Gmail Search Operators Cheatsheet (40+ Filters, Copy-Paste Ready)
The complete Gmail search operator reference: find large attachments, old emails, unread threads, and anything else in seconds. 40+ copy-paste filters for 2026.
TL;DR: Gmail has 40+ search operators that turn a 30-minute hunt into a 5-second filter. The most useful: larger:10M (find big emails), older_than:1y (find ancient threads), has:attachment filename:pdf (find PDFs specifically), from:domain.com (everything from a company), and is:unread category:promotions (clean out promo backlog). Paste them straight into Gmail's search bar.
If you've ever scrolled looking for an email from 2022, or tried to manually find every PDF over 10 MB, you've been doing it the hard way. Gmail's search bar is one of the most powerful tools Google ships, and almost nobody uses it past from: and to:.
This cheatsheet covers every operator that's still actively useful in 2026, organized by what you're trying to do. Every example is copy-paste ready — drop them straight into Gmail's search bar.
Size operators — find what's eating your storage
These are the operators most people Google for first when their inbox fills up.
| Operator | What it finds | Example |
|---|---|---|
larger:10M | Any email over 10 MB | larger:10M |
larger:5M | Any email over 5 MB | larger:5M |
size:10485760 | Exact byte threshold (10 MB) | size:10485760 |
smaller:1M | Tiny emails (often confirmations) | smaller:1M |
has:attachment | Anything with a file attached | has:attachment |
has:attachment larger:10M | Big attachments specifically | has:attachment larger:10M |
filename:pdf | PDFs by name | filename:pdf |
filename:pdf larger:10mb | PDFs over 10 MB | filename:pdf larger:10mb |
filename:mp4 | Video files | filename:mp4 |
filename:zip OR filename:rar | Archives | filename:zip OR filename:rar |
Note:
larger:10Mandlarger:10mbboth work. Gmail acceptsM,MB,K, andKBinterchangeably.
Date operators — find old (or recent) threads
Use these when you're hunting for something from a specific window, or cleaning out the archaeology.
| Operator | What it finds | Example |
|---|---|---|
older_than:1y | Emails older than 1 year | older_than:1y |
older_than:6m | Older than 6 months | older_than:6m has:attachment |
older_than:90d | Older than 90 days | older_than:90d is:unread |
newer_than:7d | From the last 7 days | newer_than:7d from:boss@company.com |
before:2024/01/01 | Before a specific date | before:2024/01/01 has:attachment |
after:2026/01/01 | After a specific date | after:2026/01/01 from:hr@ |
Sender, recipient, and routing operators
Anything involving people, addresses, or labels.
| Operator | What it finds | Example |
|---|---|---|
from:name@domain.com | Emails from a specific address | from:billing@stripe.com |
from:domain.com | Anyone @ a domain | from:linkedin.com |
to:name@domain.com | Emails sent to someone | to:client@acme.com |
cc: / bcc: | Where you were CC'd / BCC'd | cc:legal@company.com |
list: | Mailing list emails | list:newsletter@substack.com |
in:sent | Things you sent | in:sent has:attachment larger:10M |
in:inbox | Inbox only | in:inbox is:unread |
in:anywhere | Including spam and trash | in:anywhere subject:"refund" |
label:work | Anything with a specific label | label:work older_than:6m |
has:userlabels | Emails with any custom label | has:userlabels in:inbox |
has:nouserlabels | Unlabeled emails | has:nouserlabels older_than:30d |
Content and subject operators
For finding the actual words in the email.
| Operator | What it finds | Example |
|---|---|---|
subject:invoice | Word in the subject line | subject:invoice from:stripe.com |
subject:"exact phrase" | Exact phrase in subject | subject:"flight confirmation" |
"exact phrase" | Exact phrase anywhere in body | "signed lease agreement" |
+receipt | Force-include a word (no synonyms) | +receipt 2025 |
-spam | Exclude a word | from:slack.com -channel |
OR | Either match | from:stripe.com OR from:paypal.com |
AND | Both match (implicit by default) | from:hr@ AND subject:offer |
() | Group operators | (from:slack.com OR from:notion.com) older_than:30d |
State operators — read, unread, starred, snoozed
Bulk-cleaning by message state is one of the highest-leverage uses of operators.
