Advanced search made easy

Once you know the basics of search, you might want to try Advanced Search, which offers numerous options for making your searches more precise and getting more useful results.

You can do a lot more with search than just typing in search terms. With Advanced Search, you can search only for pages:

• that contain ALL the search terms you type in
• that contain the exact phrase you type in
• that contain at least one of the words you type in
• that do NOT contain any of the words you type in
• that were created in a certain file format
• that have been updated within a certain period of time
• that have the term in a specific part of the web page
• that are on a particular part of the web

Advanced search "operators"

You can also improve your searches by adding "operators" to your search terms in the Google search box, or selecting them from the Advanced Search page.

Advanced search operators include:

• Include Search
• Synonym Search
• OR Search
• Other Advanced Search Features

"+" search

Our search engine ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how, and other digits and letters which slow down your search without improving the results. We'll indicate if a word has been excluded by displaying details on the results page below the search box.

If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.)

Synonym search

If you want to search not only for your search term but also for its synonyms, place the tilde sign ("~") immediately in front of your search term.

For example, here's how to search for material synonymous with goggles :

"OR" search

To find pages that include either of two search terms, add an uppercase OR between the terms.

For example, here's how to search for the terms safety harness or cradle: