Free tool · Gmail search
Gmail Search Builder
Find any email — by sender, date, size, attachment or label — without memorising Gmail’s search operators. Pick a ready-made search or build your own, then copy it into Gmail.
Ready-made searches
Gmail storage full? →Gmail search operators, at a glance
Type these straight into Gmail’s search box. Combine as many as you like — a space between them means “and”.
| To find emails… | Type |
|---|---|
| From someone (or from yourself) | from:amy@example.com · from:me |
| Sent to someone, or in Cc or Bcc | to:john@example.com · cc: · bcc: |
| With words in the subject | subject:dinner · subject:(dinner film) |
| With an exact phrase | "dinner and film tonight" |
| Matching either term | from:amy OR from:david · {from:amy from:david} |
| Without a word | dinner -film |
| With words near each other | holiday AROUND 10 vacation |
| Between dates | after:2026/01/01 before:2026/02/01 |
| Older or newer than a period | older_than:1y · newer_than:2d (d, m, y) |
| Bigger than a size | larger:10M · size:1000000 (bytes) |
| With attachments or Google files | has:attachment · has:drive · has:document · has:spreadsheet · has:presentation · has:youtube |
| With a file type or name | filename:pdf · filename:homework.txt |
| Unread, read, starred, important | is:unread · is:read · is:starred · is:important |
| In a label or inbox tab | label:receipts · category:promotions |
| Everywhere, archived or snoozed | in:anywhere · in:archive · in:snoozed |
| Delivered to a particular address | deliveredto:username@example.com |
| From a mailing list | list:info@example.com |
| Muted conversations | is:muted |
Search tips that save time
- Find what’s eating your storage:
larger:10M, thenhas:attachment older_than:1y. Delete or download what you don’t need — then see Gmail storage full for what else to clear. - Turn a search into a filter. Google notes you can use search results to set up a filter, so future emails like these are labelled, archived or deleted automatically.
- Excluding can still show a conversation. Google explains that with a minus such as
-is:starred, a conversation can still appear if at least one message in it doesn’t match. - Search everything. Gmail’s normal search skips spam and the bin; add
in:anywhereto include them. - Labels are per message.
has:userlabelsandhas:nouserlabelslook at individual messages, not whole conversations.
Questions
How do I search Gmail by size?
Type larger: followed by a size, such as larger:10M for emails over 10 MB. size: takes a number of bytes, such as size:1000000.
How do I find old emails in Gmail?
Use older_than: with d, m or y — older_than:1y finds emails more than a year old. For exact dates, use before:2026/01/01 or after:2026/01/01.
How do I search all of Gmail, including spam and the bin?
Add in:anywhere to your search, for example in:anywhere invoice.
How do I find emails with attachments in Gmail?
has:attachment finds any attachment; filename:pdf finds a particular file type; combine with larger: to find the biggest ones.
Is this tool connected to my Gmail?
No. It only builds the search text in your browser. You copy it into Gmail yourself — we never see your mailbox.
Sources
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