How to find every receipt in Gmail

Step 1: Find your receipt emails

Copy a search below, paste it into the Gmail search box and press Enter. Add or remove words as you look at the results.

1. 1

   Start broad with receipt words

   This catches most receipts, invoices and order confirmations. Mail Gmail files under Promotions is left out. If you get too many shipping updates, remove “your order”.

   (receipt OR invoice OR "order confirmation" OR "payment received" OR "your order" OR "billing statement") -category:promotionsCopy
2. 2

   Check Gmail’s Purchases category

   This shows only mail that Gmail sorted as a purchase. Gmail does the sorting, so some receipts can be missed. Run it alongside the search above, not instead of it.

   category:purchasesCopy
3. 3

   Find receipts sent as PDFs

   Use this when you need the actual PDF invoices, for example from software vendors. Only messages with an attachment whose name or type includes pdf are shown.

   has:attachment filename:pdf (receipt OR invoice OR statement)Copy
4. 4

   Limit it to one year

   This example finds 2025. Dates are written YYYY/MM/DD. The range is one day wider on each side so all of 2025 is included, so remove anything dated December 31, 2024 or January 1, 2026.

   (receipt OR invoice OR "order confirmation" OR "payment received") after:2024/12/31 before:2026/01/01Copy

   To look back from today instead, use newer_than:1y in place of the dates.

5. 5

   Search by the stores you pay

   Put part of a sender’s name or address after from:. This example finds receipts from Amazon, Apple, PayPal, Stripe and Uber. Swap in the companies you actually pay.

   (from:amazon OR from:apple OR from:paypal OR from:stripe OR from:uber) (receipt OR invoice OR order)Copy

Step 2: Label what you found

A label lets you come back to all your receipts in one click, and export just that label later. Use the same name as our mail guide: Receipts.

1. 1

   Create a Receipts label

   On the left, next to Labels, click the Create new label icon. Type Receipts and click Create.

2. 2

   Select every result

   Run a search from step 1 and tick the checkbox at the top. That selects only the messages on the current page, so click the link in the notice that appears to select every conversation that matches the search.

3. 3

   Apply the label

   Click Labels at the top and choose Receipts. Every selected message gets the label.

4. 4

   Catch the ones you missed

   After labeling with a few different searches, run this to see receipts that still have no label.

   (receipt OR invoice OR "order confirmation" OR "payment received") -label:ReceiptsCopy

Step 3: Collect new receipts automatically

You labeled your existing mail in step 2. The filter takes care of what arrives from now on: it labels receipts and, if you use Paidwhere, forwards them to your Paidwhere address too.

1. 1

   Add your Paidwhere address as a forwarding address (if you use Paidwhere)

   Copy your address (receipts-…@in.paidwhere.com) from Settings › Mail forwarding in the Paidwhere app or from your account page on paidwhere.com. In Gmail, click the gear, See all settings, then the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. Click Add a forwarding address, paste it, then Next and Proceed. The confirmation code Gmail sends shows up in the Paidwhere app and on your account page; enter it and click Verify.

   mail.google.com/mail/u/0

   Leave “Disable forwarding” selected on that tab. Turning it on would forward all your mail; the filter below sends only receipts.

2. 2

   Open search options

   In the search box, click Show search options, enter the search below and click Search to check the results. Broad phrases like “your order” are left out because the filter labels mail without asking.

   (receipt OR invoice OR "order confirmation" OR "payment received") -category:promotionsCopy
3. 3

   Create the filter

   Click Create filter at the bottom of the search window, tick Apply the label and pick Receipts. If you use Paidwhere, also tick Forward it to and pick your Paidwhere address. Then click Create filter again.

   To change or delete it later, go to Settings, See all settings, then Filters and Blocked Addresses.

Step 4: Export the receipts as files

1. 1

   Download only the Receipts label with Google Takeout

   In Google Takeout, choose Mail only, limit it to the Receipts label and export a ZIP. Our mail guide at /guide/email walks through each screen.

   takeout.google.com

   The export expires after about 7 days, and each export can be downloaded 5 times.

Gmail search operators worth knowing

Words that show up in receipt emails

Every company words it differently, so one word never finds everything. Add or remove these with OR.

• Stores and apps: receipt, order confirmation, your order, order #, purchase
• Payments: payment received, payment confirmation, you paid, transaction
• Subscriptions and software: invoice, billing statement, renewal, subscription
• Utilities and cards: statement, bill, amount due

Receipts that are in the email body, not a PDF

Some stores put the receipt in the body of the email instead of attaching a PDF. Adding has:attachment hides those, so search without it first and add it only when you need PDFs. A Google Takeout export keeps the full message, body included.

Some services only email a link and keep the invoice in your account on their site. For those, download the invoice from the vendor’s billing page.

Split exports by year with labels

Google’s help says Gmail exports can’t be limited to a date range. Instead, label a year’s search results with something like Receipts-2025 and pick only that label in Takeout.

Each message’s labels are kept in an X-Gmail-Labels header in the export.

Questions

My search is full of marketing emails. How do I cut them out?

Drop broad phrases like “your order” and keep narrow words like receipt and invoice. Add -category:promotions to leave out mail Gmail filed under Promotions. If you know who you pay, from: is the most precise filter.

Can I search Spam and Trash for receipts too?

Yes. Put in:anywhere in front of your search, for example in:anywhere (receipt OR invoice). That includes Spam and Trash.

Can I export only 2025 receipts from Gmail?

Not by date directly, because Gmail exports don’t support a date range. Search with after:2024/12/31 before:2026/01/01, apply a label such as Receipts-2025 to the results, and choose only that label in Google Takeout.

How do I edit or delete the filter later?

In Gmail, click Settings, then See all settings, then the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab. Find the filter and click edit or delete.

What about receipts with no PDF attached?

Search without has:attachment and label those emails too. A Takeout export includes the message body. If a vendor only sends a link, download the invoice from your account on their site.