Advanced Search in Gmail

Right around the time I have advanced questions with a particular web service or product, I find a relevant blog post discussing this issue.

This happened with Gmail.com this week, as I was trying to search through the mail archives. I knew Gmail must have slick search features, it was only a question of unlocking this power.

Thankfully the Gmail blog posted details on multiple mail search operators.

• A link from my co-worker Michael: from:michael http
• A photo from my mom: from:mom has:attachment
• That last chat I had with one of the Gmail product managers: keith is:chat
• All messages from ebay that aren’t outbid notices: ebay -outbid (the hyphen tells Gmail to return all of the messages that don’t contain the word that follows it)
• The messages in my inbox sent directly to me that I haven’t read yet: to:me is:unread in:inbox
• limit search to a particular subject (subject:)
• search label (label:)

If you forget the gmail search options use the show search options link

More about searching gmail.