4 Easy Ways to Search Instagram to Find Friends, Reels, & More

Are you looking for a certain Instagram user or post? Instagram's search feature makes it easy to find just about anything you're looking for, including users, posts, Reels, hashtags, and locations. All you'll need to do is pull up the Instagram search tool and enter the keyword or phrase you're looking for. You can even search Instagram for filters and effects to use in your Stories and Reels. This wikiHow article will teach you 4 easy ways to search Instagram using the mobile app and on the web.

Searching Instagram

Tap the magnifying glass at the bottom of Instagram to launch the Search tool.
Tap Search in the search bar at the top of your screen.
Type the word or phrase you want to search for, then tap the search button.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

User Searches within the App

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Tap the Search icon at the bottom of Instagram. It's the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen. This takes you to Instagram's Search and Explore page.^{[1]
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- The Search and Explore page displays featured content, including Reels and photos you may find interesting based on accounts you follow, content you've liked, and who you're connected to.^{[2]
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Tap the search bar at the top of the screen. This action both opens your keyboard and displays your recent searches (if any).^{[3]
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- If there's anything in your recent searches that you want to delete, just tap the X next to one of those searches.
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Type a keyword, hashtag, username, place, or virtually anything else. Once you run the search, you'll be able to filter the results to show just the matches you're most interested in.^{[4]
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- When searching for hashtags, you don't need to include the pound sign (#) in your search.
- It's not possible to search for a user's comments on Instagram, but you can find posts and Reels that use certain keywords in their descriptions.
- Users won't know that you're searching for them, so don't worry about them finding out about you looking them up.
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Tap Search or press Enter. This searches Instagram for the word(s) you've typed.
- You can't use the search tool to find comments people leave under other people's posts—there's no way to search for comments on Instagram. However, you might be able to find some comments by searching Google for Instagram content in your web browser.
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View and filter your search results. By default, you'll see search results from posts and Reels that contain the keyword(s) you entered on the Top page. If you want to see a different type of content, you can choose one of the tabs at the top of the screen to filter the results.
- Accounts: This shows you Instagram users whose usernames (or the names they use in their bios) contain your search terms.
- Audio: This displays a list of songs you can use in your Reels. If you tap a song name, you'll see a list of public Reels that use that song—to use the song in your own Reel, just tap Use audio.
- Tags: This displays hashtags that contain the keyword you've typed. Tapping one of the hashtag results displays posts using that hashtag. Tap a hashtag to see popular and recent posts containing that hashtag.
- Places: Here you'll find physical locations, such as restaurants, stores, and scenic spots. Tap any of the locations to see a list of Instagram posts and Reels created at that location.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Searching Story Filters & Effects

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If you want to search for a particular Story effect (filters) or just browse the gallery, you can do so when creating a new Story. And if you don't want to create the Story now, you can always save the awesome effects you find to your favorites so you can easily access them later.^{[5]
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This opens to the Story screen.
Your camera viewfinder will appear. You'll also see a carousel of effects at the bottom of the screen.
This is the last round tile on the carousel—the white circle with a pink and orange magnifying glass and stars inside. The Effect Gallery will expand.
If you want to see effects that fit a certain category, such as Funny, Weird & Scary, or Appearance, tap one of the tabs at the top of the gallery to explore.
Tap the magnifying glass at the top-right corner to search effects by name or keyword. When you tap Search or Enter, you'll see a list of effects that match your search term(s).
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Tap an effect. This displays a preview, and gives you several options:
- Tap Try it to see how the effect will look in real time. If you want to use the effect to create a story now, just hold down the shutter button and create your story.
- To save the effect to find easily later, tap the bookmark icon to save it to your favorites.
- Tap the X if you don't want to use the effect, and then X again to return to the gallery.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Search Reels Filters & Effects

