Google Search Filters

Like most web users out there, I've been using Google search for more years than I care to remember, but this month I found something incredibly useful that I didn't even know was there.

Most of us have used the Google Search Filters - the list of options under the search box - to limit the results that Google returns.  Maybe we just want to see results of Images or Videos, or perhaps a News story - the filters will help you do that.

This month, though, when I was searching for some particularly esoteric information I just couldn't find what I was looking for.  The pages Google kept returning were pretty old but I was looking for the most up to date pages.  So I wanted to be able to show only very recent results.

Not really thinking it was possible to do this, I searched (yes, really) for a solution and discovered that it is just a standard filter. 

Time Filters

To do what I wanted, all I needed to do was click on the Tools button under the search box. This displays a submenu of Any country, Any Time, All Results (see pic). If you click on the Any Time drop down, you can then filter the results by time.

I wanted anything in the last 24hours but you can also choose last hour, week, month, year or even enter a custom range.

Impressed? I was. 

Maybe you've been using these things for years, but if not, they pretty handy.

Full instructions are in the Google Search help pages.