Reserved and common search operators
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This document lists the reserved and common search operators available within
Google Cloud Search. Reserved operators have Google Cloud Search-specific
use and cannot be used in your schema. Common operators are common to
other Google Workspace apps, such as Gmail, but can be used in your schema.
Be cautious when using common operators, because users who are familiar with
their use in other apps might be confused by a different implementation in
Cloud Search.
Reserved operators
You cannot use any of the following operators in your schema:
Operator |
Definition |
source |
Find content from a particular product or data source |
site |
Find content from a particular site. |
inurl |
Find content from a particular url. |
contenttype |
Find particular types of content, such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, images, folders, and attachments. |
mimetype |
Finds content based on the original mimetype. |
type |
Find particular types of content, such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, images, folders, and attachments. |
owner |
Find content you own or that’s been shared with you. For content originating from third party repositories, the only valid value is owner:me . For Google Workspace content, you can also use owner:identity where identity can be the owner's name, username, or email address. |
from |
Find content from a specific person who sent or created the content. This operator is used as an alias for owner . |
before |
Find content modified before a certain date, using the format YYYY/MM/DD. |
after |
Find content modified on or after a certain date, using the format YYYY/MM/DD. |
createddatetimestampbefore |
Find content created before a certain date, using the format YYYY/MM/DD. |
createddatetimestampafter |
Find content created on or after a certain date, using the format YYYY/MM/DD. |
itemsize |
Find content with a particular size specified in bytes. |
itemsizelessthan |
Find content less than a particular size specified in bytes. |
itemsizegreaterthan |
Find content greater than or equal to a particular size specified in bytes. |
in |
The use of this operator has not been determined. |
is |
The use of this operator has not been determined. |
has |
The use of this operator has not been determined. |
to |
The use of this operator has not been determined. |
The last four operators in the table are reserved, but do not yet have a
specific definition.
For information on how users use a specific operator, refer to
Narrow your search.
Common operators
You may declare the following operators in your schema. To minimize user
confusion, declare these operators so their usage is consistent with the
definition in the following table.
Operator |
Used by |
Definition |
size |
Gmail |
Find items larger than the given size in bytes. |
larger |
Gmail |
Find items larger than the given size in bytes. Synonymous with size . |
smaller |
Gmail |
Find items smaller than a given size in bytes. |
older_than |
Gmail |
Find items older than a given date. |
newer_than |
Gmail |
Find items newer than a given date. |
subject |
Gmail |
Find items with a specific subject or title. |
label |
Gmail |
Find items with a given label. |
list |
Gmail |
Find items from a given mailing list. |
cc |
Gmail |
Find items with the given recipient in the cc field. |
bcc |
Gmail |
Find items with the given recipient in the bcc field |
deliveredto |
Gmail |
Find items delivered to the given email address. |
category |
Gmail |
Find items with a given category. |
title |
Drive |
Matches item with a given title. |
app |
Drive |
Search for items that can only be opened by a specific app. |
mailthreadid |
Gmail |
Matches items with the given thread ID. |
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Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Reserved and common search operators\n\nThis document lists the *reserved* and common search operators available within\nGoogle Cloud Search. *Reserved* operators have Google Cloud Search-specific\nuse and cannot be used in your schema. *Common* operators are common to\nother Google Workspace apps, such as Gmail, but can be used in your schema.\nBe cautious when using common operators, because users who are familiar with\ntheir use in other apps might be confused by a different implementation in\nCloud Search.\n\nReserved operators\n------------------\n\nYou cannot use any of the following operators in your schema:\n\n| Operator | Definition |\n|------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| `source` | Find content from a particular product or data source |\n| `site` | Find content from a particular site. |\n| `inurl` | Find content from a particular url. |\n| `contenttype` | Find particular types of content, such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, images, folders, and attachments. |\n| `mimetype` | Finds content based on the original mimetype. |\n| `type` | Find particular types of content, such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, images, folders, and attachments. |\n| `owner` | Find content you own or that's been shared with you. For content originating from third party repositories, the only valid value is `owner:me`. For Google Workspace content, you can also use owner:*identity* where *identity* can be the owner's name, username, or email address. |\n| `from` | Find content from a specific person who sent or created the content. This operator is used as an alias for `owner`. |\n| `before` | Find content modified before a certain date, using the format YYYY/MM/DD. |\n| `after` | Find content modified on or after a certain date, using the format YYYY/MM/DD. |\n| `createddatetimestampbefore` | Find content created before a certain date, using the format YYYY/MM/DD. |\n| `createddatetimestampafter` | Find content created on or after a certain date, using the format YYYY/MM/DD. |\n| `itemsize` | Find content with a particular size specified in bytes. |\n| `itemsizelessthan` | Find content less than a particular size specified in bytes. |\n| `itemsizegreaterthan` | Find content greater than or equal to a particular size specified in bytes. |\n| `in` | The use of this operator has not been determined. |\n| `is` | The use of this operator has not been determined. |\n| `has` | The use of this operator has not been determined. |\n| `to` | The use of this operator has not been determined. |\n\nThe last four operators in the table are reserved, but do not yet have a\nspecific definition.\n\nFor information on how users use a specific operator, refer to\n[Narrow your search](https://support.google.com/cloudsearch/answer/6172299).\n\nCommon operators\n----------------\n\nYou may declare the following operators in your schema. To minimize user\nconfusion, declare these operators so their usage is consistent with the\ndefinition in the following table.\n\n| Operator | Used by | Definition |\n|----------------|---------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| `size` | Gmail | Find items larger than the given size in bytes. |\n| `larger` | Gmail | Find items larger than the given size in bytes. Synonymous with `size`. |\n| `smaller` | Gmail | Find items smaller than a given size in bytes. |\n| `older_than` | Gmail | Find items older than a given date. |\n| `newer_than` | Gmail | Find items newer than a given date. |\n| `subject` | Gmail | Find items with a specific subject or title. |\n| `label` | Gmail | Find items with a given label. |\n| `list` | Gmail | Find items from a given mailing list. |\n| `cc` | Gmail | Find items with the given recipient in the `cc` field. |\n| `bcc` | Gmail | Find items with the given recipient in the `bcc` field |\n| `deliveredto` | Gmail | Find items delivered to the given email address. |\n| `category` | Gmail | Find items with a given category. |\n| `title` | Drive | Matches item with a given title. |\n| `app` | Drive | Search for items that can only be opened by a specific app. |\n| `mailthreadid` | Gmail | Matches items with the given thread ID. |"]]