The following characters have a special meaning in the search query syntax, so they are treated as special characters in search terms. To use these characters as literal search characters, you need to escape them.
These characters are used to invoke search features such as required/prohibited terms (+ -), boolean operators (&& || !), grouping (( )), range search ([ ] { }), boost search (^), phrase search ("), fuzzy search (~), wildcard search (* ?), and field search (:).
For example, searching directly for a “/” or “:” in a URL or file path, or a “+” or “-” in program code, can produce unexpected search results. See below for how to escape these characters.
List of Special Characters
| Special Character | Meaning | Related |
|---|---|---|
+ - | Specifies required or prohibited terms (AND search / NOT search) | AND Search / NOT Search |
&& || | AND search / OR search | AND Search / OR Search |
! | NOT search (exclusion search) | NOT Search |
( ) | Groups search conditions | Advanced Search |
[ ] { } | Range search ([ ] includes the boundary values, { } excludes them) | Range-Specified Search |
^ | Boost search (weighting) | Boost Search |
" | Phrase search (treats the enclosed text as a single phrase; can also be used instead of escaping) | Advanced Search |
~ | Fuzzy search | Fuzzy Search |
* ? | Wildcard search | Wildcard Search |
: | Specifies the search field | Field-Specified Search |
\ | Escape character | (this page) |
/ | Slash (must be escaped when it appears in a URL, etc.) | Field-Specified Search |
Usage
To treat a special character as a literal search character, use one of the following methods.
Put
\immediately before the character to escape it. The single character that follows is treated as a normal character instead of query syntax.Enclose the search term in
". The enclosed string is treated as a phrase search, and the special characters inside it are not interpreted as query syntax. Note, however, that because it becomes a phrase search, features such as wildcard search (*?) are not available.
For example, if you want to search for “C++” as a search term, escape it as follows.