Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 2 billion active users worldwide. With so many people using Facebook, it can be tricky to find exactly who or what you’re looking for. This is where Facebook’s advanced search features come in handy.
Facebook’s advanced search allows you to filter your search results based on specific criteria, like location, workplace, school, relationship status, and more. This gives you the ability to zero in on the exact people or pages you want to find.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how to use Facebook’s advanced search and the various filters available to help refine your search results. We’ll also provide tips and tricks for getting the most out of Facebook advanced search.
Accessing Facebook Advanced Search
The first step is accessing the advanced search page. Here’s how:
- Go to Facebook.com and log into your account if you aren’t already logged in.
- Click the search bar at the top of the Facebook page.
- In the dropdown menu that appears, click “Advanced Search.”
This will bring you to the advanced search page where you can start filtering your search by specific criteria.
Search Filters Overview
Facebook’s advanced search page provides the following filters to refine your search:
- Keywords – Search for specific keywords in names, bios, posts, etc.
- Location – Search by country, state/province, or city.
- Relationship – Search relationship statuses like single, engaged, married, etc.
- Hometown – Search people by their hometown location.
- Current City – Search people by where they currently live.
- Workplace – Search by a person’s workplace or employer.
- School – Search by high school or college attended.
- Gender – Search by male, female, or custom gender.
- Age – Search within specific age ranges.
- Language – Search by language(s) spoken.
You can use one or any combination of these filters to drill down your search results. Let’s go through each filter in more detail.
Searching Keywords
The keywords filter allows you to search for specific words or phrases within people’s profiles, posts, About sections, and other text-based content on Facebook.
Here are some tips for searching keywords:
- Put phrases in quotation marks to find exact matches, like “software engineer.”
- Use Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT to combine keywords.
- You can search first, middle, and last names using this filter.
- Try searching hobbies, interests, job titles, etc. to find people with those keywords.
For example, you could search for “John Smith” OR “Smith John” to find all instances of that name. Or search for “software engineer” AND “San Francisco” to find engineers in San Francisco.
Location Filters
Facebook provides several location filters to geo-target your search:
- Current City – Search people by the city they currently live in.
- Hometown – Search by the hometown people list in their profile.
- State/Province – Search within a specific state or province.
- Country – Search within a specific country.
When searching locations, make sure your spelling is correct. For smaller cities, try broadening your search to the state or country level first.
Here are a few location search examples:
- “New York, New York” – People currently living in New York City.
- “Los Angeles” – People in Los Angeles, CA.
- “Miami, FL” – People in Miami, Florida.
- Paris, France – People currently living in Paris.
Relationship Status
Search for people based on their relationship status as listed in their profile:
- Single
- In a relationship
- Engaged
- Married
- In a civil partnership
- In a domestic partnership
- In an open relationship
- It’s complicated
- Separated
- Divorced
- Widowed
For example, you could search for “single” to find other single people on Facebook. Or “engaged” to discover recently engaged couples and view their engagement announcements.
Workplace and School
The workplace and school filters allow you to search people by where they work or go to school:
- Workplace – Search people by their employer or company name.
- School – Search by high school or college names.
When searching workplaces or schools, use the complete official name. Searching partial names or abbreviations may not produce results.
Some example searches:
- “Microsoft” – People who work at Microsoft
- “Stanford University” – Students or alumni of Stanford
- “Wakefield High School” – People who went to Wakefield HS
Gender and Age
You can filter your search by gender and age range:
- Gender – Male, female, or custom.
- Age – Filter by age ranges like 18-25, 25-35, etc.
For example, you may want to search “female” AND “30-40” to find women in their 30s. Or “male” AND “40-50” to find men in their 40s.
Keep in mind people may not always list or accurately update their age on Facebook, so age search results may be approximate.
Language
To find people who speak a certain language, use the language filter.
Start typing the name of the language and choices will auto-populate. You can select one or multiple languages to filter by.
For example, you could search for people who speak:
- English
- Spanish
- French
- Hindi
- Arabic
- Russian
- And 100+ other languages
Additional Tips
Here are some additional tips for mastering Facebook advanced search:
- Use quotation marks around multi-word proper nouns like school/workplace names or city names with spaces.
- You can combine filters to narrow results, like location + age or workplace + relationship status.
- Not all users complete their full profiles. Filters like age and language rely on user-provided info.
- Test different keyword variations like synonyms and related terms if you get few results.
- Adjust your filters if your search is too narrow and returns zero results.
Saving Your Search
Once you’ve created an advanced search using the filters, you can save it for future use:
- After setting your filters, click “Save Search” at the bottom of the page.
- Give your search a name and click Save.
To re-access your saved searches:
- Go to the advanced search page.
- Click “Saved” at the top of the page.
- Select your saved search from the list.
This will automatically populate the filters from your saved search.
Searching Posts
In addition to searching for profiles, you can also use advanced search to find specific posts on Facebook.
To search posts:
- Go to advanced search and click “Posts” at the top of the page instead of “People.”
- Use keywords, dates, locations, etc. to filter posts.
For example, you could search for posts about “World Cup” after a certain date to find the latest World Cup posts. Or search posts from a specific city.
Searching Photos
You can also search specifically for photos on Facebook using advanced search:
- Go to advanced search and click “Photos” at the top.
- Filter photos using locations, dates taken, album names, and people tagged.
Some examples of photo searches:
- Photos from “Paris” in “June 2019”
- Photos of “John Smith”
- Photos from the album “Graduation”
This makes it easy to rediscover old photos from specific events or trips.
Searching Pages
In addition to searching for profiles, you can conduct advanced searches for Pages on Facebook:
- Go to advanced search and click “Pages” at the top.
- Use keywords, locations, categories, and Page types to filter.
Some example Page searches:
- “Yoga studio” in “Vancouver, BC”
- “Restaurant” in “Brooklyn, NY”
- Page name contains “News”
This is useful for discovering local businesses, organizations, restaurants, and other Pages near you.
Searching Groups
Advanced search also lets you filter searches to just Facebook Groups:
- Go to advanced search and select “Groups” at the top.
- Search by group name keywords, location, category, and description.
Some group search examples:
- Yoga groups in San Francisco
- Book club groups in London
- Groups for pet owners
This makes it easy to find relevant groups to join based on your interests and location.
Searching Events
You can filter your search specifically for Facebook Events:
- Go to advanced search and click “Events” at the top.
- Filter by location, date range, keywords, host Page, etc.
Some examples:
- Music events in Chicago next weekend
- Art festival in Miami July 2022
- Virtual conferences about social media
This allows you to find interesting events to attend based on location, time, and interests.
Conclusion
Facebook’s advanced search features provide a powerful way to filter your search results and zero in on exactly who or what you’re looking for.
Key takeaways include:
- Access advanced search from the search bar dropdown.
- Use filters like keywords, locations, workplace, school, gender, age, and language.
- Combine multiple filters to narrow your search further.
- Save searches for quick access later.
- Search posts, photos, Pages, groups, and events – not just profiles.
With a bit of practice, you can master Facebook advanced search. Use it whenever you need to find specific people, posts, photos, businesses, groups, or events on Facebook.