Android: If you have a Samsung phone or tablet, tap the icon labeled Internet or Samsung Internet. If you have another model, tap Chrome, Browser, Web, or something similar. iPhone and iPad: Tap the Safari icon, which looks like a compass, at the bottom of the home screen to launch your web browser. KaiOS: Open Browser, which is the window you use to access the internet. Mac: Your computer comes with the Safari web browser. You can launch it by clicking the compass icon on the Dock, which usually runs along the bottom of the screen. Windows 10: Your PC comes with Microsoft’s Edge browser. You can open it by clicking the Windows logo at the bottom-left corner of the screen, and then clicking the Microsoft Edge tile on the menu. Windows 8 and earlier: You can use Internet Explorer to browse the web. You’ll find its blue “e” icon in your Start menu.
If you’re using the Google app on your phone or tablet, skip to Step 4. Some browsers, including Chrome, Safari, and KaiOS Browser, also allow you to type your search terms directly into the address bar instead of having to browse to Google’s website first. Other browsers may default to other search engines, such as Microsoft Edge with Bing.
You can search for individual words (“veganism,” “Bermuda”), phrases (“tropical storms of 1998,” “monstera plant care”), questions (“how many people live in Oregon?”, “how much water should I drink?”), and more. If you’re more comfortable speaking your search terms, click or tap the microphone icon (or to launch Search by Voice, follow the on-screen instructions to give Google access to your microphone, and then say aloud what you’re looking for.
Search results appear differently depending on what you’re looking for. For example, if you searched for a word that appears in the dictionary, you may find the definition and usage information at the top of the results. If you searched for a specific location, a map might appear. If you scroll down through the first page and don’t find what you’re looking for, click or tap Next at the bottom to move to the next page of results. The most relevant results are usually on the first few pages of search results.
For example, instead of searching “best restaurants in Oakland,” you could try “best Chinese food in Oakland 2020” instead. To learn about getting better search results, see the Refining the Results method.
If a set of words belongs together in a phrase, such as a quote or a certain type of object, put quotes (") around them so Google knows to only search for exact matches. This is great for when you know a few lyrics to a song and want to search them to find the song’s name. Type a minus sign (-) in front of a word that you want to omit from your search results. For example, if you want to search “nano” but don’t want results for the iPod Nano, you would search for nano -iPod. Common words, such as “how” and “the,” are usually overlooked during a Google search. If these words are essential to your search, put a plus (+) symbol in front of them. To search social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, put an @ symbol before the search term. For example, @wikihow. If you’d only like to see results from a certain website, put site: in front of your search terms. For example, if you want to search for “iOS 13” on wikiHow, you would type: site:wikiHow. com “iOS 13”. To find an item in a certain price range, use this syntax: synthesizer $300. . $700. This example would display synthesizers that cost between $300 and $700.
Click or tap Images at the top of the results page to display only images that match what you entered. Check out this wikiHow to learn how to do a reverse image search on Google. Click or tap Videos to see a list of videos on various websites, including YouTube, that match your search terms. Click or tap News to see news articles from major news sources about what you’re looking for. Click or tap Books to see a list of books about the subject. For more about using Google’s Books search feature, see this wikiHow. Other options, such as Maps, Flights, and Finance can be used with certain relevant information as well. For example, if you entered an address, you could click Maps’ to view it on a map, or Flights to make travel plans to that location.
Check out this wikiHow to learn how to do a reverse image search on Google.
For more about using Google’s Books search feature, see this wikiHow.
Select Tools or Search Tools. If you’re on a computer, you’ll see the Tools link at the top of the page above the results. On a phone or tablet, you’ll usually have to swipe left across the link bar above the results (the bar that says ALL, NEWS, VIDEOS, and IMAGES) and tap SEARCH TOOLS at the end. Click or tap the Any Time menu. Select a different duration of time. The page will refresh to display only results from the selected time period. Click or tap Clear at the top to clear your time filter.
Select Tools or Search Tools at the top of your Image or Video search results. Several menus will appear. If you’re searching for videos, use the drop-down menus at the top to specify the duration (length), source (e. g. , YouTube, Facebook), or whether you only want to see closed-captioned videos. If you’re searching for images, use the drop-down menus at the top to specify image size, type, colors, and usage rights. If you need more control over which images are returned in your image search, try Google’s Advanced Image Search.
For “all these words,” type important words in your search. You’ll only see search results that contain every word you type into this box. For “this exact word or phrase,” enter a phrase or a sentence exactly as it should appear. Only websites that match the exact way you type the phrase or sentence will be returned as search results. Use “any of these words” if you’re willing to see results that contain a certain word OR another word. Under “none of these words,” enter any words you don’t want to appear on the pages in your search results. For “numbers ranging from,” type in any numbers in a range you want to view. This is good for when you’re searching for prices or sizes.
Use the “Language” menu to specify a language for your search results. Use the “Region” menu to see pages that were published in a certain country or area. The “Last Update” menu lets you specify the age of the pages you’re willing to see in the results. Enter a web address in the “Site or domain” blank if you only want to view results from a specific website. In the “Terms appearing” blank, select where you want the search terms to show up on the page, such as the web page’s title or within the article’s text. Use the “SafeSearch” menu to control whether adult content can appear in the results. The “File Type” menu lets you specify file formats, such as PDFs and Word DOC files. “Usage rights” is helpful for when you want to filter results based on license status.
