Build a Gmail search
Try an example
Gmail query
Gmail operators this builds
The builder covers common Gmail search operators: from:, to:, subject:, after:, before:, older_than:, newer_than:, has:attachment, exclusions, and grouped senders.
The operator set follows Google's Gmail search operator documentation.
Common recipes
A few search patterns that come up often. Copy them straight into Gmail, or rebuild them in the tool above to tweak the values.
- Every attachment from one sender, older than a year:
from:amy@example.com has:attachment older_than:1y - Unread mail from any of two people:
{from:amy@example.com from:david@example.com} is:unread - Invoices that are PDFs but not internal drafts:
filename:pdf invoice -subject:draft - Anything you sent containing a follow-up phrase:
from:me "following up" - Large attachments hiding in any folder, including spam and trash:
has:attachment larger:10M in:anywhere - Mail in a specific window:
after:2026/01/01 before:2026/02/01
Tips that aren't obvious
- Multiple senders need brace syntax. Comma-separating
from:values does not work; the builder rewrites them as{from:a@example.com from:b@example.com}automatically. older_than:is relative to today, whilebefore:is an absolute date. Use the relative form for evergreen searches you save.- Excluding a phrase is a leading dash:
-subject:newsletteror-receipt. Multi-word phrases need quotes. - Gmail search ignores common words and punctuation. If a query feels too loose, add a quoted phrase like
"thank you"to anchor it. - To include archived, spam, and trash in the same search, turn on All mail — it adds
in:anywhere, which most other operators silently exclude.