How to search Google Drive

November 7, 2026

Type a word into the search bar at the top of Google Drive and press Enter. To narrow the results, use the Type, People and Modified filters, or type a search operator such as type:video or after:2026-01-01.

Filters and operators work together. Pick Videos under Type, then add a word, and Drive shows only the videos that match it.

Google Drive search filters

Under the search bar, Drive gives you filters for:

• Type: documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs, images, videos, folders and more.
• People: files linked to a person you pick.
• Modified: when a file last changed.

Click a filter to add it. Add text in the search bar to narrow it more. To remove one filter, click its remove button. To remove them all, click Clear filters.

Google Drive search operators

Type these straight into the search bar. Google says not every operator works on every device.

• "exact phrase" finds that exact word or phrase.
• -word leaves out files with that word, such as interview -draft.
• type:video shows only videos. Other types include image, pdf, document, spreadsheet, presentation and folder.
• owner:me or owner:name@example.com shows files that person owns.
• from:name@example.com shows files that person shared. to:name@example.com shows files shared with them.
• after:2026-05-01 and before:2026-06-01 match the date a file was last modified.
• createdafter:2026-05-01 and createdbefore:2026-06-01 match the date it was created.
• title:interview matches words in the file’s name.
• is:starred shows starred files. is:trashed searches the trash.

Put them together to cut a long list short. type:video owner:me after:2026-05-01 shows the videos you own that changed after May 1.

To pull the text out of an image or a scanned PDF, use Google Drive OCR.

Find a video by what happens in it

The filters and operators above match a file’s name, owner, type and dates, or words written in it. None of them looks at what happens in a video. A clip named FSES1508.MOV tells search nothing about the shot.

Our shoot folder from one day holds 74 raw files. A red tractor kicks up dust in the background of one clip for about 2 seconds. No file name says tractor, and nobody says the word.

1. Share the Google Drive folder with clipcloud. It only sees the folder you share.
2. clipcloud scans the videos in it: what’s shown, what’s said and what’s written on screen. New files get picked up on their own.
3. Type what you’re looking for in plain words. We typed “red tractor”. The first result was that clip, FSES1508.MOV, opened at 0:12, and it showed why it matched: “road showing a red tractor kicking up dust”.
4. Your editor gets their own login, so next time they search for it themselves.

To search what was said in one video, get its transcript in Drive. To send a clip once you’ve found it, see how to share a video from Google Drive.

Search can miss, so check the results. Your originals stay in your Drive.

FAQ

How do I find all the videos in my Google Drive?

Type type:video into the search bar, or open the Type filter and choose Videos.

How do I search Google Drive by date?

Use after: and before: with a date written as YYYY-MM-DD, such as after:2026-05-01. They match the date a file was last modified. To search by the date it was created, use createdafter: and createdbefore:.

How do I search for words in a file name in Google Drive?

Use title:, such as title:interview. To match an exact phrase, put it in quotes, such as "final cut".

Can Google Drive search what's inside a video?

Drive's filters and operators match a file's name, owner, type and dates, or words written in it. To search what's shown, said or written on screen in your videos, clipcloud scans the Drive folder you share.

Can my editor search my footage too?

Yes. Your editor gets their own clipcloud login and searches your library.

Does clipcloud move or change my files?

No. Your originals stay in your Drive.

Does it work with Shared Drives?

Yes. During the beta, a clipcloud founder links a whole Shared Drive for you.

How do I get access?

clipcloud is in beta. 100 beta spots. The first 100 get 50% off. Join the waitlist.