Reddit is a huge website, containing thousands of posts and comments beyond numerous subreddits. As such, if you want to find a mail that covers a specific topic, it'due south a good idea to get to grips with the dissimilar ways of using Reddit's search engine.

So, in this article, we explore how to search Reddit, including some unofficial ways to get better results.

1. How to Search Reddit for Subreddits, Users, and Posts

If you want to perform a Reddit search—whether you're looking for a subreddit or a post—you can use the search bar. If the term "subreddit" just flew right over your head, be certain to check out our guide on what Reddit is and how it works earlier reading any further.

The search bar is in different locations, depending on which kind of Reddit design y'all're using. If y'all're using the sometime Reddit design, the search bar is in the top-right.

reddit-search-old-bar

If you're using the new Reddit design, information technology's at the very top in the middle.

The search bar on the new Reddit

Type what you want to see here and press Enter to search. When yous apply the search bar, Reddit will pull up subreddits, users, and posts that contain your search term. For example, if you search for "cats," you lot'll find the subreddit /r/cats, besides equally every post on Reddit that has "cats" in the championship.

If yous want to search but subreddits, y'all can visit the subreddit page. This is used for managing the subreddits you follow, but it also comes with a search box exclusively for finding new communities.

How to Search Reddit Using Modifiers and Operators

You lot can also use the following modifiers as mentioned in Reddit's advanced search:

  • title:[text] searches simply post titles.
  • writer:[username] searches only posts by the given username.
  • selftext:[text] searches only the body of posts that were made as self-posts.
  • subreddit:[name] searches only posts that were submitted to the given subreddit customs.
  • url:[text] searches only the URL of non-self-mail posts.
  • site:[text] searches only the domain proper name of not-self-postal service posts.
  • nsfw:yes or nsfw:no to filter results based on whether they were marked as NSFW or non.
  • self:aye or self:no to filter results based on whether they were self-posts or not.

You can likewise use boolean operators to better refine your search.

  • AND means you want both sides to be true.
  • OR means simply ane side needs to be true.
  • You tin use parentheses () to group modifiers together in case the search query is a complex mixture of ANDs and ORs.
  • Y'all tin can negate/exclude sure modifiers by preceding them with - (minus sign).

two. How to Search Within a Subreddit

If you want to learn how to search in a subreddit, yous tin can apply the subreddit search modifier nosotros mentioned above. However, in that location is an easier way that volition save you a little scrap of fourth dimension.

For example, let's say you're browsing a subreddit and you're not finding what you want to find. Instead of browsing until yous find it, y'all tin can search only within the subreddit you're on. How yous do this depends on what version of Reddit yous prefer.

If you lot're using one-time Reddit, click the checkbox under the search box that says "limit my search to [subreddit proper name]". When yous hit Enter, only results from that subreddit volition appear.

Refining a search on old Reddit

If you're using the new Reddit pattern, however, you won't encounter a tickbox. To search in a subreddit on the new pattern, take a wait at the left of the search box. If yous're currently on the subreddit yous want to search in, you'll probable see its name to the left of the search bar. This means that, when you lot search for something, Reddit volition simply search that subreddit.

Refining a search on new Reddit

If you don't encounter this in the search bar, search equally if it were there. Then, on the search results page, click Show results from [Subreddit] to narrow things down.

Showing results from one subreddit from the main site search

If all else fails, utilize the subreddit:[name] shortcut as we covered in a higher place.

You've probably noticed that you tin can't perform a Reddit comment search on the main website; at least, it tin't at the time of writing. However, there is yet a mode to search Reddit comments; we just need to movement away from Reddit and use third-party tools instead.

1 of the best tools available is Pushshift Reddit Search. This website will let you search through Reddit comments, but every bit you'll see when you visit the website, that'southward not all information technology tin do. If you get frustrated with Reddit's search engine, be sure to try this one instead.

Using Pushshift Reddit Search

To perform a Reddit comment search, ensure that you're on the "Search" category on the start row of options. On the second row, unselect "Posts" and select "Comments". On the third row, select the span of fourth dimension you want to search in. Enter what you're looking for in the "Search Terms" box.

If yous desire to search a specific subreddit, enter it into the "Subreddits" field. The "Domains" field is looking for posts that link to a specific website, only y'all don't need to fill this out if you're looking through comments.

When you click on "Search," Pushshift volition scour through Reddit and pull upwardly all the comments that match your query.

A search result from a PushSearch query

Sometimes yous're looking through a comment thread for discussion. You'll find a annotate that says "[Deleted]," followed by a chain of replies discussing the matter further. The outset to the conversation is lost forever—or so you lot might think.

A deleted comment on Reddit, with replies

There'due south a handy website chosen Unddit that stores every bit many comments on Reddit every bit possible. As such, if a comment is deleted, Unddit will "recall" it and show you what it used to say. Moreover, it volition even permit you know if the user deleted their own comment by marker it blue, or if a modernistic removed information technology past mark it red.

To use Unddit, navigate to the Reddit annotate section that you desire to bank check. Then, edit the URL so that the "reddit" part in the domain proper noun becomes "unddit." At that place'south no need to delete the whole domain proper name and re-type it; just change the "re" office of "reddit" to "un."

Restoring deleted comments with Removeddit

When you lot press Enter, you lot'll load the Unddit page for that comment thread. Unddit will look through its database and show all of the comments it has on file for that thread. If Unddit managed to archive the comment before information technology was deleted, yous'll observe it hither in its sometime celebrity. Otherwise, if it got deleted earlier Unddit could see information technology, the website volition bear witness an fault message instead.

Upgrading Your Reddit Experience

As you can see, there are various means to search Reddit. You could fifty-fifty apply one of the free alternative Reddit browsers. Then, whether you lot're looking for a new community to bring together, or are trying to discover that one funny meme yous stumbled across weeks ago, you should be fine. Especially if you brand use of the tertiary-party options mentioned above.

What Is Reddit Premium and How Does It Work?

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