Search Operator Cheat Sheet

Operator Example Effect Notes

AND cats AND dogs / cats +dogs Strongly restricts search results Google uses +
NOT dogs NOT Doberman / dogs -doberman Restricts search results Google uses -
OR Cats OR dogs Expands search results Google & databases
(nesting) dogs (training OR lessons) Words in brackets go first Google & databases
“phrase searching” “sustainable architecture” Searches for exact phrase Google & databases
? cigarettes ? your lungs Guesses a word you’ve forgotten Databases only
* powerful magic* Guesses all the different word endings Databases only
* cigarettes * your lungs Guesses a word you’ve forgotten Google only
~ ~inexpensive laptop Searches using synonyms of the word Google only
.. russian revolution 1800..2000 Search with a number range Google only
inurl:(no space) inurl:edu Searches for pages with this in address Google only
intitle:(no space) intitle:dog Searches for pages with this in title Google only
filetype:pdf Searches for a certain file type, e.g. PDF
filetype:(no space) Google only
only
link:www.bisvietnam.com Counts how many sites are linked to this
link:(no space) Google only
one