| Operator | What it finds | Example |
|---|---|---|
is:unread | Anything you haven't read | is:unread category:promotions |
is:read | Already read | is:read older_than:30d category:promotions |
is:starred | Starred emails | is:starred from:contractor@ |
is:important | Gmail-marked important | is:important newer_than:7d |
is:snoozed | Snoozed threads | is:snoozed |
is:muted | Muted threads | is:muted |
category:promotions | Promotions tab | category:promotions is:unread |
category:updates | Notifications/updates tab | category:updates older_than:7d |
category:social | Social notifications | category:social older_than:14d |
category:forums | Forum digests | category:forums older_than:30d |
Bulk cleanup recipes (copy-paste)
The real power of operators is combining them. Here are the recipes that save the most time:
Delete every unread promo
is:unread category:promotions
Run, select all, hit delete. Reclaims gigabytes for most inboxes.
Find big files you sent (often forgotten)
in:sent has:attachment larger:10M
You probably uploaded that 80 MB video to a client twice. Find both.
Clean out year-old social notifications
category:social older_than:1y
Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook digests from 2024 add up.
Unread newsletters older than a month — give up gracefully
is:unread list:* older_than:30d
If you haven't read it in 30 days, you weren't going to.
Find every receipt from one vendor in 2025
from:stripe.com after:2025/01/01 before:2026/01/01 subject:receipt
Tax season made easy.
Hunt for a specific PDF you can't find
filename:contract.pdf
Gmail searches inside attachment names. Most people forget this.
Operators that quietly stopped working
A few classic operators are deprecated or unreliable in 2026:
has:chat— Chat history moved to Google Chat; this rarely matches anything in modern Gmail.has:voicemail— Google Voice transcripts integration was deprecated.is:chat— Same ashas:chat. Not useful.
If a Stack Overflow answer from 2014 tells you to use one of these and nothing matches, that's why.
Pairing operators with AI for less email overall
Search operators help you triage and clean. They don't help you write the responses faster. That's where an AI email tool earns its keep — once your inbox is breathing, the next bottleneck is composing replies.
Aeralis writes drafts directly inside Gmail, learns your style from the threads you open, and stays scoped to the current message — no inbox scraping. If you're cleaning up storage and drowning in unread, the two together are the real fix. See pricing (free plan, no credit card).
Frequently asked questions
What is the largest file size Gmail will let me search?
larger: accepts any value. Practical caps exist on Gmail's 25 MB send limit, but you can search for larger:50M to find legacy threads or imported emails over the limit.
Does older_than: count by message date or thread date?
By the date of the message, not the thread. A 2-year-old thread with a recent reply will not match older_than:1y.
Can I use search operators on the Gmail mobile app?
Yes. The same operators work in the mobile app's search bar, exactly as on desktop. The only difference is you'll see fewer results per page.
Do search operators work for Google Workspace business accounts?
Yes. All consumer Gmail operators work in Google Workspace too. Workspace adds a few admin-only operators (like app:) but everything in this cheatsheet works for both.
How do I save a search as a filter?
After running any search, click the small arrow inside the search bar → "Create filter." Gmail uses the same operator syntax for filters, so anything you can search, you can auto-route.
Related reading
- Gmail Storage Full? Free Up Gigabytes in 10 Minutes — the full cleanup workflow if you're at capacity
- How to Delete Large Gmail Attachments — focused on attachment cleanup specifically
- Why Is My Gmail Storage Full? — understand the shared 15 GB quota across Gmail, Drive, and Photos
- Email Time Trap — why operators alone don't fix the deeper email overload
About the Author
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