Embedded Files
If you receive hundreds of emails each week, Power Search can help you find exactly what you’re looking for—fast. Gmail includes a search bar with advanced filters and search operators that let you search by sender, date, keyword, label, and more.
💬 Pro Tip: Combine operators to narrow your search even more — for example:
from:principal@vacavilleusd.org subject:meeting after:2024/09/01
💬 Pro Tip: Searching for attachments? Use has:attachment or filename: followed by part of the file name to find documents instantly.
💬 Pro Tip: Use the search bar to locate archived or filtered emails that no longer appear in your inbox — Power Search looks across all mail by default.
⚙️ Two Ways to Search
⚙️ Two Ways to Search
Use the Search Options Menu
Click the funnel/search options icon (🔽) at the end of the Gmail search bar.
A dialog box will open, allowing you to search by sender, subject, keywords, attachments, and date range.
Click Search to see results that match your criteria.
Use Search Operators
Type operators directly into the Gmail search bar for quick, powerful searches.
These short commands help narrow down results with precision.
Operator
Operator
Example
Example
What It Does
What It Does
from:
to:
subject:
label:
filename:
in:
before: / after:
- (minus sign)
OR
from:johndoe@vacavilleusd.org
to:parent@domain.com
subject:meeting
label:Technology
filename:roster.pdf
in:trash
before:2024/12/31
dinner -movie
meeting OR training
Finds emails from a specific sender
Find emails sent to a specific person
Searches for emails with "meeting" in the subject line
Searches within a specific folder
Finds emails with an attached file named "roster.pdf"
Searches a specific mailbox area (inbox, trash, sent, etc.)
Filters emails by date
Excludes certain words or results
Finds messages containing either word
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