How to use search parameters in Gmail to find that one lost email

Sometimes, it can feel almost impossible to locate an old email. If you have thousands of emails in your inbox, it can take a long time to go through them all just to find that one email that mentions the time and place you’re supposed to meet someone.

Luckily, Google has some tools to help you finally track down that one long-lost email. Below are some of the ways you can use search parameters in Gmail to locate what you’re missing.

How to use search parameters in Gmail to find that one lost email

1. Find a specific sender

If you want to quickly locate all the emails from a specific sender, use from: in the search bar, followed by the contact you’re trying to locate. For example: from:joe.

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2. Find a specific recipient

If you send a lot of emails, sometimes it can be hard to find the exact email you sent someone. To aid in your search, try searching for the recipient of your email. To do this, use to: in the search bar, followed by the contact you’re looking for. For example: to:sarah. You can also locate a specific recipient by their email address. To do this, type deliveredto: before the email address.

3. Find an email from different senders

Not sure who sent the email you’re looking for? Try searching for emails from two different people by using OR or { }. For example: from:joe OR from:sarah or {from:joe from:sarah}.

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4. Find an email with a specific subject line

If you know that the email you’re looking for has a specific subject line, try searching for that. You can do this by typing subject: followed by what you’re looking for. For example: subject:meeting.

5. Find an exact phrase

If you remember that your lost email has a specific phrase or word, put quotation marks around the phrase that you’re searching for. For example: “meeting on Tuesday”.

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6. Find an email with a specific attachment

If the email you’re looking for has a Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Drive attachment, try searching for that. To do this, type has:document, has:spreadsheet, has:drive, or has:presentation in the search bar.

You can also find an email with a specific attachment by searching the file type or name. To do this, type filename: before the type of file or file name. For example, you can search filename:pdf or filename:classreadinglist.

7. Find an email from a specific time period

If you know that the email you’re looking for is before or after a specific date, try using that in your search. To do this, use before: or after: before the date. For example: before:2017/06/30.