Searching for filetypes and formats

You can use similar parameters as the Advanced Search offers, by using search parameter shortcuts. These are text commands that you simply enter along with your search text.

Refine web searches - Google Search Help

For example, entering the text "sharks kwazulu natal" into Google will return information about two things: the rugby team based in Durban and the marine animal. You can use the minus sign to quickly filter out results containing the type of shark you don't want to know about.

• sharks kwazulu natal -rugby should bring back results which only feature the animal.

• sharks kwazulu natal -ocean will predominantly feature results about the rugby team.

Another powerful search operator everyone should know is the quotation mark. If you enclose text in quotation marks, Google will look for exact matches to the text, rather than results which are like it. This can be very useful if you know a sentence from a speech, for example, or the exact title of a report.

For example, "it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die" should take you straight to a transcript of Nelson Mandela's speech at the Rivonia Trial.

One of the most useful search operators allows you to restrict results to a specific web domain.

For example, searching for "matric results" will bring up a lot of news and comment websites, as well as social media and individual school pages, talking about high school exam results in South Africa.

Changing your search term to include the site: operator, however, will tell Google exactly where you want to look for the term. Try:

site:education.gov.za matric results

This should only return pages that are hosted by the Department of Education.

Focus search results on data types

Even more useful is the ability to refine your search to only include specific file types. Often, organisations publish data in PDF or Microsoft Excel formats, and upload these files to their website. You can use the filetype: operator to restrict searches to these files only. For example, you can look for spreadsheets of exam results using this search:

matric results filetype:xlsx

You can also combine search terms to hone in on what you are looking for. This search will only look for spreadsheets on the Department of Education's website that contain the words "matric results".

matric results filetype:xlsx site:education.gov.za

Refine image searches

Overall Advanced Search

1. Go to Advanced Image Search.
2. Use filters like region or file type to narrow your results.

3. At the bottom, click Advanced Search.

Search for an exact image size

Right after the word you're looking for, add the text imagesize:widthxheight. Make sure to add the dimensions in pixels.

Example: imagesize:500x400