How To Search Subreddits On Reddit App

Reddit is one of the most used social platforms in the world which has the concept of threads and topics. It was launched not a while ago but gained immense traction over a short period of time. It dwells in the concept of threads and sub-threads and you can find information regarding almost anything in the forum.

However, despite the usage of the platform and its popularity, we came across several different cases where users were unable to use the Reddit search to search for threads of all topics. There are several variations to the issue where in some cases, partial results are shown while in some, no results are shown at all. In this solution, we will go through all the reasons as to why this issue occurs and what you can do in order to solve the problem.

What causes Reddit Search not to Work?

After investigating the issue on our own and combining the results from user cases, we came to the conclusion that this issue has several reasons for occurring. Some of the reasons why Reddit search might not work are but not limited to:

Search Filter is enabled: Reddit has by default a filter which filters out all the mature content from the results. You don't get any indication that the filter is turned on so you might think nothing is wrong whereas your searches might only be returning filtered results.
Issue at Reddit's end: We also came across several instances where the issue was with Reddit's backend. This was officially acknowledged by Reddit engineers and a fix was launched shortly.
Less customization: Reddit's search is less customizable and you are usually returned with limited results. Here you can try other searches which allow users to search Reddit forums with more parameters.
Ad-blockers: Ad-blockers are known to conflict with several web applications and modules. There is no exception for Reddit Search as well; we concluded this by checking numerous reports by users who diagnosed that the problem was indeed with the ad-blocker.

Before you start with the solutions, make sure that you are logged in as an administrator on your computer. Furthermore, you should save all your work and should have your credentials at hand as you will be asked to input them.

Solution 1: Checking for Backend Issues

Before we start with the troubleshooting process, you should make sure that the issue doesn't lie with Reddit's backend. There have been multiple cases where either Reddit's search module was down or some services of Reddit were not working as expected. Here, you can navigate to Reddit forums and check whether other people are also experiencing the same issue.

You can also navigate to the Official Reddit Page and check its status. If you see a yellow bar in the current time, it usually means that there is some issue at the backend servers and there is nothing you can do except waiting.

Solution 2: Disabling Ad blockers

Ad blockers somehow improve your browsing experience by removing all the ads which you see on your computer. They have an inbuilt mechanism which intercepts all the traffic and then passes on the filtered version with ads removed. Even though extensions like these might improve your experience, there are instances where they cause issues like Reddit Search not working.

To check your browser extensions on Chrome, type "chrome://extensions" in the address bar and press Enter. You can disable the ad-blocker extension by unchecking the "enable" option. This will automatically disable the extension from making any changes to your UI. Restart your browser and check if the search mechanism works properly.

Note: Try disabling every extension. This might help troubleshoot if any specific application is causing the problem.

Solution 3: Disabling Search Filter

Reddit automatically applies a search filter on your account which takes out NSFW (Not Safe For Work) content. So whenever you search on Reddit, these posts will automatically be taken out from your search results and you may not be able to view them. The funny thing is that this option is hidden in your profile preferences and a normal user wouldn't know that his search is getting filtered at all. Below is the method on how to disable the search filter.

Navigate to Reddit's website and click your profile image present at the top-right side of the screen and click on User Settings.

Reddit User Settings
When inside the settings, click on Feed settings tab present and check the following option:
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Adult content                
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Enabling NSFW content – Reddit
You also have the option to blur the search results if they are NSFW. Save changes and exit.
Now reload the website and try searching. Check if the issue is resolved.

Solution 4: Using an Alternative Search Engine

There are numerous other independent sites which allow users to search Reddit forums using advanced parameters and they return more results than the conventional search functionality inside the forums. The drawback is that these sites might sometime cease to work with bizarre issues and if Reddit revamps its search algorithm, they have to be updated as well. You can use this solution if all other methods are not working for you.

Note: Appuals is not associated with any third-party sites whatsoever. The sites mentioned are for the sole information of the user.

Navigate to the Redditsearch.io on your web browser.

Redditsearch.io Main screen
Now you can add the search term and also other parameters which you want to set (see the image above).

Search results – Redditsearch.io
The search results will be populated below with all the threads which contain the keyword keeping in the mind the parameters which you entered.

Kevin is a dynamic and self-motivated information technology professional, with a Thorough knowledge of all facets pertaining to network infrastructure design, implementation and administration. Superior record of delivering simultaneous large-scale mission critical projects on time and under budget.