While it’s purposed to be a regular social network, Facebook is one of the go-to places to find anything. Be it a person, business, or items for sale, you can find everything on Facebook. But how do you narrow down the search results to find something quickly? Let’s examine how to use Facebook’s advanced search filters on mobile and PC to find old photos, posts, people, and more.
How to Perform a Facebook Search on PC
Head to Facebook and make sure you’re logged in.Click on the search box at the top and type your search query. Facebook will automatically recommend some queries that are similar to yours. Click on one of these if it appears to be useful. Alternatively, enter your own query and press Enter.
Facebook will offer search results sorted by categories, like posts, photos, videos, and more. What’s interesting is that you can find exactly what you are looking for by clicking on the appropriate filter from the left sidebar:PostsPeoplePhotosVideosMarketplacePagesPlacesGroupsEvents
Clicking on any filter will open more filter options under each section to further help you narrow the search results.
How to Perform a Facebook Search on Android and iPhone
Open the Facebook mobile app.Tap on the search button at the top, type your query and hit the Search icon.
You will be greeted by relevant search results. Filter the results by Posts, People, Groups, Photos, etc., using the tabs at the top. Swipe left to view all of the available filters.
Inside each filter, tap on the Options icon at the top-right corner to apply more filters based on each category.
Let’s take a closer look at Facebook’s advanced search filters.
- PostsPeoplePhotosVideosMarketplacePagesPlacesGroupsEvents
How to Search for Old Facebook Posts Using Filters
You can use Facebook search to find your own previous posts, your friends’ posts, or posts of non-friends without scrolling.
Enter a word from the post you are looking for into the Facebook search box as shown above. On the search results screen, click on the “Posts” filter. You will be greeted by the following options. Use them to find the exact post.
- Recent posts: enabling this filter will sort the posts by putting the recent ones at the top and so on.Posts you’ve seen: turning this on will show the posts you have earlier interacted with or shown interest in.Date posted: this filter will let you select the year.Posts from: you can filter between your own posts, your friends, your groups and pages, and public posts.Tagged location: will filter by selected tagged location.
How to Search within Your Profile, Someone Else’s Profile, a Page, or Group
Besides the above method, you can search for a post directly from your own profile, someone else’s profile, or within a group or page. This feature is available on both mobile and PC.
Open the profile, page, or group you want to search in and click on the Search icon in the profile, which is different from the regular Facebook search.
If the Search icon isn’t available (in the case of profiles or pages), click on the three-dot icon and select “Search profile/page.” Enter the search term you are looking for.
How to Search for People on Facebook
Different people will have the same name on Facebook, and it becomes difficult to find the person you are looking for. To make things easy, Facebook lets you find people based on their city, education, and work.
Start by entering the person’s name in the search box, then click on the People filter and choose the required filters. If the person is friends with your friends, enable the toggle next to “Friends of friends” to find such people.
How to Search for Photos and Videos on Facebook
Similarly, you can filter out photos and videos based on parameters, such as tagged location, date posted, type of photo, posted by, and live videos. All of these filters are present under the Photos and Videos filters section. If the pictures do not load on Facebook, see if you can find the answer in this troubleshooting guide.
How to Search for Items within Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is a great place to buy things, especially when you know how to search correctly.
Enter the item you want to buy in Facebook search and click/tap on the “Marketplace” filter. You can filter the products by item condition (new/used), price, date listed, and category, and can even sort items. Apart from that, you can change the location of the marketplace by clicking on your current location. The same filters can be accessed if you search directly within Facebook Marketplace.
How to Find Facebook Pages, Groups, and Places
Similarly, if you are looking for a specific page, group, or place, you can narrow the search results using various available filters as shown below:
- Pages can be found by their location, verified badge, and category.Groups can be found by their city and type of group.Places filters are based on functionality, such as delivery, takeaway, location, price, status, visited by friends, etc.You can search for events based on their type, such as online or paid events, location, event date, family friendly, categories, and popularity with friends.
How to Find Jobs on Facebook
Sadly, Meta, who owns Facebook, has removed the native feature of finding job listings on Facebook. Only users based in the U.S. and Canada can create new job postings.
But you can still find hiring advertisements on Facebook by using search. Simply type popular terms like “hiring” or “looking for” followed by a job title or profession. The available posts or images will show up. You can use various advanced search filters to narrow down the results.
How to Search Facebook for Events
Events are quite popular on Facebook. You can easily find events in two ways.
Method 1: Find Events Near Me
In Facebook’s search, type “events near me.”The Events card will show up. Tap on it to view upcoming events.
Use the filters and categories on the left and at the top to find the desired event.
Method 2: Find an Event Using Its Name
- Type the event name or at least its type in the Facebook search bar and hit Enter.Scroll down the left sidebar and click on “Events.” A number of filter options will show up, like location, category, paid, and date. Use them to find your desired event.
How to Manage and Clear Facebook Search History
Facebook offers an easy way to clear the entire search history or even individual search queries.
Clear Facebook Search History on PC
On the desktop, click on the Facebook search bar to be greeted by your recent searches. Click on the “X” icon next to the query you want to delete. Alternatively, press the “Edit” icon to go to the “Activity log,” where you will see your entire search history results, including the ones initiated from other devices.
On the Activity log page, click on the “Clear searches” button to delete the entire history or press the three-dot icon, then “Delete” next to the search item to be deleted.
Clear Facebook Search History on Android and iPhone
On the mobile app, tap on the Search icon on Facebook’s home page. When the search screen appears, tap on the “X” icon to delete a recent search or press “See All” to view all of the search history records.
Tap on “Clear All” to clear the entire history or remove individual items by using the “X” icon.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I search Facebook without an account?
If you don’t have a Facebook account, there are two workarounds you can use to find public profiles, posts, pages, and groups. First, use the help of search engines, like Google, Bing, etc. Enter your search query followed by “site:facebook.com.” For instance, if you are looking for a page called “Chandni chowk,” search using “site:facebook.com/pages Chandni chowk.” Similarly, replace pages with groups to find a group.
Other ways to search Facebook include dedicated search engines for social media sites and social searcher.
Note that you won’t be able to utilize the advanced search features without logging in or when a profile is locked.
Can someone tell if you look at their Facebook profile or search for them?
Luckily, no. Facebook will not inform the other person even if you search for them or look at their profile a thousand times. However, be cautious not to like a post accidentally on their profile.
How can I stop my Facebook profile from appearing in search results outside of Facebook?
Go to “Facebook Settings -> Privacy -> How people can find and contact you.” Click on the “Edit” button next to “Do you want search engines outside Facebook to link to your profile?” and uncheck the box for “Allow search engines outside of Facebook to link to your Profile.”
If you don’t want others to find your profile in their Facebook search, you can either lock it or make Facebook private. You can even deactivate your account if you want to stop using Facebook temporarily.
Mehvish is a tech lover from Kashmir. With a degree in computer engineering, she’s always been happy to help anyone who finds technology challenging. She’s been writing about technology for over six years, and her favorite topics include how-to guides, explainers, tips and tricks for Android, iOS/iPadOS, Windows, social media, and web apps.
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