Google is the largest search engine nowadays. Many internet users, including me and you (probably) use Google in everyday life. But do you know that there are a lot of tricks you can use to customize your search results? Here are some of them:
Search Operator
Operator
Sample
Explanation
+
peanut butter +and jelly
Google ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how, and other digits and letters that slow down your search without improving the results. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can make sure we pay attention to it by putting a “+” sign in front of it.
~
~fast food
Synonym Search: If you want to search not only for your search term but also for its synonyms, place the tilde sign (~) immediately in front of your search term.
double quotes (“”)
“Ivan Kristianto”
Exact Phrase Search: If you want to search for an exact phrase.
OR
recycle steel OR iron
Will search recycle steel or recycle iron.
Minus sign (-)
Ubuntu sound not working -search
Exclude keyword: You can exclude one or more keywords from search results with the minus sign (-).
Asterisk sign (*)
Isaac Newton discovered *
Fill in the Blank: Sometimes the best way to ask a question is to get Google to ‘fill in the blank’ by adding an asterisk (*) at the part of the sentence or question that you want finished into the Google search box.
Arithmetic Operation
Operator
Sample
Explanation
+ – * /
62 + 14 – 76 * 7 / 5
Basic arithmetic
% of
1.15% of 120000000
Percentage of
^ or **
3^6 or 6**7
Power operator
old units in new units
10.5 cm in inches
Unit Conversion: You can use Google to convert between many different units of measurement of height, weight, and volume among many others. Just enter your desired conversion into the search box and we’ll do the rest.
Information search
Operator
Sample
Explanation
define:keyword or what is or what are
Define philosophy
Dictionary Definitions: To see a definition for a word or phrase, simply type the word “define” then a space, then the word(s) you want defined. To see a list of different definitions from various online sources, you can type “define:” followed by a word or phrase. Note that the results will define the entire phrase.
book
Book Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Book Search: If you’re looking for results from Google Book Search, you can enter the name of the author or book title into the search box. Then, click on “Books” from the left-hand navigation to view book content. You can click through on the record to view more detailed info about that author or title.
phonebook: or rphonebook:
phonebook: Disney CA
Show all phonebook listings.
movie:
movie: the king’s speech
Search for information about this movie, including reviews, showtimes, etc.
stoks:
stocks: google
Given ticker symbols, show stock information.
weather
weather San Francisco, CA
To see the weather for many U.S. and worldwide cities, type “weather” followed by the city and state, U.S. zip code, or city and country.
time
time Denpasar, Bali
To see the time in many cities around the world, type in “time” and the name of the city.
population
population CA
To see trends for population and unemployment rates of U.S. states and counties, type “population” or “unemployment rate” followed by a state or county. You can click through to a page that lets you compare different locations.
airlines name number
american airlines 18
Flight Tracking: To see flight status for arriving and departing U.S. flights, type in the name of the airline and the flight number into the search box.
state name map
Seattle map
Type in the name or U.S. zip code of a location and the word “map” and we’ll return a map of that location. Clicking on the map will take you to a larger version on Google Maps.
old currency in new currency
150 EUR in USD
To use our built-in currency converter, simply enter the conversion you’d like done into the Google search box and we’ll provide your answer directly on the results page.
Patent number
Patent 5123123
To search for U.S. patents, enter the word “patent” followed by the patent number into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button.
USPS number or fedex number or UPS number
1Z9999W99999999999
Package Tracking: You can track packages by typing the tracking number for your UPS, FedEx or USPS package directly into the search box. We’ll return results that include quick links to easily track the status of your shipment.
Additional Query search
Operator
Sample
Explanation
site:
site:www.ivankristianto.com
Search only one website or domain.
keyword filetype:
Linux book filetype:pdf
Find documents of the specified type.
link:
link:www.ivankristianto.com
Find linked pages, i.e., show pages that point to the URL.
info:
info:www.ivankristianto.com
Find info about a page.
related:
related:www.ivankristianto.com
List web pages that are similar or related to the URL.
allinanchor:
allinanchor:www.ivankristianto.com
All query words must appear in anchor text of links to the page.
inanchor:
inanchor:www.ivankristianto.com
Terms must appear in anchor text of links to the page.
allintext:
allintext:ingredients cilantro chicken lime
All query words must appear in the text of the page.
intext:
intext:ingredients cilantro chicken lime
The terms must appear in the text of the page.
allintitle:
allintitle:Ubuntu Beginners Guide
All query words must appear in the title of the page.
intitle:
intitle:Ubuntu Beginners Guide
The terms must appear in the title of the page.
allinurl:
allinurl:ubuntu faq
All query words must appear in the URL.
inurl:
inurl:ubuntu faq
The terms must appear in the URL of the page.
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