# How to Search Tweets by Keyword

To search tweets by keyword on X, type the word into the search bar, press Enter, and open the Latest tab for every post that contains it.

[![apidojo](/blog/authors/apidojo.png)**Apidojo** *15+ years of experience in data retrieval.*](/blog/authors/apidojo/)

**7 October 2026** Published

**4 min** Read

![Cover card reading 'How to Search Tweets by Keyword on X (2026)'](/blog/covers/search-tweets-by-keyword.png)

**To search tweets by keyword on X, type the word into the search bar, press Enter, and open the Latest tab for every post that contains it.** Wrap several words in quotes to match them as an exact phrase, and add `-word` to remove posts with a word you don’t want.

Keyword search is where most searches on X start, and it combines with every filter in the [Twitter advanced search operators](/blog/twitter-search/advanced-search-operators/) reference. This guide covers how X matches keywords, and each keyword operator links to its own guide.

## How Does X Match a Keyword Search?

**X matches a keyword against the post text, the author’s name and handle, and the text of links in the post, and it treats spaces between words as AND.** X also matches plurals and sometimes corrects spelling, so `bears` finds posts containing `bear` ([twitter-advanced-search reference](https://github.com/igorbrigadir/twitter-advanced-search)).

Some words act as signals. A search for `photo` is read as a request for posts with photos; searching `"photo"` in quotes finds posts that literally contain the word.

## How Do You Search Tweets by Keyword on X?

**You search tweets by keyword by typing the words into the search bar and choosing the tab that fits your goal.** Listed below are the 4 steps.

1.  **Log in** to x.com or the X app ([X Help Center](https://help.x.com/en/using-x/x-advanced-search)).
2.  **Type** your keywords; all of them must appear in a result.
3.  **Press** Enter.
4.  **Choose** **Top** for posts with engagement, or **Latest** for every match newest first.

The Advanced search form’s Words section writes the same operators for you: all of these words, this exact phrase, any of these words, none of these words, hashtags and language (X Help Center).

## Twitter Keyword Search Operators

**Twitter keyword operators decide which words a post must contain, may contain, or must not contain.** Listed below are the 8 operators, each with its own guide.

| Operator | Finds posts | Example | Guide |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| word1 word2 | With both words | electric car | This page |
| "exact phrase" | With the words in that order | "electric car" | Exact phrase search |
| word1 OR word2 | With either word | tesla OR rivian | Multiple keywords with OR |
| -word | Without the word | jaguar -car | Exclude words |
| #hashtag | Using the hashtag | #EV | Search by hashtag |
| $cashtag | Using the ticker | $TSLA | Search by cashtag |
| url:domain | Linking to the domain | url:electrek.co | Search by domain |
| lang:xx | In the language | coche lang:es | Search by language |

## How Do You Make a Keyword Search More Precise?

**You make a keyword search more precise by adding filters for account, date, engagement and media after the keyword.** The table shows one keyword narrowed 5 ways (twitter-advanced-search reference).

| Narrow by | Query |
| --- | --- |
| One account | "electric car" from:username |
| A date range | "electric car" since:2025-01-01 until:2025-07-01 |
| Popular posts only | "electric car" min_faves:500 |
| Posts with video | "electric car" filter:videos |
| No reposts or replies | "electric car" -filter:retweets -filter:replies |

Date windows are explained in [how to search tweets by date](/blog/twitter-search/search-tweets-by-date/), and like, repost and reply thresholds in [how to search tweets by likes, reposts and replies](/blog/twitter-search/search-by-engagement/). Image, video and link filters are in [how to search only tweets with images, videos or links](/blog/twitter-search/media-filters/).

## How Do You Search Old Tweets by Keyword?

**To search old tweets by keyword, add a date window with `since:` and `until:`, because a bare keyword in the Latest tab mostly shows recent posts.** For example, `"electric car" since:2015-01-01 until:2016-01-01` searches 2015. The full method is in [how to find old tweets on X](/blog/twitter-search/find-old-tweets/).

## How Do You Find the Most Popular Tweets for a Keyword?

**To find the most popular tweets for a keyword, add `min_faves:` with a high number and sort by Top.** `"electric car" min_faves:5000` returns posts about electric cars with at least 5,000 likes. Topic research built on this is in [how to find viral tweets about any topic](/blog/twitter-search/find-viral-tweets/).

