Introduction

For anyone that’s been doing SEO for any amount of time, Google advanced search operators—i.e., special commands that make regular searches seem laughably basic in comparison—are nothing new. It’s fairly easy to remember most search operators. They’re short commands that you can recall quickly. But knowing how to use them effectively is an altogether different story.

Google’s catalog of information is a huge place. It’s a universe in and of itself with more information than it is possible to process in a lifetime. Search operators can be useful in finding a specific article title, even researching an author, or looking for guest posting opportunities for your business. Whether you are a digital marketer, a student, or casual Google user, search operators are an incredibly powerful tool for research that can be useful in your day-to-day browsing experience.

Did you know that Google is constantly doing away with useful operators?

  • That’s why most existing lists of Google search operators are outdated and inaccurate.
  • For this project, I personally tested EVERY search operator that I list.
  • On the left is a list of all working, non‐working, and “hit and miss” Google advanced search operators as of 2019.
    • Filetype:

    Restrict results to those of a certain filetype. E.g., PDF, DOCX, TXT, PPT, etc. Note: The “ext:” operator can also be used—the results are identical.

  • Note: The “ext:” operator can also be used—the results are identical.
  • When you don’t specify a File Format in the Advanced Search Form or the filetype: operator, Google searches a variety of file formats;
    • Example: Samsung filetype:pdf / Samsung ext:pdf
    Define:

    A dictionary built into Google, basically. This will display the meaning of a word in a card‐like result in the SERPs.

  • If you start your query with define:, Google shows definitions from pages on the web for the term that follows
  • This advanced search operator is useful for finding definitions of words, phrases, and acronyms.
    • For example, [ define: blog ] will show definitions for “Blog” (weB LOG).
    intitle:

    Find pages with a certain word (or words) in the title.

    This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

    In my example, any results containing the word “Full Stack” in the title tag will be returned.

    Example: intitle:Full Stack
    allintitle:

    Similar to “intitle,” but only results containing all of the specified words in the title tag will be returned.

    This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

    In Image Search, the operator allintitle: will return images in files whose names contain the terms that you specify.

    In Google News, the operator allintitle: will return articles whose titles include the terms you specify.

    Example: allintitle:Visual Studio Code
    inurl:

    Find pages with a certain word (or words) in the URL.

    There must be no space between the inurl: and the following word.

    In URLs, words are often run together. They need not be run together when you’re using inurl:.

    Example: inurl:Java Script
    allinurl:

    Similar to “inurl,” but only results containing all of the specified words in the URL will be returned.

    In URLs, words are often run together. They need not be run together when you’re using allinurl:.

    When using allinurl: in your query, do not include any other search operators.

    The functionality of allinurl: is also available through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

    Example: allinurl:Github
    intext:

    Find pages containing a certain word (or words) somewhere in the content.

    There must be no space between the intext: and the following word.

    Putting intext: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting allintext: at the front of your query

    Example: intext:Codepen
    allintext:

    Similar to “intext,” but only results containing all of the specified words somewhere on the page will be returned.

    This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

    Example: allintext:apple iphone
    site:

    Limit results to those from a specific website.

    Do not include a space between the “site:” and the domain.

    You can also restrict your results to a site or domain through the domains selector on the Advanced Search page.

    Example: site:github.com