Web Search Help

Google has all kinds of great shortcuts to make searching easier and faster:

Want to see if you'll need an umbrella? To see the weather for many US and worldwide cities, type [ weather ] followed by the name of the city or zipcode. You can also just type [ weather ] to see the weather of your current location, or even just [ w ] if you're using Google Instant.

Prefer to catch a morning jog as the sun rises? Type [ sunrise ] to see when the sun will rise in your current location. Type [ sunset ] to see when the sun will set. Add in a zip code or city and state to the query if you're curious about another location.

Curious to see more shortcuts? Check out the rest of our search shortcuts.

You can refine your searches by using the search options on the left side of the page. For example, say you were looking for a photo of Pelé, sporting his yellow Brazil soccer uniform. Type [ Pele ] in the search box, selecting the Images option. Then, further down the left side of the page, click the Photos link to show only photographs, and click the yellow square to show only photos that contain the color yellow. ¡¡Goooooalll!! Try it now for kicks.

You can also choose to show specifically the most current results for your query. After making a search, just choose "Latest" in the search options on the left side of the page, and you'll get the very most recent results Google can find, often only seconds or minutes old! This is a great way to follow major news stories to check for updates.

Here are a few essential tips for improving your everyday searches:

• Simplicity is key. Shorter, more focused queries will often give better results than longer ones with complex operators.
• Every word matters. Only include words that you really hope to see in the results.
• Search within the page that you're viewing: press Control+F, or Command+F on a Mac, and a search box will appear in your browser window. Type in the word you’re looking for and it will be highlighted on the page.