How the Web Works
Boolean Search Operators: Your Secret Search Superpower
Other Useful Operators
Search engines support additional operators beyond the basic AND, OR, and NOT:
- ~ (Tilde) - Finds pages similar to a specific page. Example: "best movies" ~"2024"
- * (Wildcard) - Finds variations of a word. Example: "best * movies"
- site: - Searches within a specific website. Example: "best movies site:imdb.com"
- filetype: - Searches for specific file types. Example: "best movies filetype:pdf"
Example Searches to Try:
- AND & "best movies" & "2024"
- OR | "healthy recipes" | "quick meals"
- NOT - "vacation ideas" -"beach"
- " " (Quotation Marks) "funny cat videos"
These operators can be especially helpful when you're researching for a project. Need a PDF article about Abraham Lincoln for your NHD project that's from a government site? Try "Abraham Lincoln" filetype:pdf site:.gov.