How to Search Reddit Effectively?

How to Search Reddit Effectively
How to Search Reddit Effectively

The search feature on Reddit is famously awful. Here’s how to do a decent Reddit search to receive more relevant results.

Reddit is a massive website with hundreds of articles and comments spread over several subreddits. As a result, learning the numerous methods to use Reddit’s search engine is a smart idea if you want to find a post that covers a specific topic.

As a result, in this article, we’ll look at how to search Reddit, as well as some unauthorized methods for getting better results.

1. How to Find Subreddits, Users, and Posts on Reddit

You can use the search bar to perform a Reddit search, whether you’re looking for a subreddit or a specific post. If the term “subreddit” is unfamiliar to you, be sure to read our explanation of what Reddit is and how it works before continuing.

Depending on whatever Reddit design you’re using, the search bar is in a different location. The search bar is in the top-right corner if you’re using the old Reddit design.

It’s at the very top, in the centre, if you’re using the new Reddit design.

On the new Reddit, there’s a search bar.

To search, type in what you’re looking for and hit Enter. Reddit will pull up subreddits, users, and posts that contain your search term when you utilise the search bar. If you search for “cats,” for example, you’ll find the /r/cats subreddit as well as any post on Reddit with “cats” in the title.

If you only want to look for subreddits, go to the subreddit page. This is used to manage the subreddits you subscribe to, but it also has a dedicated search box for locating new communities.

How to Use Modifiers and Operators to Search Reddit

In addition, as noted in Reddit’s advanced search, you can utilise the following modifiers:

  • Only post titles are searched when title:[text] is used.
  • Only posts with the supplied username are found when author:[username] is used.
  • selftext:[text] only searches the body of posts posted as self-posts.
  • Only entries published to the chosen subreddit community are searched with subreddit:[name].
  • Only non-self-post posts’ URLs are searched with url:[text].
  • Only the domain name of non-self-post posts is searched with site:[text].
  • To filter results based on whether they were designated as NSFW or not, use the nsfw:yes or nsfw:no parameters.
  • To filter results based on whether they were self-posts or not, use self:yes or self:no.
  • To further refine your search, you can use boolean operators.
  • AND denotes a desire for both sides to be correct.
  • OR denotes that only one of the two sides must be correct.
  • If your search query is a complex mix of ANDs and ORs, you can use parenthesis () to combine modifiers together.
  • Certain modifiers can be negated/excluded by using – before them (minus sign).

2. How to Do a Subreddit Search

You can utilize the subreddit search modifier we stated before to discover how to search in a subreddit. There is, however, an easier technique that will save you some time.

Let’s imagine you’re perusing a subreddit and can’t seem to find what you’re looking for. You can search exclusively within the subreddit you’re on, rather than surfing until you discover it. Depending on which version of Reddit you prefer, you can do this in a variety of ways.

If you’re using old Reddit, check the box that reads “restrict my search to [subreddit name]” under the search field. Only results from that subreddit will appear when you press Enter.

Refinement of an old Reddit search

However, you won’t see a tickbox if you’re using the new Reddit design. Look to the left of the search box to find a subreddit with the new design. You’ll likely see the name of the subreddit you want to search in to the left of the search box if you’re currently on it. When you search for something on Reddit, it will only look in that subreddit.

On a fresh Reddit, I’m refining a search.

If you don’t see this in the search field, type it in anyway. To filter things down, click Show results from [Subreddit] on the search results page.

From the main site search, we’re showing results from one subreddit.

If all else fails, use the above-mentioned subreddit:[name] shortcut.

3. Searching Reddit Comments

You’ve probably noticed that a Reddit comment search isn’t available on the main website; at least, it isn’t at the time of writing. However, there is still a way to search Reddit comments; we simply need to use third-party tools instead of Reddit.

Pushshift Reddit Search is one of the best tools accessible. This website allows you to browse through Reddit comments, but that’s not all it can do, as you’ll see when you visit it. If you’re having trouble with Reddit’s search engine, give this one a shot.

Using Reddit Search with Pushshift

Make sure you’re in the “Search” category on the first row of selections if you want to search Reddit comments. Uncheck “Posts” on the second row and check “Comments.” Select the time period you wish to search in on the third row. In the “Search Terms” box, type in what you’re looking for.

Enter a specific subreddit in the “Subreddits” section to search for it. If you’re going through comments, you don’t need to fill out the “Domains” option because you’re looking for posts that connect to a specific website.

Pushshift will trawl Reddit and pull up all the comments that match your query when you hit “Search.”

A PushSearch query’s search result

4. How to Recover Reddit Comments That Have Been Deleted

Sometimes you’re seeking for debate in a comment thread. There’s a comment that says “[Deleted],” followed by a sequence of replies that go into more detail about the topic. The beginning of the dialogue is lost forever—or so it appears.

On Reddit, there was a removed comment with replies.

Unddit is a useful website that collects as many Reddit comments as possible. As a result, if you delete a comment, Unddit will “remember” it and display you what it said previously. Furthermore, it will indicate whether a user deleted their own comment by designating it blue, or if a moderator erased it by marking it red.

To use Unddit, go to the Reddit comment area you’d like to look at. Then change the “reddit” component of the domain name to “unddit” in the URL. There’s no need to retype the entire domain name; simply replace the “re” component of “reddit” with “un.”

Using Removeddit, you can recover deleted comments.

When you hit Enter, the Unddit page for that comment thread will load. Unddit will search its database for all of the comments associated with that thread. If Unddit was able to save the comment before it was deleted, it can be found here in its original form. If it was deleted before Unddit could see it, the website will instead display an error notice.

Getting the Most Out of Your Reddit Experience

Reddit may be searched in a variety of ways, as you can see. You might also use one of the many free Reddit browser alternatives. So, whether you’re looking for a new group to join or attempting to locate that one hilarious meme you saw a few weeks ago, you should be fine. Especially if you use the above-mentioned third-party options.

Mark Funk
Mark Funk is an experienced information security specialist who works with enterprises to mature and improve their enterprise security programs. Previously, he worked as a security news reporter.