35 Google Search Hacks That Are Going to Change Your Life

35 Google Search Hacks That Are Going to Change Your Life With 3.5 billion searches a day, Google is the ultimate search engine for a reason. It has become one of the biggest companies in the world in a very short span of time.In fact, people laughed at the idea that Google can successfully compete with the then industry giants in the likes of Yahoo, AltaVista and AOL at the time of its inception.However, Google not only climbed search ladder steadily but dispatched all of the so-called “Google Killers” to oblivion one by one.Today, Google has become synonymous with the internet searching. You no longer say, “I am going to search internet.” You say, “I am going to Google to it.”This itself is the testimony to the fact that Google is the only search engine in the world you want to use, talk about and recommend to others (by the way there is no need of it. Everyone knows about Google).What has made Google so successful is that it still brilliantly serves its original purpose that is helping you explore the internet.You may type in to that search bar hundreds of times a day if not thousands and Google will come up with the exact result you want every single time. TOP GOOGLE HACKS TO MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIERHowever, there is more to Google than meet the eye. It is quite surprising that most people do not know Google can do much more for them despite using it on daily basis.In this article, we have rounded up many Google tricks and hacks which can make your life even easier.These hacks make you get most out of the Google search. Following lines contain everything from simple tricks to more advanced hacks such as finding hidden pages and files online.Furthermore, these hacks are guaranteed to change your life forever. Use QuotesPutting words or a phrase in quotation marks helps you search for that exact phrase. Quotation marks decrease the guess work for Google because it knows it has to search only for the exact phrase in the search bar, eliminating all the irrelevant searches in the process.For example, if you loo k for best smart fitness trackers in the search bar, Google will search for all the webpages that contain these four words in any order. On the other hand, if you type “best smart fitness trackers”, it will only search for the exact phrase.This enables Google to retrieve specific information related to fitness trackers which might be buried under heaps of irrelevant information. Use a Hyphen to Exclude Certain WordsYou often search for words or phrases that have ambiguous meanings such as Cricket. It can be quite confusing for Google because the word cricket refers to both a sport and a type of insect.Google may show results both for the sport and the insect if we do not specify what we are searching for. However, you can cut one of these out of the search results by using a hyphen or minus sign (-) as shown in the example below.Google also explicitly states that it has excluded the results with insect in them from the search results.Therefore, Google will not show results containing the word the insect. It will only display the results related to the sport which is particularly popular in Australia, England, the Subcontinent,South Africa and the West Indies. Getting Results from a Specific Site Using ColonIt is also possible for you to get information from a specific website using only a colon. The syntax in this case is very simple. See the following example.As you might have guessed, this particular search term will fetch results about Manchester United but only from the official website of Barclays Premier League. Google will remove all other search results. You can use this shortcut to find specific information from a certain website. Searching a Specific WebsiteApart from finding specific information from certain website you can also thoroughly search a website using the same syntax.All you need to do is to do write “site:” followed by the actual URL of the website you want to search.For example, if you want to keep abreast with latest cricketing news but only want results from Cricinfo, you can write “site:cricinfo.com”.In this particular case, Google will only fetch results from the famous Cricket website Cricinfo, removing all other results. Add intitle: before Your Search QueryAdding “intitle:” before the search term will help you get only those results which have keyword in the title of the webpage.For instance, if you are searching for “Lord of the Rings”, adding “intitle:” before the tile of the famous movie will get you only those results which have Lord of the Rings in the title. Similarly, there are many other operators which help you search specific information from the title, content or even URL of a webpage. Some of these operators are as under.Allintitle: “allintitle: Germany Cyber Security Update” will show the results having all four words in the title.Intext: if you want to search a specific word or phrase within the content of the webpage, you will use this particular operator.Search between a Range of NumbersYou can also search between a range of numbers using two dots or periods (..).This trick is particularly helpful if you are searching for products or tickets prices, prime numbers, odd numbers or anything between ranges of numbers.For example, “buy Dell laptop 700..1000 US dollars” will display the webpages from where you can buy Dell laptops between the price range of 500-700 United States dollars. As you can see in the image, Google is only displaying online stores from where you can buy Dell laptops within the price range of $700 to $1000. Isn’t it exciting to know?Finding Similar WebsitesIt is also very easy to find related websites on Google. You can type the word“related” before the name of a certain website to find similar websites. For example, related:amazon.com will list websites similar or related to Amazon.This trick is particularly important if you are running an online business and want to know who your competitors are and what they are doing. Discover Alternatives to Popular WebsitesApart from finding similar websites, you can also compare different websites or find their alternatives.For instance, if you are not sure how many competitors of Instagram are out there, you would simply search for “Instagram vs” and Google