Reddit, the front page of the internet as it likes to call itself, is a huge site with thousands of posts spread across hundreds of subreddits. With its search feature being notoriously bad, searching for something on Reddit can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In this article, we’re going over a few tips and tricks you can use to streamline your searches on Reddit, so you don’t spend hours looking for your content. 

Also read: How to create a subreddit?

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How to search subreddits, users and posts on Reddit?

Let’s start with the most obvious type of search you’d most probably run on Reddit. If you’re looking for a particular subreddit, post or user, all you need to do is type in the word you’re looking for in the search bar.

Depending on which Reddit layout you’re using, your search bar can be in different locations. If you’re using the old layout, you’ll find the search bar tucked away in the top right. If you’re on the new layout, the search bar is right on top of the page in the middle. 

Type what you want to search for here and press enter. For example, if you type in MSI, you’ll see the /r/MSIlaptops subreddit as well as every post that has the keyword in its title.

If you’re looking exclusively for subreddits, you can try out the subreddits page. While this is mainly designed to manage your subreddit subscriptions, it also comes with an exclusive search box for subreddit.

Here are a few modifiers you can use to enhance your searches

• title:[query here] – This modifier looks only for posts that contain the query in their title.
• author:[username] – look for posts from a specific author with the mentioned username.
• selftext:[text] – searches the body of all your self-made posts.
• subreddit:[name] – looks up posts made in the specified subreddit.
• url:[text] – searches the URL of all non-self made posts. 
• site:[text] – searches only the domain name of non-self posts.
• nsfw:yes/no – searches posts that are marked as NSFW or not.
• self:yes/no – searches for or excludes self-made posts.

There are also a few boolean operators that you can use to further build complex search queries. 

• AND: Implies that you want both bits to be true.
• OR: Implies that you’re looking for either of the two arguments. 
• You can use the minus (-) sign to negate or exclude any parameter from a query.
• Parenthesis () can be used to build more elaborate search queries further. 

Also read: How to crosspost on Reddit?

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How to search inside Subreddits?

While you can use the aforementioned subreddit modifier to search withing a subreddit, there’s an easier way that can save you some time.

If you’re on the older Reddit format, there’s a checkbox under the search bar that limits your searches to the subreddit you’re currently browsing. This can be immensely helpful when looking up content inside a particular subreddit instead of scrolling endlessly.

On the newer format, there’s no checkbox, but once you’ve run your search, you’ll see an option right under the search bar to show results from that particular subreddit. 

Also read: Top 9 must-follow subreddits for Apple users

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How to search Reddit comments?

The Reddit search bar can’t look through comments at the moment. However, there’s still a workaround if you’re looking to find a particular comment. We’re going to have to use third-party tools. 

Online tools like RedditCommentSearch.com or Pushshift Reddit Search can help you look through comments from posts on any subreddit you want.

If you’re frustrated by Reddit’s nearly useless search bar, you can also use Pushshift Reddit Search to look for just about anything on Reddit. From posts to threads to users, the tool can help you locate what you’re looking for in a matter of minutes. 

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How to search deleted Reddit comments?

If you scroll through comments on a Reddit thread, you’re bound to come across a few deleted comments in just about any conversation. 

There’s a website called Removeddit that stores comments and posts as much as it possibly can. Meaning if a comment is deleted, the site remembers it and can fetch it on demand. The site will let you know if the author deleted the comment by highlighting it blue or by an admin by highlighting it in red.

Using the site is rather easy as well. All you need to do is find the URL to the deleted comment or post, and change it in such a way so that the reddit in the URL becomes removeddit. Now when you’ll refresh the page you’ll be able to see any deleted comments on the page if Removeddit remembers them,

Also read: How to copy all subreddit subscriptions to a new Reddit account?