Using these operators after 2013/12/01 before 20013/12/10 should return all gmails sent and received during the period Dec 1 -10 2013.

It draws a blank. My question really is how to search for an exact date?

after:2016/3/13 before:2016/3/14

gives me me the one and only mail from March 13, 2016.

If that is what you mean.

I edited the search string manually (although it does not look "logical" to me ).

Did not find the single date in the GUI.

It draws a blank.

Sounds like you expect to have mails in the described period?

(Dec 1, 2013 up and including Dec 9, 2013)

Search for a single date within this will also draw blank of course.

did you really type in 'before 20013/12/10' ?

perhaps that's the problem?

I need new glasses , I overlook the crucial : and I have been wracking my brain (which is easy) THanks !!

It still seems a matter of luck. E.g I tried before:2014/12/05 after:2014/12/31 it returned my current mails.

download 'mozilla thunderbird', start a new email account with your gmail settings - dead easy - it all sorts it out by itself with minimal input from you.

after, open up and it will automatically download all your gmail (make sure you are on free wifi).

after that, searches are as easy as a click. sort by date, sort by sender, sort by what ever.

plus - you will have an off - line record of your stuff, just in case....

did you really type in 'before 20013/12/10' ?

perhaps that's the problem?

Sharp-eye you are!

Although "before year 20013" really should have matched every mail and not return a blank

Maybe silently (without error message) hitting an internal limit and treated like "before -xxxxx" or "before 00000"?

It still seems a matter of luck. E.g I tried before:2014/12/05 after:2014/12/31 it returned my current mails.

I played around and gave up

I would have expected that with your term mails from 5 Dec 2014 to 31 Dec 2014 would be missing ("and" operation)?

(looking like all mails at first sight)

Tried to reproduce without success.

Much fun with this:

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190?hl=en

I would have expected that with your term mails from 5 Dec 2014 to 31 Dec 2014 would be missing ("and" operation)?

Correction:

OR (!) operation was what I meant.

before:2014/12/05 OR after:2014/12/31

would indeed return all mails except those from the Dec 2014 time-span.

It's too hot in the room

I would have expected that with your term mails from 5 Dec 2014 to 31 Dec 2014 would be missing ("and" operation)?

Correction:

OR (!) operation was what I meant.

before:2014/12/05 OR after:2014/12/31

would indeed return all mails except those from the Dec 2014 time-span.

It's too hot in the room

Thanks for not giving up! I , too tried both AND plus OR both returned my current gmails.

Not so good if you, like me , have legally relevant correspondence in gmail

I may have to go as recommended by Manfred 'mozilla thunderbird'

download 'mozilla thunderbird', start a new email account with your gmail settings - dead easy - it all sorts it out by itself with minimal input from you.

after, open up and it will automatically download all your gmail (make sure you are on free wifi).

after that, searches are as easy as a click. sort by date, sort by sender, sort by what ever.

plus - you will have an off - line record of your stuff, just in case....

And if you have multiple email accounts they can all be accessed in one place when you open Thunderbird.

Where exactly are you searching? Is it Gmail online or Outlook on your computer or somewhere else?

only gmail. Would have expected Google to have the search function under controll

I don't see that you have tried the Gmail search options dropdown. When searching for a mail I change to my All Mail box and then on the right side of the search field is a dropdown that opens the search options. Down at the bottom is a choice to set the search to within a period of time such as 1 Day 3 Day, xx weeks or xx months. This alwasy finds what I need.

Edit for spelling errors