Google Apps Hacks

132 GOOGLE APPS HACKS

HaCK 54:



Sometimes Google releases undocumented features. At the time

of this writing, Gmail’s

lang operator is one such undocumented

feature—but that shouldn’t stop you from using it!

Gmail.com has a hidden search feature allowing you to nd messages in one language only. The

operator at hand is used in web searching, too: “lang”, as in the following searches (which nd

German, French, and Italian messages, respectively):

lang:de

lang:fr

lang:it

If you search for “lang:de” for instance (no quotes), you will see all your messages in German.

Note that the labeling might not always be 100% accurate. You can also combine your language-

restricted search with a normal keyword query, such as:

lang:de zahlung

You can also combine the language operator with lters .

If you are unsure about what abbreviation to use for a given language, Google’s advanced search

dialog (http://google.com/advanced_search) can help. In the select box next to the “Return pages

written in” label, choose any language. I’m picking Arabic, as shown in Figure 5-42. Also, enter a

keyword at the top, and then hit the Google Search button. In the URL now showing in your browser,

there’s a parameter named “lr” with a value like “lang_ar”—the last two letters are the abbreviation

you need to search in Gmail, such as lang:ar.

Hat tip to Alan/Garett Rogers at Googling ...