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20 Useful Google Tips and Tricks You Need To Learn

Master the Art of the Search Engine

DID YOU KNOW that Google has several hidden features and functions that will make you search for your query more easily and accurately? Here are some of the top tips and tricks you can use to make sure that you home in on your search results!

1. Use “Quotes”

You can minimise the guesswork that Google does for you by using quotes.

Quotes let the engine know that you’re searching for a specific phrase in a specific order. Let’s say you’re looking for a particular phrase on the web, you can go ahead and enclose that phrase with quotes.

Try doing it with a phrase like “Batman costume with cowl”, and it will redirect you to a store or page with exactly that!

2. Hyphen or minus

You can use hyphens or the minus sign to eliminate results related to a certain content. For example, you searched for the word mustang, you may get results for both the car by Ford, or the horse. If you’re searching for the car, you may want to ignore content about the other. To do this, simply put a hyphen before the content you want to exclude.
  • Mustang -horse
This lets the engine give you results without the word horse in it, making your search a lot more accurate. This is also useful if you’re looking for a phone or laptop, but don’t prefer a certain brand.

3. The Colon

If you’re looking for specific content from a specific site, you can use a colon to home in a search result from that website.

Example: Coronavirus site:bbc.com

This allows you to search for all content about the coronavirus exclusively found on BBC.com.

4. Do simple arithmetic

Instead of opening your phone or desktop calculator app, you can actually use Google to do some math. This is especially useful if you’re already on your Google home page and you want to have some quick arithmetic done!

5. Using asterisks

You can use an asterisk to find words or terms in a sentence that you may have forgotten. Very useful if you’re looking for a song but don’t know the lyrics

Example:And she’s * a * to heaven

If you don’t know the words to this popular Led Zeppelin song, then Google can help you out by filling in the asterisks with words. For this particular search query, Google may lead you to the song Stairway to Heaven. Neat!

6. Defining unfamiliar words

Google also doubles as a dictionary.

To use this feature, simply type in the word DEFINE with a colon after, and the word you’re trying to find the meaning for.

DEFINE:elucidation

You can even search for slang terms!

7. Origins

As an extension of definitions, you can also look up the etymology or origins of words on Google. To do this, just type the word “etymology:” and the word your looking for.

8. Google Images

If you’re looking for images in particular, Google has a separate tab for that, which is Google Images. The coolest feature of this tab is that you can search for similar images by dragging and dropping or uploading an image on the tab.

This feature also allows you to look for the source of any image you have!

9. Convert Currency

You don’t need a separate app for currency conversion. Google easily allows you to convert money from different currencies, including crypto currency.

Just enter the currency and the one you wish to convert it to, and presto! You’ve got your conversion.

Example: 500 BGN to USD

10. Length and measurement conversion

You can also use this conversion technique to convert measurements. For instance, miles to km, or centimetres to inches, and so on.

11. Convert numbers to words

If you want to spell out any number on your head, you can simply convert these on Google and don’t have to type them yourself!

Just type in the number followed by the phrase “in english”! Simple, right?

12. Google can help you tip!

If you’re struggling with a country’s tipping system and are clueless on how much to tip, you can call on your good ‘ol friend Google to help!

Google’s Tip Calculator can help you calculate tips and even split the bill!

13. Speed Test

You can check your current internet service provider’s speed by typing in the words “speed test” and the engine will run a 30-second test for you! 

The current build for this feature, however, is not supported by all countries. 

It is, however, present in the Americas, in major cities in Europe such as London, Belgium, Netherlands, Frankfurt, Zurich and Finland, and in the Asia Pacific region in cities such as Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, and Sydney. Check with your local provider if you can use this feature. 

google speed test

14. Hungry? Google it!

If you’re feeling the urge to go for a bite, simply type the words “I’m hungry” on Google, and it will show you nearby restaurants and food places using Google Maps!

restaurant search in Google

15. Check the time across the world

If you’re working for clients in multiple countries but aren’t sure when to schedule an email or meeting with them, you can always ask Google for the time of a specific place.

Just type in “time” and the place you need to know the time for and voila! You’re time hopping!

time google search

16. Search by location

Since we’re on the topic of locations, you can narrow your search by using either the name of a location, city, town or country, or simply using the postal code!

17. Get live weather updates

If you’re torn between riding a bike or riding your car to work today but aren’t sure if it will rain, then just ask Google “will it rain today?”. This is a helpful tool that you can use daily to check the local weather conditions. You can also get real time weather information from anywhere in the world by typing in “weather” and the location of your choosing.

18. Searching between 2 numbers

Let’s say you’re shopping for a camera, but you only have a budget for a $500… maybe $700 max. You can google a product within said range without having to look up prices yourself! For example: “Buy Canon camera 500..700 USD”. This will show you pages that sell cameras of that brand between your chosen price range!

19. Looking for specific file types

If you’re going to Google for research and maybe you want to look for a file in a specific type, you can go ahead and use the code “filetype:”, and type in the file extension and content you’re looking for.

Let’s say you’re looking for a study about the coronavirus in PDF format, you can type in:

Filetype: pdf coronavirus

20. Check Your IP Address

If you quickly need to know your IP address without going through your computer settings or typing in a command line, you can simply type in “IP address” and google can acquire it for you.

Google is a very powerful search engine, and using it the right way will make you more productive and efficient at work!

If you want more tips, tricks, and trivia, you can like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/influencevibes.

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