will list a number of Instagram’s competitors.As a result, you will have a number of options to check other than Instagram. Similarly, you can also writer “better than Instagram” to find more alternatives. Search by Specific Time, Location or CountryYou can use different criteria such as location, time or country to filter the search results.The main Google search area also contains a lot of tabs such as Any Country or Any Time from where you can get results specific to your time zone or country. There are many other related commands you can use such as weather *zip code*. This term will display weather for the given zip code. You can also replace the zip code with a specific city or town’s name.However, the weather forecast may not be very accurate in this case because a city or town usually has multiple zip codes.Similarly, you can also find news about a certain person, place or thing from a specific location. For example, “queen Elizabeth location:london” will yield results regarding everything related to Queen Elizabeth in London.Asterisk isa Powerful ToolThis is one of the most useful and exciting tricks on the list. If you can’t remember the exact search phrase or keyword, you can use asterisk as a placeholder which Google automatically fills in.You can use asterisk on number of occasions such as if you misremember a song’s or poem’s lyrics. The syntax in this case can look like:Last* gave* heart*This Keyword does not make any sense. However, Google is smart and it knows that you are asking about one of the most famous songs of Wham that is Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart.In fact, asterisk can stand for anything in the keyword and Google translates it according to the other words in the search phrase. Do some Mathematics with GoogleGoogle can do literally anything you can imagine and mathematics is no different. Google can solve almost all types of equations for you in fraction of a second.Take a look at the following equation for an example. As shown above, you can write the equation directly in the search bar.Or, you can also write Calculator and Google will display a very sleek and nice looking calculator where you can do all the mathematics you want.Find a Page That Links to another PageThis is one of the most obscurest tricks on this list. It enables you to find a page that links to a specific page instead of directly looking for that specific page.For instance, if you want to find who cited Huffington Post’s article on their website, you can actually find all the websites that link to that particular article using this trick.link:huffingtonpost.comTyping this particular URL will return all the pages that are linking to the Huffington Post’s home page. You need to keep in mind that you will get fewer results if the URL is more specific. Search for Multiple Keywords SimultaneouslyGoogle is the most flexible search engine out there. It is aware that using a single keyword or phrase may not get you the results you want.Therefore, it allows you to search for multiple keyword or phrases at the same time.You can search for one keyword along with another related keyword using this trick. It is one of the most useful Google tricks because it enables you to narrow down the research results and find exactly what you are looking for. For instance, you can search following keywords simultaneously in Google.“How to prepare for IELTS Examination” or “Best ways to prepare for IELTS examination” You will search for both these phrases by writing them as it is. Apart from long phrases, we can also using this trick for words such as:“milk” OR “buffalo’s milk”This will search for pages with either milk or buffalo’s milk in them. Similarly, you can also replace “or” with “and.” For example, if you search for buy cheap and airlines tickets, Google will display all the results that contain both cheap and airlines tickets in them.Check any Stock You WantIt is also a very useful trick especially if you are in the stock business. All you have to do is to type the ticker name of any stock in the search bar.For example, if you type GOOG, you will get the stock price for Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google and several of its subsidiaries. Search for a Specific FileThis is perhaps one of the least used Google hacks. However, it is very powerful because it helps you search for a specific file type or file. This is especially beneficial if you want to retrieve a specific PowerPoint or PDF file which you previously viewed but cannot find it any longer. You will type the following search term in search bar in this case.*actual search term*filetype:pptIn this example, you can use any search term you want followed by the file type command and extension of the file you are looking for.People who can benefit most from this trick include students, PHD scholars and businessmen who rely on presentations a lot. Track Your PackagesBelieve it or not, you can also track your packages with the help of Google.Write any FedEx, USPS or UPS tracking number directly into the Google’s search bar and you will get all the tracking information about your package. It is as simple as that. Make Private SearchesPrivacy enthusiasts often denounce Google’s policy to create demographic history of your searches depending upon your search habits.As a result, many private search engines have appeared which work in conjunction with Google. They do not allow the search engine to track your location, IP address or anything like that.The most popular of these private search engines is StartPage. You can either open their website www.startpage.com or add their extension to Google Chrome to make your searches private.There is another simpler option you can avail if you want to make your searches private.Simply press Control + Shift + N in Windows and Linux or Command + Shift + N in Mac to open Incognito Window in Google Chrome. Google will not maintain your demographic search history if you search internet in Incognito mode. Browsing Offline WebsitesMost of you may already know about this particular trick. Google also keeps a cached version of all the websites scanned by its bots. It enables us to view these websites even if they are not online due to any reason.You will use the search operator “cache:” followed by the URL of the website you are trying to access as shown