Refine Google to Search File Types easily

Many a times we may be looking for Word Documents or PDF files while doing research. But didn't want to drop by at the library to look for the same. In all such scenarios, Google is the Best Resource to look for Research Papers to Data Sheets to Free Music.

Here's how you can effectively search using Google.

Copy {-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(doc|pdf|txt) " Search terms"} into the search bar and replace Search terms with a document title to find open indexes that contain downloadable text files. You can change the files being searched from (doc|pdf|txt) to (mp3|wma|wav) to find audio files or indeed to include any other file extension you may need. (doc|pdf|txt) means that only indexes containing doc OR pdf OR txt files are shown in results.

If all this copying and pasting is too much, you can also visit G2P (Google to Person) under g2p, which offers an input-field interface to Google searches like the example given above to help locate open directories or otherwise shared files.