How to retrieve that old Gmail
Gmail has an easy, intuitive interface, but people often have difficulty finding that email from six months ago where you only remember a certain word. Also, there are a few "gotchas" in searching.
Gmail searches everything
The search box allow us to directly type in a word or phrase without any other options. However, be aware that Gmail will search everything, including your attachments, embedded text and even your signature block. For example, if you search for "services" and that word is in your signature block, all emails that you send will appear in the search results.
Gmail will also look for similar words. For example, I typed in "imaginative", not in quotes, and I got results with "imagination" and "imagined". To find exactly "imaginative", put in in quotes or use a plus sign, +imaginative.
If you type in two words or expressions, Gmail will ensure that both are included. For example, I type "Memorial weekend", not in quotes, and I find an email with "Memorial Day weekend."
Read More.Menu or type it in
You can use the pull-down menu on the search box to show many options, such as specifying the date range you want to search. Or you can type in the date range. For example, " "after:2021/5/3 before:2021/5/6", not in quotes.
You can specify that the words are in the subject or to whom the email was sent. Again, you can specify directly. For example, "subject:meeting to:john@example.com", not in quotes. Or even "cc:john@example.com."
Labels
If you have assiduously saved your emails under labels, be sure to click on the label before doing the search to get just those results. Or you can type "label:vacation", not in quotes. Of if you want to search both the labels "vacation" and "Florida" meaning that you want results from both, you can type in curly brackets "{label:Florida label:vacation}", not in quotes.