## Why Does a Twitter Keyword Search Miss Posts?

**A Twitter keyword search misses posts when the word is spelled differently, when X corrects the spelling, or when the post sits outside the search index.** Private and suspended accounts are not indexed (twitter-advanced-search reference). Listed below are the 4 fixes.

1.  **Add** spelling variants with OR: `(colour OR color)`.
2.  **Quote** a word to stop spelling correction: `"radiooooo"`, or force it with `+radiooooo`.
3.  **Add** a date window for older posts.
4.  **Switch** from Top to Latest.

## How to Collect Keyword Search Results With apidojo

**X keyword search has no export, so apidojo’s [Tweet Scraper V2](https://apify.com/apidojo/tweet-scraper) on Apify runs your keyword query and returns each matching post with its text, author, date and engagement counts.** The actor’s keyword example adds a language filter through the `tweetLanguage` input (Apify).

```
{
  "searchTerms": ["artificial intelligence"],
  "tweetLanguage": "en",
  "sort": "Latest"
}
```

It costs $0.40 per 1,000 tweets, with at least 50 tweets per query. The developer workflow is [how to scrape tweets by keyword](/blog/twitter-scraping/scrape-tweets-by-keyword/), part of the [apidojo Twitter Scraper](/scrapers/twitter-scraper/).

## The scrapers behind this

-   [Tweet Scraper V2 Tweets from searches, profiles, Lists and URLs; 49–64 tweets/sec; minimum 50 per query $0.40 / 1K tweets](/scrapers/twitter-scraper/)

## Questions people ask

### Is Twitter keyword search case-sensitive?

No, Twitter keyword search ignores case, except for `OR`, which must be uppercase to work as an operator.

### Can you search for a word inside a username?

Yes, X matches keywords against names and handles as well as post text, so a keyword can return posts from accounts whose name contains it even when the post text does not.

### Does Twitter search support wildcards?

Only inside quotes: `'this is the time'` matches one unknown word. \`\` outside quotes does not work.

### How do you search for a keyword without seeing reposts?

Add `-filter:retweets` to the query: `keyword -filter:retweets`.

## More on keyword search

-   [Twitter Advanced Search Operators: Full List (2026) Every X search operator that works in 2026, with examples for accounts, dates, engagement, media and replies, plus copy-paste search recipes.](/blog/twitter-search/advanced-search-operators/)
-   [How to Search Tweets by Exact Phrase on X Put words in quotes to find posts with an exact phrase, use wildcards, combine phrases with OR and fix phrase searches that fail.](/blog/twitter-search/exact-phrase-search/)
-   [How to Search Multiple Keywords on X With OR Use uppercase OR and parentheses to search several keywords, synonyms, hashtags or accounts at once on X, with examples.](/blog/twitter-search/search-multiple-keywords-or/)
-   [How to Exclude Words From Twitter Search Remove words, phrases, hashtags, accounts, replies and reposts from X search with the minus sign, and fix exclusions that fail.](/blog/twitter-search/exclude-words/)
-   [How to Search Tweets by Hashtag on X Search any hashtag on X by date, account, language or popularity, find hashtag-only posts and collect hashtag data.](/blog/twitter-search/search-by-hashtag/)
-   [How to Search Tweets by Cashtag ($TSLA, $BTC) Search stock and crypto tickers on X with cashtags, filter out promotional spam and collect ticker posts for analysis.](/blog/twitter-search/search-by-cashtag/)
-   [How to Search Tweets Linking to a Website Use url: to find every post that links to a domain or article, see who shares your content and track competitor links.](/blog/twitter-search/search-by-url-domain/)
-   [How to Search Tweets by Language on X Filter X search by language with lang: codes, use X's special codes for hashtag-only or media-only posts, and search several languages.](/blog/twitter-search/search-by-language/)
-   [Search Tweets by Likes, Reposts and Replies (min\_faves) Use min\_faves:, min\_retweets: and min\_replies: to find tweets above or below any engagement level, with worked examples.](/blog/twitter-search/search-by-engagement/)
-   [How to Find Viral Tweets About Any Topic Find viral tweets on any topic with like floors, repost filters and date windows, plus recipes for videos, threads and links.](/blog/twitter-search/find-viral-tweets/)
-   [Search Only Tweets With Images, Videos or Links The 9 X media filters for images, videos, links and news, how to combine them, and how to remove media from search results.](/blog/twitter-search/media-filters/)

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