# Can I fine tune a Google news search for a particular time period? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568 "2023-10-14T15:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/1 "2023-10-14T15:36:02Z")
I remember a news article from back in the spring but I can’t find it on Google news because it just gives the most recent results on that news item. Is there a way to set a date parameter on a Google news search? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/2 "2023-10-14T15:42:29Z")
Yes. In the search tools for Google’s News tab, there’s a “Custom range” option, as well as an “Archives” option, for which I don’t know what the exact function is as it may be new. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/3 "2023-10-14T15:59:02Z")
Thanks, where do I find that, please? I using Chrome. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/4 "2023-10-14T16:06:07Z")
Click on ‘Tools’ on the right and then on the ‘Recent’ drop-down menu to select ‘Custom range…’. [![](https://i.imgur.com/hqV4neR.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/hqV4neR.png) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/5 "2023-10-14T16:23:43Z")
I don’t have a “Tools” button? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/6 "2023-10-14T16:25:45Z")
Aha! There’s a drop down menu in the search field itself! It has a “date option”, but it’s just “last week”, “last month”, “last year”. I was hoping to search a specific month, before recent developments in the news story. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/7 "2023-10-14T16:27:47Z")
Here’s a thread. Try searching in Incognito mode. [https://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/11qnna5/the\_tools\_button\_disappeared/](https://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/11qnna5/the_tools_button_disappeared/) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/8 "2023-10-14T16:31:16Z")
What’s incognito mode? One of the posters on that thread said it wasn’t available on Google Chrome, so that might be the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/9 "2023-10-14T16:36:13Z")
Click on the three dots in the top-right and click on ‘New Incognito window’. In Incognito mode, one’s Search history is not saved on the computer. It’s used for buying surprise presents for loved ones so they don’t find out based on your search history. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/10 "2023-10-14T16:39:49Z")
The three dots only give me more options for subject matter searches: Entertainment, Sports, etc. The Settings gear gives me choice of English and French, Farenheit or Celsius (or Kelvin!). The nine dots in a square give different types of Google. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/11 "2023-10-14T16:47:56Z")
Not sure. Are you on Windows Desktop? Maybe need a tech expert, like @BigT. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/12 "2023-10-14T16:50:29Z")
Chromebook. I appreciate your help. I really know very little about computer technology. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/13 "2023-10-14T17:53:12Z")
Aha! (again). The Tools button doesn’t show when I’m in Google News, but it does show in Google. I can fine tune my search there, and then ask Google to only give me News results. Thanks for your help. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-fine-tune-a-google-news-search-for-a-particular-time-period/991568/14 "2023-10-15T02:21:15Z")
You can do it manually like this: “northern lights” after:2019-03-01 before:2019-03-05 :news