How I Find
Narrow By File Format
filetype: (or ext:)
Restrict By Source
site:
inurl: (or allinurl:)
For Definitions
define:
Find Inbound Links
link:
If The Search Result Is Offline/Moved:
cache:
(you can also click the ellipsis symbol '⋮' on a search result, and then select the "cached" button, if available – sometimes a text-only version is even better, especially if it's a PDF document)
location: e.g. BC for British Columbia, Canada
source: e.g. New York Times
weather:
Quoted/Exact Phrases
" "
(also use if you need to search for a stop word, e.g. "LA", or to prevent automatic stemming, e.g. bicycle & bicycling)
Excluding Certain Words/Terms
-
(minus sign, followed by the term, without a space)
Wildcards In An Exact Phrase
*
(with a space before & after)
Words Close Together
AROUND(n)
(where n is the maximum number of words between the term before and after the 'AROUND')
Did You Know
Google limits search queries to 32 words.
Google search is not case sensitive, except for special operators like "OR" and "AND".
Google ignores punctuation, except apostrophes.
With hyphens, Google searches for all permutations, unless told otherwise (e.g. non-profit, nonprofit and non profit).
For abbreviations, it's hit or miss. Sometimes Google is smart enough to know what GDP is (i.e. it can return Gross Domestic Product), but too dumb to search for 'television' is you write 'TV'.
Instead of 'OR', you can use '|' (even without spaces).
The tilde (i.e. ~) is used to search for synonyms.
Don't forget about the image search (or even reverse image search, where you upload an image to find it on the internet [click the camera icon]). Under tools, you can also find some cool filters, like usage rights and type.
Remember, an advanced search is always possible.
Google's Books NGram Viewer can graph the popularity of certain terms from 1800 onwards.
More Filter Options
Under Tools
By date modified (click: 'Any time')
Under Settings
By language (click the quick settings icon)
Fun Google Commands
Without The Quotation Marks
"roll a die" / "flip a coin"
“pac-man” / “play Solitaire”
“breathing exercise”
“timer” / “stopwatch”
“do a barrel roll” / "askew"
"blink HTML"
"Google in 1998"
"=" calculation
"what’s my ip"
“animal sounds"
"DVD screensaver"
“google color picker”
Fun Languages
e.g. Muppets, Elmer Fudd, Klingon, Pig Latin and Pirate.
Chrome
You can launch a game on the “Unable to connect to the Internet” screen (just hit the spacebar to start).
No Longer Working
celebrity "bacon number"