Can I combine Reddit search operators?

Yes. Multiple field searches can be used in one query, for example an author operator alongside a subreddit operator, to narrow results to one person's posts in one community.

Do I include the r/ prefix with the subreddit operator?

No. Write subreddit:cats, not subreddit:r/cats. Including the prefix is the most common reason a subreddit-filtered search returns nothing.

How do I search for a phrase rather than separate words?

Wrap it in quotes. For a multi-word field search, put the quotes around the value, for example title:"kitten gif". Without quotes only the first word is treated as part of the field.

Is there an operator to search comment text?

No. Reddit does not index comment bodies, so no operator can search them. Use Google with site:reddit.com, which does index comments, or go through the account's comment history.

Why did an operator that used to work stop working?

Reddit has rebuilt its search several times and operator support has changed with it. If a query behaves unexpectedly, test the operator on its own before assuming the content is missing.

Reddit Search Operators

Reddit search operators narrow a query to a specific field: the author, the subreddit, the title, or the post body. Type them straight into Reddit's search box as field:value, with no space after the colon. Multi-word values go in quotes.

The core operators

Operator	Example	Returns
`author:`	`author:spez`	Posts submitted by that account.
`subreddit:`	`subreddit:cats`	Posts in that community. No `r/` prefix.
`title:`	`title:"kitten gif"`	Posts with those words in the title. Quotes for phrases.
`selftext:`	`selftext:refund`	Text posts with that word in the body.
`url:`	`url:youtube.com`	Link posts pointing at that domain.
`nsfw:`	`nsfw:no`	Filters by the NSFW flag.
`self:`	`self:yes`	Text posts only, or link posts only with `no`.

Reddit has rebuilt its search more than once and operator support has shifted each time. author:, subreddit: and title: are the most dependable. If a less common operator returns nothing, test it alone before concluding the content does not exist.

Combining them

author:spez subreddit:announcementsOne person's posts in one community. The most useful combination there is.
subreddit:askcarsales title:warrantyNarrows a busy subreddit to one topic, which also keeps you well under the result cap.
subreddit:cats self:yesDiscussion posts only, filtering out the image link posts.

Tips

No space after the colon. author: spez does not work; author:spez does.
Quote any value containing a space, and put the quotes around the value rather than the whole query.
Capitalisation is ignored for usernames and subreddits.
When an operator query fails, remove operators one at a time to find which one is responsible.
For anything that lived in a comment, switch to Google with site:reddit.com. No Reddit operator reaches comment text.

Common mistakes

Writing subreddit:r/cats. The r/ belongs to the URL, not the operator.
Forgetting quotes on a multi-word value, which silently drops everything after the first word out of the field search.
Expecting author: to return comments. It matches posts only. For comments you need the account's comment history.
Assuming operators reach private subreddits. Nothing does.

Frequently asked questions

Can I combine Reddit search operators?: Yes. Multiple field searches can be used in one query, for example an author operator alongside a subreddit operator, to narrow results to one person's posts in one community.
Do I include the r/ prefix with the subreddit operator?: No. Write subreddit:cats, not subreddit:r/cats. Including the prefix is the most common reason a subreddit-filtered search returns nothing.
How do I search for a phrase rather than separate words?: Wrap it in quotes. For a multi-word field search, put the quotes around the value, for example title:"kitten gif". Without quotes only the first word is treated as part of the field.
Is there an operator to search comment text?: No. Reddit does not index comment bodies, so no operator can search them. Use Google with site:reddit.com, which does index comments, or go through the account's comment history.
Why did an operator that used to work stop working?: Reddit has rebuilt its search several times and operator support has changed with it. If a query behaves unexpectedly, test the operator on its own before assuming the content is missing.

Operators only reach posts. To search an account properly, start here.

Search a Reddit username