in the following example.You can view any offsite website using this trick at any time provided your Google Chrome already has the cached version of it. Know Your IP AddressThis one is pretty simple. You can simply type “ip address” in your search bar to find out what your system’s IP address is if you don’t know it already. Currency ConvertersYou can also convert any currency into other currency using Google. For example, you can convert United States dollars into Euros by writing “us dollars into euros” in the search bar. Search Images by their Type, Size, Copyright, Time or ColorAlmost everyone knows how to search images on Google. However, very few people are aware of the fact that you can search images by their type, size, time, color or even copyright status. For instance, if you are looking for images about airplanes, you can further refine your search by going to Images tab under the main search bar and then Tools tab as shown in the following figure. As you can see, you can choose from a lot of options in the Tools such a color, type, user rights and size.It also has a Show size tab which enables you to further refine your search for an image such as searching for large or small size, full colored images or grayscale as well as line drawings or clipart etc.Search for People on Google ImagesSome people have names with dual meanings such as Paris, Lilly and Rose etc. Therefore, just add imgtype=face at the end of the search URL in Google Images if you are looking for a person not a city or flower. Get Results from Top Level Domains onlyExtensions that follow the main domain name in a URL are actually called the Top Level Domains.There are actually thousands of top level domains such as .com, .net, .edu, .co.uk, .ca, and .org etc. You can easily search information from a specific top level domain in Google.For example, Androidsite:net will fetch results from .net domains only. Another great trick is to use hyphen or minus (-) sign to remove any website from the search results.For example â€"Android site:wikipedia.org will remove Wikipedia from the search results coming from org domains.Set Time Limit for Your SearchGoogle has been indexing websites for last two decades. Sometimes you need to find information about an event which occurred a decade ago. It also makes it difficult for you to find the exact website or page you are looking for.However, you can easily cut through the clutter by searching within a specific time period.For instance, you can limit the results to recent years by going to Tools and then Any Time drop-down menu. Similarly, you can also set a custom date range in Any Time menu to view archived news and information. Reverse Image SearchIt is a wonderful Google hack if you want to find more related images, wallpapers, apartments, names of unlabeled products and even the source of the image.You can also find specific information such as how to make a door shown in a specific picture or how to cook the dish being served in the image.Drop any image from your computer in Google Images and you are going to get lot information about it. Check Flight StatusAs Google is one of your best friends, it does not want you to miss your flights as well. In fact, you can check the status of any flight simply by typing its flight number in Google. Take a look at following example. Set TimerYou can also use Google either as your personal stop watch or timer. It is particularly useful when you have to complete a task within a deadline, take a nap between long working hours or you are just reading a book or newspaper.You can create a timer for any purpose you like or get stop watch by simply typing “timer” or “set timer” in the search bar. Convert Numbers to WordsIt sometimes gets very confusing to grasp large numbers and understand what they really are.However, you need not to worry because Google offers a pretty simple solution to this complex problem. Following example show how you can convert really big numbers to words with utmost ease. Translate Words VisuallyGoogle Translate is a handy tool. It easily translates words from almost all the foreign languages you can think of. However, it cannot provide easy version of many technical terms used in foreign languages. One solution to this problem is to search for these terms in Google Images.You may be able to recognize these words by looking at their images. However, you can only search nouns using this trick. It does not work for adjectives or verbs. Do a Barrel RoleNow, it is time for some tricks that will make your search experience on Google real fun. The first of these tricks is the Barrel Role.Just type Do a Barrel Role and wait for a second. You are in for an experience of your life as Google will do a circular role of your screen. Google GravityGoogle gravity is a funny trick as it shatters your screen into many different pieces. You can even drag and drop these pieces anywhere around your screen to add to the fun. Click here to amuse yourself. Google SpaceYou can use this trick to make everything on Google float as if it is in space. Click here and your Google will start floating. Google AskewYou can also give your screen a little tilt by typing Askew in the search bar as show in the following figure.Atari BreakoutAtari Breakout is one of the most popular video games of all times. Now, you can play this game directly in Google to give you some break from typing and searching.Just type Atari Breakout in Google Images and enjoy the fun. Google UnderwaterThis trick will make Google logo look as if it is floating under the water. Click here to see the magic. Google in 1998Do you want to learn how Google looked at the time of its inception? If yes, then simply type 1998 in Google search bar and you will get the vintage Google right on your screen. CONCLUSIONAbove mentioned are some of the most important Google hacks you need to know.However, you can do many more things with Google such as converting units and finding film timings, sports scores, sunrise and sunset timings, synonyms of the words and exploring a dictionary.In fact, Google entails so many things that it is difficult to include all of them in an article. It is already a useful source for most of the people.However, after learning these useful hacks, you can transform Google into a highly valuable and rewarding search tool for yourself.