hey, remember that important confirmation number you got via gmail two weeks ago? If your inbox is cluttered, chances are it’s already buried under dozens of messages.
Google has a built-in search feature that makes it more convenient to find any message you’ve received through gmail. It’s not a new feature, but it’s one that can easily go unnoticed.
works similar to how you can use the google search engine to find content on any website. Just like the Google search engine, queries can be easily confused if you’re not specific enough when searching for messages in Gmail. For example, if you’re trying to dig up an old email your bank sent you last month, you’ll have to sift through weeks of messages to find the one you need.
here are some quick and easy tips to retrieve messages from your gmail inbox faster.
1. to find emails from a particular person type “from:” in the gmail search bar. then write the name of the sender. For example, if you’re searching for an email from jane smith, type the following: “from: jane smith.” only emails from jane smith will return as a search result.
2. To find emails you sent to a certain person, type “to:” and then the recipient’s name. so if you want to find the last email sent to john doe, type “to: john doe.”
3. if you’re trying to track a specific email thread, you can use a similar filter for email subjects. Typing “subject:” followed by an email subject term will only display messages with that term in the subject line. For example, if you’re trying to find an email conversation about your friend’s upcoming bachelorette party, you can type “subject: bachelorette party” and your conversation will appear.
4. To search for emails with attachments, type “has: attachment” in the gmail search bar.
these are just some of the advanced search options that google offers in gmail. see the full list of abbreviated terms here.