How to Use the (-) Sign in Google for Best Results

If you have a search keyword that is too broad, you can choose to focus only on the relevant meaning and exclude the rest using the - or minus sign operator. In other words, you can use the minus sign operator if you’d like to exclude results from a specific keyword while searching a broader keyword.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet connection
• Computer

1. Go to the Google homepage.
2. Type in the search keyword using the - operator. For example, if you want to search for sports other than tennis, just type in sports followed by a space and a - (minus) sign, followed by "tennis." The search keywords thus would be "sports –tennis."
3. Click on the Google search button or hit return. Google will list the search results.

Tips & Warnings

• When used with numbers the - operator works like the arithmetic subtraction operator. For instance, entering 15 - 5 in the search box would yield the result 15 - 5 = 10.
• Avoid a space after the – operator. However, there should be a space between the keyword to be searched and the – operator. If you include a space between the operator and the keyword that has to be excluded, you will get results for that keyword only. For instance, sports –tennis would yield all results for sports other than tennis, whereas sports – tennis would yield results for tennis.