How to Search Gmail for Attachments from One Person

Someone sent you a file months ago and you cannot remember the subject line. Two search operators together list every attachment from that sender.

Type the search

In the Gmail search box, type from:name@example.com has:attachment and press Enter. The results show only messages from that address that carry a file. A partial name works too: from:dana has:attachment matches any sender whose name or address contains "dana".

Narrow by file type or name

Add filename:pdf to keep only PDFs, or filename:invoice to match files whose name contains that word. Any extension works: filename:xlsx, filename:jpg, filename:zip. The filename: operator searches the attachment name, not the message body.

Narrow by size or date

Add larger:5M to skip small files such as signature images, or smaller:1M for the reverse. Add after:2025/01/01 or before:2025/06/30 to limit the date range. A full search looks like from:name@example.com has:attachment filename:pdf after:2025/01/01.

Use the search options panel instead

Click the sliders icon at the right of the search box. Fill in From, tick Has attachment, and set Size or Date within as needed, then click Search. This builds the same operators for you and is the way to do it on the phone, where the panel appears after tapping the search field.

Download the file

Open a result and hover over the attachment at the bottom of the message. Click the download arrow to save it, or the Drive icon to add it to Google Drive. With several attachments in one message, the download icon in the attachment header saves them all as a zip file.

If a result has no attachment. has:drive finds messages containing a Google Drive link rather than an attached file. Files shared through Drive, Google Photos, or a shared album are links, not attachments, so has:attachment will not find them; search from:name@example.com has:drive instead.

If the sender uses several addresses. Combine them: from:(name@example.com OR name@other.com) has:attachment.