At present, everyone uses the Internet as a solution to different problems that arise daily, and the first thing we usually do is open a mobile or PC to use “google.com.” Do you know there are many things you can find on Google with the help of “Google Dorking”? Know in detail about what Google Dorking or Google Dorks is.
However, have you ever considered what information there is about you on the Internet? This article explains how to use “Google Dorking” to find information about yourself or something for work or research purposes.
What is Google Dorking?
Google Dorking, also known as Google Hacking, is a technique that applies Google’s advanced search to find specific information on the Internet by filtering the results with operators known as Dorks, which are symbols that specify a condition.
For example, if we put double quotes (“text”) in our search text, it will search for information that exactly matches the text. If we search for “OSI,” it will return the content that exactly matches that term. Throughout this article, we will show you how it can be useful to you.
What Can You Find With Google Dorks?
Depending on the parameters used for the search, the results will change, but it might be possible to identify information of all kinds. Google dorks are basically power-search shortcuts. They help you find things that are already public on the internet but hidden deep:
- Credentials: usernames and passwords of your accounts.
- Audiovisual content: photos and videos.
- Private URLs.
- Sensitive documentation: ID, telephone numbers, and other cards.
- Bank information: account numbers or cards.
- Emails.
- Access to security cameras.
- Public documents & Etc.
How to use Google Dorks?
First, you need to know the basic commands of advanced searches. They are called operators, symbols, or specific words. With them, you can find something specific that you are looking for.
For example, if you want to check if your name appears on web pages, you can enter in the navigation bar of your browser “Your name and surname” between quotation marks. In the same way, you can carry out searches between quotation marks for what you want to find: “ID number,” “home address,” “telephone,” “email,” “car license plate,” etc.
On the other hand, if you would like to know if your access credentials are exposed to any online service that you use, that is, if they are published on a website accessible to everyone due to hacking or data theft, you should use the inurl and intext operators like this: inurl: [web URL] AND intext: [password]
Also, if you want to search for specific words that a web page contains, you can use the operator allintext: (desired word). Example: allientext: SEO AI Tools.
In a simple words, “How to use Google Dorking”:
- Go to Google.
- Type an operator + keyword.
- Press Enter.
Most common operators:
- site: search inside one website
- [Example: site:wikipedia.com]
- filetype: find PDFs, docs, etc.
- [Example: filetype:pdf AI tools for SEO]
- intitle: search words in page title
- [Example: intitle:”Learn AI Course”]
- inurl: search words in the URL
- [Exmaple: inurl:blog]
Is Google Dorking Safe to Use?
Google dorking can be safe if you use it responsibly for your personal and professional purposes.
It is safe when you use it for research purposes, finding public PDFs, reports, or research papers, learning how search engines index content, or academic, journalism, or cybersecurity learning, as a normal internet user viewing public data is legal.
Dorking becomes risky if you use it to search for passwords, private databases, or admin panels, attempt to log in to anything you’re not authorized to access, or download or misuse sensitive personal data; at that point, it is no longer considered “just searching” and may be classified as unauthorized access or data misuse, which is illegal in many countries.
Most Searched Google Dorking Commands
- site:
- filetype:
- intitle:
- allintitle:
- inurl:
- allinurl:
- intext:
- allintext:
- link:
- cache:
- related:
- define:
- before: / after:
- AROUND(X)
What to do If Your Information is Exposed on Internet?
In case you have found personal or private data on the network, you can follow a series of guidelines:
- If you believe that information about you should not be visible and accessible to anyone, request its deletion through Google Search Console. You can order the withdrawal of information such as the following:
- Intimate images they did not consent to.
- Personal information that allows you to be identified or puts your bank details at risk.
- Furthermore, if you find your passwords public, change them to unique and strong passwords for each account, including these upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. These precautions will limit the risk of a cybercriminal or malicious person accessing your accounts with the information they obtained using these advanced Google searches.
- It is also recommended to use double authentication to access your accounts and thus make it more difficult for them to be stolen. Strong passwords are hard to remember, so using a password manager to help you store and create them is a good way to keep yourself safe and simplify this task.
- Finally, protect your devices with an updated antivirus and run regular scans to prevent security vulnerabilities on your devices and prevent your security and data from being compromised.
FAQ: Google Dorking
It leverages Google’s indexing by combining operators—e.g., “site:example.com filetype:pdf intext:password”—to filter results for targeted info like login pages or documents.
It’s legal for ethical research or security testing, but illegal if used for unauthorized access, hacking, or malicious purposes like stealing data.
Key operators include site: (domain-specific), filetype: (file types), intitle: (title keywords), inurl: (URL terms), and – (exclude words).
Secure servers with robots.txt, .htaccess restrictions, proper file permissions, and avoid exposing sensitive directories or logs publicly.