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If you want to search for the coolest effects for your Instagram Reels, you can easily do so when creating a new Reel. Even if you don't want to create the Reel right now, you can add the best effects to your Favorites so they're easy to find later.^{[6]
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This takes you to your camera screen.
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Tap the icon of three stars. You'll see it just above the largest circle at the bottom of the camera screen. This opens the Effects Gallery, where you'll find all of the Reel effects available on Instagram separated into categories.^{[7]
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- You can swipe up on the effects to make the menu larger, which might make it easier to browse your search results.
- If you're not searching for something specific, you can simply browse by category. Tap Trending to see which effects are most popular lately, Reels to see effects designed for Reels (rather than for both Reels and Stories), or Appearance to check out effects that change your face.
If you want to find a certain type of effect, try searching for words that describe it. For example, type beauty to find all effects that use that keyword in their title.
You can keep tapping different effects until you find one you like.
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Save an effect to your favorites. Just tap the bookmark icon to the left of the effect's name to save it to your favorite effects.
- You can find your favorite effects the next time you create a Reel by tapping the bookmark icon just right of the magnifying glass icon.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Searching from the Internet

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If you're using Instagram on your computer, you can use Instagram's search just like you would in the mobile app. Head over to https://www.instagram.com, log in with your account, and type the keyword, hashtag, username, or other details you're looking for into the Search bar. You can then filter results just like you would on your Android, iPhone, or iPad.
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Use Google to search for Instagram content. Another way to find Instagram content on the web is to use the site:Instagram.com search operator in your Google search. You'll be able to search for keywords, hashtags, and often comments—even if you don't have an account. This will only work for public content—nothing private will appear in a Google search.
- Open Google and type site:instagram.com into the search field.
- Type a space, then type the keyword, username, hashtag, or other information you're looking for. For example, if you want to find all public Instagram content containing the word wikiHow, you'd type site:instagram.com wikihow.
- Try adding more keywords to your search. You can add someone's username and a keyword you're looking for to see if that user left a comment on a public post containing that keyword.
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Try an Instagram search website to view users and stories. If you don't have an Instagram account, you can use a public Instagram viewer like this to find Instagram users in your web browser.
- Go to https://imginn.com/ in any web browser.
- Enter the username of the person you're looking for and click the magnifying glass to search.
- Clicking a search result displays that user's Instagram content, as long as its publicly available.
- If the user has a public Instagram Story, you can click Stories to watch it.

Expert Q&A

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Question

How do you know if someone is real on Instagram?

Kasey Dunn
Social Media Expert
Kasey Dunn is a Social Media Expert and the Senior Social Media Manager for Golden Arrow PR in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. With over five years of experience, she specializes in business development, marketing, and brand design. She earned her BA in Business Administration and Management from Mount St. Joseph University. She also holds a SEMRUSH for Digital Agencies Certification, an SEO for Social Media Certification, and a Social Media Marketing Strategy: TikTok and Instagram Reels Certification.

Kasey Dunn

Social Media Expert

Expert Answer

If they don't have a profile picture, if the handle of the Instagram looks off, with multiple underscores or signs, or the bio and posts don't line up, there are good chances that the account you found is a bot or a fake.

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How to search someone's followers?

Kasey Dunn
Social Media Expert
Kasey Dunn is a Social Media Expert and the Senior Social Media Manager for Golden Arrow PR in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. With over five years of experience, she specializes in business development, marketing, and brand design. She earned her BA in Business Administration and Management from Mount St. Joseph University. She also holds a SEMRUSH for Digital Agencies Certification, an SEO for Social Media Certification, and a Social Media Marketing Strategy: TikTok and Instagram Reels Certification.

Kasey Dunn

Social Media Expert

Expert Answer

Just open the person "Followers" tab and type the name of the person or their Instagram handle. If you want to see if someone follows you, unfollow them and see if it says "Follow Back" on their profile.

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Want to make it easier for others to find your content on Instagram? Adding relevant keywords to your bio and including hashtags and keywords in your captions makes it possible for others to find you in the search tool.^{[8]
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Some hashtags aren't searchable because their content commonly goes against Instagram's community guidelines.^{[9]
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It's not possible to search within someone's Instagram account or to find all of a user's Instagram content.

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