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What Are Advanced Search Options?
Use advanced filters to narrow down search results
By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on February 16, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Around the Web Browsers Cloud Services Error Messages Family Tech Home Networking 5G Antivirus Around the Web Advanced search options are a set of filters offered by most search engines on the web. They narrow the scope of a search query to eliminate irrelevant information to help you find the exact content you're looking for. These filters aren't limited to websites like Google. Any website with a search tool can incorporate additional search choices, including people search engines, music and video streaming sites, email programs and websites, social media platforms, and blogs. 10 Best Web Search Tricks Everyone Should Know Common Advanced Search Option Filters
The best web search engines like Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and Bing all have tabs you can select after performing a search that limits the results to things like web pages, videos, images, map directions, news, etc. Advanced search options take it further by letting you decide which words shouldn't appear in the results, which websites to search, the language of the pages, and more. Google's Advanced Search Page. Here's a list of those kinds of options commonly found on web search tools: Language: Specify which language you'd like results to come back in. Region: Specify which geographical region searches should focus on. Last updated: Good for returning recently updated content, but can be used to find content published between specific dates. Site or domain: Limit searches to a single website, web page, or top-level domain (e.g., EDU or GOV). URL: Show only websites where your search query appears in the URL. Safe search: Filter for language and explicit images, although it's not always reliable for avoiding dangerous websites. Reading level: Determine the reading level you'd like the results to come back in. File type: Search for a specific file format such as Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, and others. Google is one example that can do this. Usage rights: Find pages that you have permission to use. Specific phrases: Use quotation marks to return results where all of those words are side by side. Maps: Displays businesses or locations related to your search. Shopping: Displays items related to your search entry that can be purchased. News: Displays articles that are considered newsworthy or pertinent to the search term. Recent weather-related news on Google. Some search engines include more options for images, videos, news, and other content. Color: Force all images in the results to have an overwhelming color that matches the one you choose. Size: Find high-resolution images or small ones. Some search engines include an advanced image search that shows pictures that match the exact size you choose. Type: Find GIFs, portraits, clip art, line drawings, or only pictures that include a face. Duration: Locate short or long videos, usually designated by time, such as 0-4 minutes or more than 20 minutes. Quality: Filter the results to show only high-quality videos. Some let you pick the exact video resolution, such as 1080p. Feature: Results include the feature you selected, such as subtitles, location information, and live content. Source: Show video results from a specific site only. Time: When looking for books, you might be given the option to pick which century it was created in. Bing advanced search options for images. Using Advanced Search Options
Individual search engines use different algorithms and operators, so an advanced search option from one site probably won't work on another. Plus, how to get to a website's advanced search tools isn't always obvious. Google
See our Google Search Commands article for a list of advanced search operators for Google. You can access advanced search at google.com/advanced_search. Bing
Bing is another example. There are lots of Bing search tips that involve IP addresses, RSS feeds, and more. Advanced site search on Bing. DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo's submenu below the primary tabs, is how you affect the search results. For example, choosing Videos lets you filter the results by date uploaded, resolution, and duration. Picking a different location shows region-relevant results. 10 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do with DuckDuckGo DuckDuckGo region search options. Yahoo
Yahoo has a handy set of options that include defining the video source, if you're researching videos. It lets you pick from websites like MTV, MSN, CNN, and YouTube, as well as resolutions as high as 1080p or higher. Yahoo video search results. YouTube
For YouTube, the FILTERS option below the search bar (visible after you perform the search) is how you apply advanced search options when looking for videos. It includes parameters for when it was uploaded, the type (playlist, channel, etc.), features, and duration. YouTube search filters. Twitter
Twitter's advanced search tool lets you search by hashtag, phrase, language, account, number of tweets, date, and more. Twitter advanced search. Email
Email programs and web apps often provide search options to help you sift through the hundreds or thousands of emails you have in your account. These could include attachment size, whether an attachment is present, words provided in the subject line or body, date the email was sent or received, the folder the message is stored in, the address it was sent to or received from, or the size of the email. Learn how to use search operators in Gmail for more information, or how to use Outlook.com search operators. Similar methods are available from most other email providers. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Search in Google Sheets How to Find the Most Popular Searches Online Bing Advanced Search Tricks You Should Know The 7 Best Mobile Search Engines Search Engines: What They Are & How They Work 10 Best Web Search Tricks Everyone Should Know How to Pick the Right Search Engine How to Find a Website 8 Free Ways to Find Someone Online How to Search Your Own Tweets in Your Twitter Feed How to Use Quotation Marks to Find Exact Phrases Online What Is Bing and How to Use It Oodle: Free Local Classifieds 6 Best Ways to Search for People on Facebook 5 Best Ways to Find a Cell Phone Number Online What Is a Boolean Search? Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies