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# Gmail: The 5 Search Filters You Need to Know!
- URL: https://www.jeffsu.org/productivity-ping-57/
- Published: 2022-12-02T01:00:18.000Z
- Updated: 2025-09-05T13:11:50.000Z
- Description: #57
- Author: Jeff
- Tags: #newsletter, Gmail

*(you can* [*filter previous editions*](https://www.jeffsu.org/filter-previous-editions-by-app/) *by application!)*

## 🤔 What is it?

It can be a huge waste of time to use your mouse to search for emails within your inbox (especially if you’ve adopted the [Inbox Zero workflow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al1QXFQjq1s&ref=jeffsu.org))

Case and point: You're searching for an email from a specific colleague but get distracted by another email and you lose track of what you were trying to do

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/db/85/db858a9d-1c4f-4993-8042-faa87b9bb3c1/content/images/2022/12/image.png)

## 🤷🏻 What should I do instead?

I’ve found myself using these 5 Gmail search filters / operators on a daily basis. Practice using them for 2 weeks and it will pay off forever.

### from:

If you know the sender, combine this with the “exact match” search operator to find a specific email immediately

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/db/85/db858a9d-1c4f-4993-8042-faa87b9bb3c1/content/images/2022/12/image-1.png)

### in:sent

This search operator can be used before a keyword or a recipient email. No need to ever navigate to the <Sent> folder again

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/db/85/db858a9d-1c4f-4993-8042-faa87b9bb3c1/content/images/2022/12/image-2.png)

### has:attachment

This returns all emails with an attachment. Use this with another search operator like <from:> to narrow down search results

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/db/85/db858a9d-1c4f-4993-8042-faa87b9bb3c1/content/images/2022/12/image-3.png)

### is:unread

SUPER helpful for Inbox Zero workflow users. A lot of our unread emails go straight to a label (without ever hitting the main inbox) so this reveals all those unread emails in 1 go

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/db/85/db858a9d-1c4f-4993-8042-faa87b9bb3c1/content/images/2022/12/image-4.png)

The main inbox shows 0 unread emails

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/db/85/db858a9d-1c4f-4993-8042-faa87b9bb3c1/content/images/2022/12/image-5.png)

But all the unread emails are actually archived + labeled

### label:\[label\]

The one I probably use the most since I have a lot of Project labels so it’s so nice to be able to have all emails related to 1 project in a single view

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/db/85/db858a9d-1c4f-4993-8042-faa87b9bb3c1/content/images/2022/12/image-6.png)

[Which one is your favorite? Let me know!](https://www.jeffsu.org/productivity-ping-57/#ghost-comments-root)

## 🌟 Bonus Tip

You can use Gmail’s latest “Search Chip” feature to further refine your searches. I find the “Exclude calendar updates” chip to be the most helpful

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/db/85/db858a9d-1c4f-4993-8042-faa87b9bb3c1/content/images/2022/12/image-7.png)

---

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