Search FAQs

Filmot supports keyword, Boolean, phrase and proximity operators in subtitle search and title expressions. Click the ? icon beside the search box to open the Search Syntax Cheat Sheet.

• Spaces: require all terms, though they need not be adjacent. Example: CRISPR gene editing. Do not type AND; it is treated as an ordinary search word.
• OR, written as |: match alternatives, such as "dark matter" | "dark energy".
• Double quotes: match an exact ordered phrase, such as "gravitational waves".
• Parentheses: group conditions, such as "stem cells" (therapy | treatment) or (CRISPR | "gene editing") ("sickle cell" | "cystic fibrosis").
• "w1 w2"~N: match words near each other in any order, such as "vaccine efficacy"~5.
• NEAR/N: match nearby terms, phrases or groups, such as "black hole" NEAR/10 "event horizon".
• NOTNEAR/N: match the first term without the second nearby, such as radiation NOTNEAR/100 microwave. The maximum distance is 500.
• * inside a quoted phrase: stand for exactly one word, such as "basic * spectroscopy".
• -word: exclude every video containing that word, such as quantum -computing. A query containing only excluded terms is invalid.
• Caption placeholders: search #FUCK# for censored words, or sound labels such as #Laughter#, #Music# and #Applause#.

The same operators work in the Video Title field under subtitle-search filters and in the title box on Metadata search.

Filmot supports proximity searches and a one-word wildcard inside quoted phrases. Open the Search Syntax Cheat Sheet with the ? icon next to the search box for more examples.

• "w1 w2"~N: finds the words in any order, with up to N words between them. Put ~ and the number directly after the closing quote, for example "vaccine efficacy"~5 or "tumor suppressor"~3.
• w1 NEAR/N w2: finds two terms within N words of each other, in any order, with a distance up to 500. It also accepts quoted phrases and grouped alternatives, for example "black hole" NEAR/10 "event horizon" or ("dopamine" | "serotonin") NEAR/10 ("receptor" | "pathway").
• "w1 * w2": inside a quoted phrase, * stands for exactly one word. "observed * decay" can match "observed radioactive decay" or "observed beta decay". Use additional asterisks for a longer gap, or combine alternatives: "basic * spectroscopy" | "basic * * spectroscopy".

To exclude a nearby term instead, use w1 NOTNEAR/N w2. For example, radiation NOTNEAR/100 microwave finds occurrences of "radiation" without "microwave" within that distance.

List the word forms you want with the OR operator |. For example, run | running | runner matches any of those forms. This also helps with spelling variants and automatic-caption transcription differences, such as "mRNA" | "messenger RNA" | "messenger R.N.A." or "CO2" | "carbon dioxide" | "CO 2".

The documented search syntax does not provide a word-ending wildcard such as run*. Its * wildcard works inside a quoted phrase and stands for exactly one word. For example, "observed * decay" matches a word between "observed" and "decay". Use more asterisks for longer gaps, or combine alternatives: "basic * spectroscopy" | "basic * * spectroscopy" | "basic * * * spectroscopy".

Open the ? help icon beside the search box for the complete operator list and examples.