Five Tips For Searching Gmail 
So You Will Actually Find 
What You're Looking For 

*image generated using Gemini's Nano Banana tool

It is interesting to me how when something gets spoken aloud often enough, it just becomes recognized as fact. I did a little research and learned that this is called the Illusory Truth Effect. Familiarity can overpower rationality and our brains start to process the repeated information as truth. The way to avoid falling into this trap is to stay skeptical and do your reasearch. I found myself caught in this loop recently as I had multiple conversations with people who had been struggling to find what they were searching for in gmail. The Illusory Truth Effect is even stronger when the information comes from multiple sources. I had similar conversations about gmail with teachers, friends, and family members. 

Then, I reminded myself of one simple fact: Google is a search engine. 

I'm not saying that my friends, family members, and colleagues were wrong. I believe that searching in gmail has been a struggle. I have experienced this myself. But I decided to do some research into ways to combat the black hole of my gmail inbox, and figure out how to take matters into my own hands so I can get the results I want. 

I'm happy to share what I have learned with you.

First, a short primer on what happens when you start typing into the gmail search bar.

• To help you search faster, Gmail suggests search terms as you enter words. These search terms are based on information from your gmail account. These are suggestions, NOT the search results.
• Searches that you make in gmail that return no results will show related results instead. It's important to understand that you will always get something, even if there is nothing there. 
• When you use labels (some people call them folders), you are not actually moving messages, you are setting a filter for those messages. 
• By default, emails in spam and trash are not included in a standard search. To include spam and trash, use the advanced search feature.

Tip 1: ALWAYS Press Enter/Return

This is the number 1 mistake that people make! When you are typing in the search bar, it is so tempting to think that those suggestions that pop up are the actual search but they are not. Enter your search terms and then make sure to press Enter or Return, depending on your keyboard, then look at the results. This one simple change will make an enormous difference.

Tip 2: Sort Your Search Results

After you search, you may be confused by the order of the results shown. This can quickly be remedied by sorting your results by chronological order instead of relevancy. Depending on what you want, select Most Relevant or Most Recent.

Tip 3: Narrow Your Search Results

There are a few ways to do this. You can use the search chips or advanced search.

• Enter your search criteria and press enter
• Under the search box, select a chip:
• From: Search for anything from a specific email address
• Any Time: Search for anything that's sent within a certain date range or on a specific date.
• Has Attachment: Search for anything with attachments or have a specific type of attachment- Google docs, sheets, PDF
• Exclude Calendar Updates: Search for anything that is not a calendar update
• To: Search for anything you sent to a specific email address
• Is Unread: Search for anything currently marked as "unread".
• Is Encrypted: Search for emails that use client side encryption
• If you use Chat, you can find additional search chips so you can search for emails, conversations in chat, or spaces in chat. 

Advanced Search gives you some of the same options as the chips but also some are different.

• Subject: Search for anything that matches the subject line of an email.
• Has The Words: Search emails that match specific words or phrases.
• Doesn't Have: Excludes emails from your search that match specific words and phrases.
• Size: Searches emails that match a certain size.
• Search: Search emails listed in other areas of Gmail like custom labels, spam, and trash.

Tip 4: Learn What Happens When You Delete A Message:

To keep your inbox clean you can delete unwanted messages. It is important to understand what this means.

• When you delete a message in Gmail, it is moved to Trash.
• Up to 30 days after deletion, you can find the message in Trash, recover it, and move it back to your inbox.
• After 30 days, the message is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. If it is deleted from one device it will be deleted from all other devices that are synched to that account. 

Tip 5: Star Important Emails 

When you star emails in gmail, you mark them as important. This helps you remember to look at them later. 

• From your inbox, go to the left of the message and click the star. If the message is open, click More > Add Star.
• If you have multiple stars, keep clicking the icon until you see the one you want to use.
• You can add more star options. In the top right, click Settings > See all settings and scroll down to the "Stars" section. Drag stars between "Not in use" and "In use".