How to look for attachments in Gmail messages

Attaching a file when sending an email is a pretty frequent practice, whether it’s an image, a document, or a video. To free up space in your Gmail archive, it is important to uncover and remove the attachments that have accumulated over time. 

The “filename:” search string is required in order to search for attachments in Gmail. To find all attachments in a specific file format, type “filename:” followed by the file type in the Gmail search field. If you want to filter by sender, size, or date, you may also include additional search strings in your query.

There are certain search terms that apply regardless of whether you’re searching for Gmail attachments on your phone or a desktop computer, such as the filename: modifier.

In the Gmail search field, type in the following phrase if you merely want to see all emails with all attachments: filename:pdf, filename:mp4, filename:jpg

Take note of the fact that there are no spaces between each word. Anything that matches these search terms will now appear in the results. 

However, what if you desire a greater level of detail? Consider the scenario in which you require access to all of the file attachments that came from a specific sender. All attachments of the same type from the same sender? In this case, you’d also say,

has:attachmentfrom:victor, filename:pdffrom:victor

You might also use the “to:” string if you’re looking for a file that was sent to a specific person. For example, has:attachment to:victor, filename:pdfto:victor

Additionally, you can use other filters to limit down the date and size of the attachment that you have sent. As a bonus, it’s a great way to free up some storage space in your Gmail account. 

There are three horizontal lines in the Gmail search bar on the far right. By selecting this, you will be taken to a page with more advanced options.

After entering your search criteria, tick the Has attachment box. After that, click on Search to get your results.