Google Search Tricks

In a fraction of a second, Google gives you links to hundreds of millions of answers to your questions-ranging from helpful to absurd. But if you've ever clicked through to the second or third page of search results, you know that basic Google searches will only get you so far. You need advanced Google search tricks to find exactly what you're looking for.

#01 Perform Quick Calculations

Handheld calculators are for mathematicians. Type an equation in the browser address bar (omnibar), and Google will immediately show the result in the search suggestions.

You can also access calculators directly in Google's search results. Search for "calculator", "tip calculator", or mortgage calculator to get the calculator you need to appear at the top of the search results.

#02 Perform Quick Data Conversions

If you're trying to figure out the weather in another country or need to know how much flour to use when you don't have a small enough measuring spoon, Google has you covered. Search with this formula: "[value of first unit] to [second unit]". For Example convert temperature Celsius into Fahrenheit search using the following keyword "37 degree celsius to fahrenheit".

Conversely, you can search for "unit converter" to populate a conversion calculator in Google's search results. Then, use the dropdown box to select the type of data you're converting.

#03 Perform Quick Currency Conversions

If you need to convert currency, you can do that in both the omnibar and search results, too. To perform the calculation in the omnibar, use this formula: "[value of first unit] to [second unit]". For example convert USD to INR search using the following keyword "1 usd to inr".

Conversely, you can search "currency converter" in google to populate a converter in the search results that lists dozens of convertible currencies.

#04 Translate Words to Other Languages

And add in [language] after a foreign language word to have Google translate that word into a language you understand.

For example you translate a word "temperature" into tamil, you search "temperature in tamil"

#05 Get Current Stock Prices

Enter a stock symbol-such as "APPL" into Google to get the current stock price and other financial details.

#06 Find Out When the Sun Will Rise and Set

Get the time the sun will rise or set in your area by entering sunrise or sunset. You can also add a city name to your search to get the sunrise and sunset times for a different city.

For example search "sunrise india"

#07 Set a Timer or Stopwatch

Enter "stopwatch" to use a stopwatch in Google Search, or search for "set timer for [amount of time]" to automatically start a timer.

For example search "set timer for 10 minute" to automatically start a timer.

#08 Drag and Drop a URL to Open it in a New Tab

If you want to open a webpage you are currently viewing in another tab, highlight the URL and then drag and drop it to a tab position to duplicate the page in a new tab-no cutting and pasting required.

#09 Filter Search Results by Type of Information

At the top of every Google Search results page, you will find tabs to refine your search by category: All, Images, Videos, News, Books, and, under More, Maps, Shopping, Flights, and Finance.

So when searching for cat gifs, for example, I can head to the Images tab to view cat GIFs, or I could go to the Videos tab to watch cat videos. Sadly, there are no cat GIF-related flights.

#10 Narrow Down Image Results by Image Type

If you are using Google Image Search to find images, the Tools tab lets you filter the results by size, color, usage rights, type (face, photo, clip art, line drawing, or animated), and time (date published). You can also click More > Show sizes to have image sizes listed below images.

If you need an image that is, for example, labeled for reuse and at least 800px wide, these filters can help narrow it down.

#11 Narrow Down Video Results by Duration and Quality

You can use the Tools filters in Google Video Search to filter your results by video duration (short, medium, or long), publish date (Any time), quality (filter to show high-quality videos only), and source, as well as by whether or not videos are closed captioned (All videos).

Say you are looking for a video to embed on your blog, but everything you are finding is low-quality and really short. You want something that is high-quality and lengthy. These filters will help you find exactly what you are looking for.

#12 Only Show Results from a Specific Website

If you use the "site: search operator", Google will only show you the results from a specific website. To use the site: search operator, type site:[website address], but don not include http://, https://, or www in the website address.

For example search "site:blogbyte.in php" in google.

#13 Search for Sites that Use Specific TLDs

You can also do a country-specific search using the "site:" search operator plus the TLD for that country. For example, if you want to look for naan recipes and get the information only from sites in India, the search would be "naan recipes site:.in".

#14 Exclude Specific Sites/Words from Search Results

Following a hyphen - directly with a word is another Google Search operator, and this one tells Google to exclude whatever follows that hyphen from the search results.

For example, if you are looking for remote marketing jobs but do not want to see results from Upwork, you could search for "remote marketing jobs -Upwork" to tell Google not to show any results with the word "Upwork" in them.

#15 Find Only Exact-Match Search Result

If you want to find results that use a very specific phrase, surround your search term in quotation marks to tell Google you only want to see results that use that exact phrase.

This is helpful on multiple occasions. Maybe you are trying to determine if something is plagiarized. Pick a unique sentence from the text in question and search for it in quotation marks to see if any exact matches show up in search results.

Or say you are trying to find the original source of a statistic you found on a website. Search for that statistic in quotation marks to find other sites citing that exact statistic.

#16 Use Google's Advanced Search Pages

If you don not want to remember all of those search operators, you have another option. Bookmark Google's advanced search page and use it to narrow your search results instead. You can specify language, region, update time, file type, and more to refine your search queries.

Google also has an advanced search page just for images and one for videos as well.

#17 Conduct a Reverse Image Search

In addition to searching for images using words in Google Image Search, you can actually search for images using… images.

To search for images with images, open Google Image Search and click the camera icon:

After that, you can search for images by uploading a file or pasting a URL where the image lives.

There are multiple reasons why you might want to search for images using images. You might want to see if other sites are using your original images without crediting you. You might need to find the original source of an image so you can reach out and ask if it is okay to use it on your site. Or you might have just taken a picture of something weird and you want to know what it is.