Quick answer: To search Google by file type, add filetype: and the extension to your query, with no space: dental marketing plan filetype:pdf. Google then shows only files in that format. It works for PDF, DOC/DOCX, XLS/XLSX, PPT/PPTX, CSV, TXT, RTF and more. To exclude a file type, use -filetype:pdf. On desktop you can also pick a format from the file type menu in Google Advanced Search.

PDFs are where the useful stuff hides: industry reports, state dental board rules, manufacturer manuals, conference slides. When I research a new market for a client, filetype:pdf is usually my first move. Here's how to use it properly.

filetype: is one of the operators Google officially documents. For the others, including the date filters before: and after:, see my guide to Google search operators.

How to use the filetype: operator

  1. Type your topic: patient intake form
  2. Add a space, then filetype: and the extension: filetype:pdf
  3. The full query is patient intake form filetype:pdf

Google documents this exact operator, with the example photoelectric effect paper filetype:pdf (Google Search Help). Two rules:

  • No space after the colon. Write filetype:pdf, not filetype: pdf.
  • Use the extension, not the name. Write filetype:xlsx, not filetype:excel.

File types you can search in Google

Google Search Central lists the formats it can index (File types indexable by Google). The most useful ones:

Format Operator Good for
Adobe PDF filetype:pdf Reports, studies, manuals, guidelines
Microsoft Word filetype:doc / filetype:docx Templates, policies, forms
Microsoft Excel filetype:xls / filetype:xlsx Budgets, calculators, data
Microsoft PowerPoint filetype:ppt / filetype:pptx Conference decks, training
CSV filetype:csv Raw data sets
OpenOffice / LibreOffice filetype:odt / ods / odp Open-format documents
Rich Text / Plain text filetype:rtf / filetype:txt Simple documents, logs
ePub filetype:epub E-books
PostScript filetype:ps Older academic papers
KML / KMZ, GPX filetype:kml / filetype:gpx Maps and GPS routes
SVG filetype:svg Vector graphics

Older guides, including the first version of this page, list Flash (.swf). Google no longer lists it, so skip it.

Search several file types at once

Combine formats with OR in capitals:

marketing budget template (filetype:xlsx OR filetype:xls OR filetype:csv)

Exclude a file type

Put a minus sign in front to drop a format: annual report -filetype:pdf shows web pages instead of PDFs. For excluding other things, see how to exclude words from Google search and how to exclude a website from Google search.

Combine filetype: with other operators

This is where the operator gets powerful:

Query What it finds
site:ada.org filetype:pdf Only PDFs on one site
site:.gov hvac rebate filetype:pdf Government PDFs about HVAC rebates
"new patient form" filetype:docx Word files with that exact phrase
dental marketing report filetype:pdf after:2025 Recent PDFs (Google's after: operator)
intitle:checklist filetype:pdf seo migration PDFs with "checklist" in the title

Use Google Advanced Search instead

  1. Go to google.com/advanced_search, or select Tools → Advanced Search after a search.
  2. Enter your words in the top fields.
  3. Open the file type dropdown and choose a format, for example Adobe Acrobat PDF (.pdf).
  4. Select Advanced Search.

How to search for PDFs on Google (step by step)

PDF is the most searched format by far ("filetype pdf" gets 1,600 searches a month in the US, per OpenSEO), so here's the short version:

  1. Type your topic plus filetype:pdf, for example orthodontic treatment consent form filetype:pdf.
  2. Add site:.edu, site:.gov or site: plus a trusted domain if you only want authoritative sources.
  3. Add quotes around a must-have phrase to tighten the results.
  4. Open the result. Chrome and most browsers show PDFs in a viewer, so you don't have to download first.

Why filetype: isn't working

  • There's a space after the colon, or you used a name instead of the extension.
  • Few files exist for that topic. Broaden your words, or try related formats (pdf OR docx).
  • Google is mixing in normal pages. Make sure filetype: is in the query itself. It doesn't work in the Images tab the same way.
  • The file is behind a login or blocked from crawling. Google can only return files it was allowed to index.

For site owners: get your own PDFs found

If you publish forms, menus, price sheets or guides as PDFs, they can rank too. Give them a descriptive file name and a real document title, link to them from a relevant HTML page, and make sure robots.txt doesn't block them. If a PDF duplicates a web page, point the PDF at the page with a canonical HTTP header. This is part of the on-page SEO work I do for dental and home-service sites. Run a free audit to see what Google currently indexes for your site.

FAQ

How do I search Google by file type?

Add filetype: and the extension to your query with no space, for example budget template filetype:xlsx. Google shows only files with that extension.

How do I search only for PDFs on Google?

Type your topic followed by filetype:pdf. To limit it to trusted sources, add site:.gov, site:.edu or a specific domain.

What file types can Google search?

Google indexes PDF, Word (DOC/DOCX), Excel (XLS/XLSX), PowerPoint (PPT/PPTX), CSV, TXT, RTF, OpenOffice formats, ePub, PostScript, KML/KMZ, GPX, SVG and HTML, among others. See Google's indexable file types list.

Can I search for more than one file type at once?

Yes. Use OR in capital letters: (filetype:pdf OR filetype:docx).

How do I exclude PDFs from Google results?

Add -filetype:pdf to your query.

Is there a file type option in Google Advanced Search?

Yes. Google Advanced Search has a file type dropdown that adds the operator for you.

Khalid Hossen has worked in SEO and Google Ads for 14+ years and has served 150+ dental & local service businesses. Get a free audit of how your practice or business shows up in Google, Google Maps and AI answers.