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Google Desktop Search Commands

Use Google Desktop Search to Search Your Files

By Wendy Boswell, About.com

There are a few Google Desktop search commands you can use as shortcuts to search your files. (Google Desktop is a free application that you can use to search within the files on your own computer).
  • First of all, the old standby of using a specific keyword phrase applies to Google Desktop as well. So, if you're looking for that email you wrote about the basketball schedule, you could query by using the phrase "basketball schedule."
  • You can also use the basic Web search tactic of add and subtract; for example: "basket -ball".
  • Google Desktop also supports the filetype search syntax, which allows you to search for a specific type of file. For example: cars filteype:pdf.

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