SEARCH OPERATORS
How to search for PDFs and documents
Run an example in Google, Bing, or Yandex, then swap in your own topic, document title, or model number.
For a search box that filters to PDFs automatically, search PDF.CAB. For archives and specialty search engines, browse the directory.
Find PDFs on a topic
Add filetype:pdf after a subject, title, or model number.
solar panel installation manual filetype:pdfRun this search on GoogleFind a report on its publisher’s site
Combine a quoted phrase with site: to search one publisher’s domain.
"Voyager" site:nasa.gov filetype:pdfRun this search on GoogleFind an editable Word document
Replace pdf with docx to look for Word files.
meeting agenda template filetype:docxRun this search on GoogleFind recent PDFs
Add after: with a date to narrow the results to more recently updated documents.
climate assessment filetype:pdf after:2023-01-01Run this search on Google
Bing
Find PDFs from a specific source
Combine filetype:pdf and site: to search for PDFs from one publisher.
tsunami preparedness site:noaa.gov filetype:pdfRun this search on BingMatch a filename extension
Use ext:docx to find files with the Word filename extension.
project proposal template ext:docxRun this search on BingFind pages that link to PDFs
Use contains:pdf when you want a page with links to PDF files, such as a publications index.
Voyager mission site:nasa.gov contains:pdfRun this search on BingFind spreadsheets
Use filetype:xlsx for Excel files such as budgets and tables.
annual budget filetype:xlsxRun this search on Bing
Yandex
Find PDFs
Use mime:pdf to restrict results to PDFs.
solar panel installation manual mime:pdfRun this search on YandexFind PDFs from one publisher
Add site: with the publisher’s domain to include pages on its subdomains.
Voyager site:nasa.gov mime:pdfRun this search on YandexFind older Word files
Use mime:doc for the older Word DOC format.
meeting agenda template mime:docRun this search on YandexFind PDFs from a date range
Use date: with two dates in YYYYMMDD format to filter by publication date.
climate report mime:pdf date:20230101..20251231Run this search on Yandex