I’ve been using Google since the early 90s, when it was first conceived, and have been using it daily since. And yet, even I didn’t know some the shortcuts found below, brought to us by brightside.me.
1. Either this or that
Sometimes we’re not sure of, whether we’re looking for, say, a picture of Jennifer Anniston or Jennifer Lawrence. To overcome this common problem, simply put in both names, separating them with the word ”or” (or the pipe symbol “|” ).
2. Searching using synonyms
How many times do you have the word you’re looking for at the tip of your tongue, but can’t for the life of you remember it? To overcome this, just add the “~” symbol to your search. For example, if you search for the term “healthy ~food” you’ll get results about the principles of healthy eating, cooking recipes, as well as healthy dining options.
3. Searching within websites
You know the salad recipe you’re looking for was on brightside.me, but can’t find it anymore. So, search within the website: type the address of the site, then a keyword or entire phrase from the article, and it should come up immediately.
4. The power of the asterisk
If your memory is anything like mine, you’ll often find it hard to recall the specific keyword, phrase, or number you need in order to find what you’re looking for. But don’t despair! Just turn to the powerful asterisk – “*” – symbol and use it in place of the missing word/phrase.
5. When lots of words are missing
If it’s the lengthier half of the phrase you can’t remember rather than a single keyword, as in when you’re trying to remember a quote, try writing out the first and last words and putting “AROUND + (the approximate number of missing words)“ between them. For example, ”I wandered AROUND(4) cloud.”
6. Using a time frame
Sometimes we urgently need to acquaint ourselves with events that occurred during a certain period of time. To do so, you can add a time frame to your search query with the help of three dots between the dates. For example, if you want to find out about scientific discoveries during the 20th century, write:
7. Finding similar websites
If you’ve found something you really like online and want to find similar websites, type in “related:” and then the address of the site, again without a space between them.
8. Whole phrases
Framing your search term within quotation marks is the simplest and most effective way to find something specific and in the exact order you typed it in.
For example, if you type in the words I’m picking up good vibrations without quotation marks, the search engine will show the results where these words appear in any order on a website, as opposed to the specific order in which you typed them.
If, on the other hand, you type “I’m picking up good vibrations” within quotation marks, you’ll get only those results where these words appear only in the order you typed them in. This is a great way to find the lyrics to a song when you only know one line from it.
9. Unimportant search words
To remove unimportant search words from your query, simply write a minus symbol before each one. For example, if you want to find a site about interesting books, but you aren’t looking to buy them, you can write the following:
For more tips, check out the full post on brightside.me.
Learn something new every day… thanks Nick!
A pleasure 🙂
Very valuable list. I’ve not used many of these. However, Nicholas, I must respectfully correct you about when you began using Google. Google was not begun until 1996. Likely you began using it in the latter part of the 90s.
You might be right; I’m terrible with numbers. Having said that, I do remember it was my second year in Edinburgh, which would make it 96. Chris Kant, the department’s IT guy, showed me a beta version of Google, telling me this could be a big thing.
Thanks for this awesome, timesaving post! I didn’t know about narrowing the search with asterisk and quotations. Brilliant! 🙂 Google is my best friend. 🙂
Yay! So glad you found it useful 😀
For sure! 🙂
Awesome. Thank you, Nicholas. Bookmarked!
I thought you might find it useful, with all the research you put in your books 🙂
I’ve used the asterisk and the quotes. Good to know there are more ways to search. Great post, Nicholas. Thanks for sharing. 😀
Yay! So glad you found it useful 🙂
Indeed, I did. 🙂
This is a great time saver. I didn’t know half of these. Thanks!
Most of them I knew, then forgot. Sigh…
Been a big fan of the quotes trick and used a few of these without really knowing it. Need to keep these in mind whenever I’m researching. Thanks.
I used to know so many of these, yet every time I see them they strike me as new info. Sigh…
I think I learned them long ago, but never put most of them into action. Always managed to find what I was looking for though. At the very least, I’d learn a few extras things while wandering.
A very zen way of looking at it 😀
Guess so. I was just going to say an iffy attention span.
The asterisk is a good tip. Someone showed me that a long time ago, and I had forgotten it. Until now!
Best wishes, Pete.
Same here. Most of these I knew, then forgot. Not getting any younger, I guess. Sigh…
Thanks so much for sharing this, Nicholas. I know I’m not using Google at its best possibilities. Now I can at least improve that 😉
So glad you found it useful 🙂