How to Search Hashtags on Twitter

Searching for hashtags on Twitter is one of the most fundamental skills you need to understand conversations, track trends, and find your audience. This guide breaks down exactly how to do it, from simple searches to the powerful advanced techniques that give you an edge. We’ll cover the basics first before getting into the more strategic searches that can really level up your social media game.

The Basics: How to Perform a Simple Hashtag Search

The easiest way to find a hashtag is right through the main search bar. Whether you’re on the desktop website or the mobile app, the process is nearly identical.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Find the Search Bar: On the desktop, it’s usually in the top-right corner. On the mobile app, it’s accessible via the magnifying glass icon in the navigation bar at the bottom.
2. Type Your Hashtag: Start by typing the pound sign (#) followed by the keyword you want to search. For example, #SocialMediaMarketing. As you type, Twitter will suggest popular or recent hashtags that match. You can select one of these or finish typing your own.
3. Press Enter or Search: This will take you to the search results page.

Understanding the Search Results Tabs

Once you’ve searched for a hashtag, you’ll see several tabs that help you filter the results. Knowing what each of these does is the first step to finding what you're really looking for.

• Top: This is a curated feed showing the most popular and relevant tweets for your hashtag, controlled by Twitter’s algorithm. It typically prioritizes tweets with high engagement (likes, replies, retweets) from prominent accounts. Use this tab to get a quick snapshot of the biggest conversation drivers for a hashtag.
• Latest: This tab shows a real-time, chronological stream of every public tweet using your searched hashtag. It's the best way to see the conversation as it’s happening right now. This is perfect for live events, breaking news, or getting a read on current sentiment.
• People: This shows you Twitter accounts whose names, handles (@), or bios contain your search term. If you search for #SocialMediaMarketing, you'll see accounts of social media marketers or agencies.
• Photos: Filters the results to show only tweets containing images that use your hashtag.
• Videos: Filters the results to show only tweets containing videos that use your hashtag.

For most marketing and research purposes, you’ll be switching between the Top tab to see what’s popular and the Latest tab to see what’s current.

Go Deeper: Mastering Twitter's Advanced Search

While the basic search is great for quick lookups, the real power lies in Advanced Search. This tool lets you layer multiple filters to pinpoint exactly the tweets you need. Sadly, it's not easily accessible on mobile, so you'll want to use a desktop browser for this.

You can find it by going here: twitter.com/search-advanced, or by completing a normal search and clicking the three dots (...) next to the search bar and selecting "Advanced search."

How to Use Advanced Search for Hashtags

Advanced Search might look a bit intimidating at first, but it's really just a simple form. Let’s break down the most useful sections for hashtag research.

Words Section

This is where you'll tell Twitter what words and hashtags to look for.

• These hashtags: This is the most direct field. Simply type the hashtag you want to search for, without the # sign (e.g., DigitalMarketing). You can add multiple hashtags here to track them at once.
• All of these words: You can combine this with the hashtag field. For example, search for the hashtag #TechConference and add the words "speaker list" in this field to find tweets about who’s speaking.
• This exact phrase: Useful for finding specific phrases alongside a hashtag. For example, find #AI developments that also include the exact phrase "game-changer."

Accounts Section

Pinpoint tweets from, to, or about specific accounts.

• From these accounts: Want to see what hashtags a competitor is using? Enter their username here (without the @ symbol) along with a date range (more on that later) to analyze their hashtag strategy for a specific campaign. For example, look up from:nike #justdoit.
• To these accounts: Find tweets that are replies to a specific account using a certain hashtag. This is great for seeing what kind of user-generated content or customer feedback an account is getting in relation to a campaign hashtag.

Engagement Section

This is where you can filter for visibility and impact. If you only want to see high-performing content, use these filters to cut through the noise.

• Minimum replies: Set a number to see only tweets that sparked a discussion.
• Minimum likes: Set a number to find content that resonated positively.
• Minimum retweets: Find tweets that spread the furthest.

Example Use Case: To find the most popular discussion tweets about #CreatorEconomy, you could set "Minimum replies" to 10 and "Minimum likes" to 100.

Dates Section

Track hashtags within a specific period. This is amazing for analyzing the performance of a time-sensitive campaign or finding content related to a past event.

• From [date] to [date]: Set your start and end dates to see all the conversation around a hashtag within that window. For example, if your brand ran a #HolidaySale campaign from December 1st to December 15th, you could use these dates to collect all the related tweets and analyze engagement.

Pro-Level Technique: Using Search Operators

Once you’re comfortable with Advanced Search, you can start using search operators directly in the main search bar. Think of them as shortcuts. They let you perform complex searches on the fly without needing the Advanced Search interface.

Here are some of the most useful operators for hashtag searches:

• Find hashtags from a specific user: from:username #hashtag
• Example: from:nasa #Artemis shows all tweets from the @nasa account containing the #Artemis hashtag.
• Find hashtags within a date range: #hashtag since:YYYY-MM-DD until:YYYY-MM-DD
• Example: #SuperBowl since:2024-02-11 until:2024-02-12 finds all tweets about the Super Bowl from the day of the event.
• Exclude certain words: #hashtag -word
• Example: #GraphicDesign -jobs helps you find conversation about graphic design but filters out job postings.
• Search for tweets with minimum engagement: #hashtag min_faves:XX or #hashtag min_retweets:XX
• Example: #MarketingTips min_faves:500 finds only marketing tip tweets that received at least 500 likes. It’s a great way to source proven, high-quality content ideas.
• Combining Operators: This is where it gets really fun. You can stack operators to create hyper-specific searches.
• Example: from:smexaminer #SMMW24 min_retweets:10 -hiring
• This search would find tweets from Social Media Examiner about their Social Media Marketing World 2024 event that received at least 10 retweets and did not include the word "hiring."

Why Should You Bother Searching Hashtags? The Strategy Behind the Search

Figuring out *how* to search is just the first part. Understanding *why* is what turns this skill into a marketing superpower.

• Brand Monitoring & Campaign Tracking: Use searches to monitor a branded hashtag (like #YourBrandLaunch) in real-time. You can see user-generated content, measure overall sentiment, and respond directly to customer feedback as it comes in.
• Competitor Analysis: Regularly search for the hashtags your main competitors are using. What kind of engagement are they getting? What topics are they focusing on? Advanced Search can help you see which of their hashtags performed best over the last quarter.
• Join Relevant Conversations: Brands that listen are brands that win. By searching for industry-specific hashtags (e.g., #FinTech or #ShopifyDev), you can find people asking questions, sharing opinions, or looking for solutions. Engaging authentically in these conversations builds authority and community around your brand.
• Find Customer Insights: Search for general hashtags related to your product or service. If you sell home organization products, search for #Decluttering. You'll find organic conversations from potential customers sharing their primary pain points, which can be invaluable for content ideation and product development.
• Identify Influencers and Advocates: Search for relevant hashtags and use the engagement filters (e.g., min_faves or min_retweets) to see who is creating popular content in your niche. These are often the influencers or superfans you want to connect with.

Final Thoughts

Searching for hashtags on Twitter effectively goes far beyond typing a word into the search bar. By using the filtering tabs, advanced search features, and handy search operators, you can turn Twitter into a powerful tool for market research, competitor analysis, and community engagement.

Nailing down your hashtag research is the first step in building a strong content plan. After finding those perfect conversations to join, we designed Postbase to make the next part easy. Our visual-first calendar helps you map out your content, schedule it across all your platforms (especially video), and see exactly what's going live and when, turning your valuable hashtag insights into a consistent, powerful social media presence.