Searching (instead of sorting) in Gmail
Post date: Nov 16, 2016 12:44:39 PM
On Monday, 11/7, I had the chance to gather with some of you in the Roderick Computer Lab and review questions you had about using Gmail. This week's topic is Searching in Gmail.
Before we get there here are links to topics already covered on the Tech Tuesday Blog:
Turning Off/On conversation View - Seeing Replies in Gmail
Where can I go if I have a question while using Gmail, Google Calendar, or any other Google App? - Just in time support and training within the Chrome Browser
How do I Sort the emails in my Inbox?
Gmail is based on Search, not Sort, therefore finding emails and looking through emails has to be done in different ways.
The search box at the top of your Gmail window is the key to finding the email you are looking for.
In the search box you can type the following to help you search quickly through your email.
- Email Address
- Keyword(s) in the subject or body of an email
You can also click the down arrow in the search box that is to the left of the magnifying glass to reveal more in-depth search options.
Search - Click the arrows to search in a specific folder. The default is All Mail. Ex, Sent, Trash, Spam.
From - searches for email address in the From field of emails.
To - searches for email address in the To field of emails.
Subject - searches for words or phrases in the Subject field of emails.
Has the words - searches for words or phrases in the Body of emails.
Doesn't have - searches for words or phrases that do not appear anywhere in an email.
Fill out as many of the boxes as you want to refine your search. Using the check boxes, email size, and date are also powerful search tools.
Search Tips
- Search for a specific series of words or a phrase by adding quotes ("") around what you are looking for. Ex. "google training" finds all emails that contain the phrase "google training".
- Using no quotes finds all emails that contain both words, but not necessarily in that form. Ex. google training finds all emails that contain both google and training. Not necessarily in that order.
- Using OR searches for emails that contain one word or phrase as well as another. Ex. google OR training, returns emails that includes both words regardless of order.
Just click Inbox to return to your regular Inbox at anytime during your search.
Searching does not order emails the same way as Sorting would but it attempts to be more flexible in what you can access and refine.