Operator cheat sheet
Every operator on one page, with its syntax and limits.
Everything you type outside an operator searches by meaning. Each operator narrows or adds to that in one specific way. The operator names below link to their full articles.
| Operator | What it does | Limit | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quoted phrase | Requires those words together, word for word, in the passage or in the document's title, speaker, author or topics. | One. A second pair of quotes is ordinary text. | "plan of salvation" |
SPEAKER: or AUTHOR: | Keeps results to one person's documents. Part of a name is enough; several names find documents by any of them. Quote a name of more than one word. | Five names, counted together. | SPEAKER:Holland |
TOPIC: | Keeps results to documents tagged with a topic. The name must match a topic exactly. Quote a name of more than one word. | Three. A result must carry every one. | TOPIC:"Book of Mormon" |
INCLUDE "..." | Requires the phrase somewhere in the same document: together in one passage, or in its title, speaker, author or topics. | Three. A document must satisfy every one. | faith INCLUDE "grace" |
EXCLUDE "..." | Removes every document whose passages or title contain the phrase. | Five. | atonement EXCLUDE "infinite atonement" |
| Scripture reference | Shows that verse in the source card above the results. The results themselves are the ordinary search on your words. | The first reference in the query. | Moroni 10:4 |
Rules that apply to all
- Operators can go anywhere in the query, and capitals do not matter.
- Straight double quotes work anywhere. Curly quotes, the kind a phone types, work around an operator's value, and around a phrase only when that phrase is the whole search; inside a longer pasted sentence they stay ordinary text.
- The value follows the colon with no space.
SPEAKER: Holland, with a space, is ordinary text. - Operators past a limit are ignored without any message. Their pills still show under the search bar, so the pills tell you what is in the box, not what the search used.
- The search box holds up to 500 characters; a longer paste is cut there. An operator's value can be up to 100 characters; past that the search does not run and a message says "The search could not be run. Try a shorter or simpler query."
- Pills under the search bar show the operators in the box, grouped by kind. The X on a pill removes that operator from the box without running a new search.
- A query made only of
SPEAKER:,AUTHOR:orEXCLUDEhas nothing to search for, and a message asks you to "Add a word or phrase to search for alongside the filter."TOPIC:andINCLUDEon their own do run: the topic name or the phrase becomes the meaning searched for. TOPIC:names must match a topic exactly. Pick the topic from the suggestions dropdown as you type.
Combinations
Operators stack. Each one narrows the results a little further.
"hope of Israel" SPEAKER:NelsonTry it
An exact phrase from one speaker.
TOPIC:Temple SPEAKER:Nelson covenantsTry it
A subject, a speaker, and words searched by meaning within both.
"iron rod" INCLUDE "tree of life" TOPIC:"Book of Mormon"Try it
A plain phrase, a required second phrase, and a topic.
faith INCLUDE "grace" EXCLUDE "works" SPEAKER:UchtdorfTry it
Require one phrase, remove another, and keep to one speaker.
Alma 32:21 TOPIC:FaithTry it
The verse fills the source card, and the results are narrowed to the topic.
Read next
- Exact phrases with quotesWrap words in double quotes to require them, word for word.
- Filtering by speaker or authorSPEAKER: and AUTHOR: keep results to one person.
- Filtering by topicTOPIC: keeps results to documents tagged with a topic.
- INCLUDE and EXCLUDERequire extra wording, or leave a phrase out entirely.