operators in the table above should also work in the Bing search engine, for example – except, of course, for the ones that are listed as “Google specific”.
Boolean operators are not specific to any search engine. You may find, however, that certain operators return more refined results depending on the platform. For example, the + search operator, which can be used to find the exact match of a word or phrase (e.g. +corgi puppy), seems to work much better on Bing than Google.
We hope our post on search operators helps you find the search results you’re looking for more quickly! We look forward to your feedback below!
