Social Media Instagram How to Search Instagram for Tags and Users Find users or posts for a specific tag on Instagram by Elise Moreau Freelance Contributor Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others. our editorial process Facebook Twitter Elise Moreau Updated on February 20, 2021 reviewed by Jerrick Leger Lifewire Tech Review Board Member Jerrick Leger is a CompTIA-certified IT Specialist with more than 10 years' experience in technical support and IT fields. He is also a systems administrator for an IT firm in Texas serving small businesses. our review board Article reviewed on Dec 28, 2020 Jerrick Leger Tweet Share Email The Ultimate Guide to Instagram The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Introduction Instagram Basics How to Use Instagram Instagram Tips for Beginners Check Messages on Instagram Add or Change an Instagram Background Search Instagram for Tags and Users Add Music to Instagram Video Use Instagram Video Chat Try Instagram Shopping Get Verified on Instagram Clear Search History on Instagram Posting on Instagram The Best Time to Post Save a Draft of a Post Repost an Instagram Story See Previously Liked Posts Post a GIF to Instagram Add Multiple Photos to Stories Save Instagram Videos How to Quickly Repost Photos Saving Photos Deleting Photos and Videos View Saved Posts With Instagram Collections Working With Followers Mute Someone on Instagram See Who Unfollowed You on Instagram Block Someone On Instagram Unblock Someone on Instagram See Who Viewed You Great Tools to Track Comments Remove Followers on Instagram Tips to Get a Shoutout on Instagram Attract More Instagram Followers Delete 'Suggestions for You' IG Tips & Tricks Instagram Tips and Tricks to Try Add Highlights on Instagram Learn About Instagram Direct Use Instagram's Close Friends Feature How to Delete or Deactivate Your Account Reactivate Your Account Reset Your Password Get Started With Location Tagging How to Repost Shoot Videos with Instagram Video Understanding IG Privacy & Security Hide Your Story on Instagram Does IG Send Screenshot Notifications? Make Your Instagram Account Private See Who Saved Your Instagram Posts Download Everything IG Knows About You Manage Multiple Instagram Accounts Hiding Photos Rather Than Deleting Them How to View Private Instagram Accounts Engaging Users on Instagram Start an Instagram Live Video How to Sell on Instagram Use an Instagram Creator Account Make Money as an Instagram Influencer How to Get More Likes Things You Should Definitely Do Get on the Instagram Explore Page The Best Instagram Apps to Boost Engagement How to Make a Poll Instagram Extras: Captions & More Steal These: The Best Instagram Captions Discover the Best Instagram Filters Have Fun With Instagram Hashtags Use Emoji Hashtags on IG The Easy Way to Track IG Hashtags How to Use the IG Questions Sticker Using Instagram on Other Platforms Can You Get Instagram on Apple Watch? Use Instagram on a PC or Mac Get Instagram for iPad What is the Galaxy S10 Instagram Mode? View Instagram on the Web Online Connect Instagram to Facebook Tools for Posting From the Desktop If you don't know how to find users to follow or interesting posts to engage with, you could miss out on a lot of great content on Instagram. You can use Instagram's search function on the official Instagram app and Instagram.com in a web browser. How to Search Instagram Open the Instagram app on your mobile device (or go to Instagram.com) and sign in to start using Instagram search. Instagram search is located on the Explore tab of the Instagram app. To access search, tap the magnifying glass icon in the bottom menu. A search box appears at the top that says Search. Tap the search to display the keyboard. On Instagram.com, the Instagram search field is at the top of your home feed as soon as you sign in. In the Instagram search field, enter your search. Four tabs appear at the top: Top, Accounts, Tags, and Places. To search for a tag, search for it with or without the hashtag symbol (such as #photooftheday or photooftheday). After typing your tag search term, either choose the result you were looking for from the automatic list of top suggestions or tap the Tags tab to filter the results that aren't tags. Instagram.com doesn't have the same four search result tabs that the app has, making it harder to filter results. When you type a tag search term, a list of suggested results appears in a drop-down list. Some of these results are tags (marked by the hashtag—#—symbol) and others are user accounts (marked by their profile photos). After you tap a tag from the Tags tab on the app or click on a suggested tag from the drop-down menu on Instagram.com, you're shown a grid of photos and videos that were tagged and posted by Instagram users in real time. A selection of top posts, which are posts with the most likes and comments, displays in the default tab on the app and at the top on Instagram.com. Switch to the Recent tab on the app to see the recent posts for that tag in the app or scroll past the first nine posts on Instagram.com. When searching tags in the app, you can follow a tag by tapping the blue Follow button so that all the posts with that tag show up in your home feed. You can unfollow the tag by tapping the hashtag and tapping the Following button. Search for Users on Instagram In addition to searching for posts with specific tags, you can use Instagram search to find user accounts to follow. Enter the username or first name of a user. Like the tag search, Instagram provides a list of top suggestions as you type. When you know a friend's username, you get the best results by searching for that exact username in the Instagram search. Searching for users by their first and last names can be more difficult since not everyone puts their full name on their Instagram profiles. Plus, depending on how popular their names are, you could end up scrolling through many user results with the same names. How Does Instagram Rank Search Results? For users in Instagram search, the most relevant and popular users display at the top, along with their username, full name (if provided), and profile photo. Instagram determines the most relevant user search results by matching the username or full name accuracy and your social graph data. You might get results based on your search history, mutual followers based on who you follow and who follows you, and your Facebook friends if your Facebook account is connected to Instagram. The number of followers may also play a role in how users show up in search, making it easier to find popular brands and celebrities. If you're looking for a high profile individual's account, such as a celebrity or politician, look for the blue checkmark beside their name. This represents a verified account. Verified accounts show up at the top of the results to help you find legitimate accounts easier. Bonus: Search for Posts from Places Instagram also lets you search for posts that were tagged at specific locations. All you do is type the location into the search field and tap the Places tab in the app or, when using Instagram.com, look for results in the drop-down list that have a location pin icon next to them. For ideas on what kinds of things to search for on Instagram, look up some popular Instagram hashtags, or find out how to get your photo or video featured on the Explore tab (also known as the Popular page). Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit