Here in the digital age, we create and consume so much information that it’s easy to forget how often we actually need it. From a boss’s important project materials to massive jumbles of memes and plans shared in groups, our most important bits of info just seem too far-fetched to even think about searching through all the visual clutter. It’s not just a convenience anymore; it’s basically essential. In this guide, we’ll show you the essentials to find anything you need, as well as anywhere you want on the internet or in the privacy settings of your own WhatsApp conversations.
Mastering the Art of the Online Search
The internet is the world ‘s biggest library ( except it ‘s never a library, it ‘s always just more of the same books on the floor ). Powerful search engines ( like google ) are your best bet for sorting that mess out but it ‘s not essentially just dropping a few words in a box.
First off the power of quotation marks. When you put a phrase into quotation marks the search engine will look for those exact words and that exact order. So it ‘s very useful when you are looking for something like a quote or song lyric and don’t want to waste your time searching elsewhere.
Next use the minus sign to exclude words. If your goal is to find information about the Amazon river but are getting lots of results about the company, just search for ” Amazon – company “, that ‘ll tell the search engine to display pages with ” Amazon ” but not the word ” company “.
For people looking for information from a particular website, the site: operator really is your best friend. So if you’re looking for an old article on the BBC’s website, a site: bbc. com/climatechange report search would return only the BBC’s domain for your keywords. If you’re looking for something specific – say you’re looking for a PDF manual for an appliance – then you’ll need to add filetype: pdf to your search terms.
Unleashing the Search Power Within WhatsApp
WhatsApp has gone from being a simple texting service to being our primary information-storage vehicle for our personal and professional lives. Finding a single message, photo or document in a year-long, active group chat is sometimes like finding a needle in the haystack. Luckily for us, WhatsApp and WhatsApp Web support very powerful built-in search capabilities.
The process works pretty much the same: go to any individual or group chat, tap on the three dots (on mobile) or the magnifying glass icon (on WhatsApp web) to open the search bar. There you enter any keyword—name, place, topic—and WhatsApp will immediately display all messages that include that keyword in that conversation.
Going Beyond Basic Keyword Searches
Using WhatsApp search can be a whole lot easier than you think. You can get filters that display results to your chosen media type, a major time-saver. Once you’ve begun searching within your chat, you’ll find the filter options occupying the top-right area of the screen. You can choose to display only Links, Photos, Videos, GIFs or Documents. Want that PDF contract your coworker sent you last month? Filter by Documents and you’ll see it right away, saving you the hassle of scrolling through thousands of messages.
Another advanced approach is searching by sender. In group chats you can combine a keyword with the sender ‘s name. For example if you look for dinner from: Sarah you will find all messages sent from Sarah that include the word “dinner”. This is especially useful in large and active groups where there are multiple conversations going on at once.
Leveraging WhatsApp Web for Heavy Lifting
If you are into a serious chat archaeology, WA Web has major advantages over conventional search engines. It makes scrolling through long searches much more straight forward. And it can be far easier to keep track of and find files you’ve received—you can glean snapshots, preview them all in a few seconds, and download them straight to your computer. The WhatsApp web platform turns your instant messaging app into a curated database, so you can use it whenever you need to refer back to your conversations for work or other projects.
Building a Habit of Digital Organization
The one thing the best way to find something is not to lose it. Create good habits to make retrieval easier. Star important messages on Whatsapp—whether it be a flight confirmation, an important date or a Wi-Fi password—and all those starred messages will all be tracked in one place inside the app, in one folder. For online content, bookmark them using services you find helpful. Or just send an email with the subject line “found” to yourself.
Using these methods for search on the Web as well as your private chat rooms will save you hundreds of hours of frustration. By using advanced operators online and tapping the full potential of Wa Web and its search filters you can turn large amounts of digital stuff into a systematically organized and quickly accessible archive of your digital life.
