Advanced Search in X: Filters, Operators, and Templates

If you use Twitter (now X) On a daily basis, you'll know that finding the exact tweet you're looking for can be a little precision sport. With the advanced search in X and a few tricks, you can go from blindly trawling to finding exactly what you need in seconds.

In this guide we have gathered, rewritten and expanded all the key information that appears in the best guides on the subject: from Filters by words, dates, accounts, language, location and content type, to operators and templates ready to copyPlus, you'll see how to take it a step further with other tools and what to do when a tweet isn't showing up even though you're almost certain it exists.

What is Advanced X Search and why is it worth it?

Advanced search in X is a set of filters and operators that allow you to refine results very precisely, which is perfect if you do research, social listening or marketingYou can combine keywords, exclude terms, limit languages, adjust by date, filter by content type (images, videos, links), or narrow down by specific accounts.

Thanks to these filters you can, for example, recover tweets posted within a date range, locate relevant content in a specific language, focus on one specific region or stick with tweets that include only images, videos or linksAll of this reduces noise and increases your efficiency.

How to access advanced search from X

Accessing the tool is simple. First, type your query in the search bar of the usual X and press Enter to see results. Then, tap the three points on the right next to the bar and choose “Advanced Search”.

A form will open with fields for words, people, interaction filters, dates, language and location. It's the "visual" way to create complex searches without memorizing operators. If you prefer to go fast and are comfortable with the keyboard, you'll see the options below. operator templates to copy and paste.

Primary and secondary filters: what they include and how to use them

When we talk about advanced search in X, the tool groups options by categories. Knowing them in detail will help you build very precise searches with the least possible effort and with combinable criteria.

1) Words and phrases

This block is used to define the "what" of your query. You can search by single terms, exact phrases, any of several words, exclude terms and choose the language. Remember that X does not distinguish accents: “telephone” and “telephone” return the same thing.

• All these words: Returns tweets that include all terms (order doesn't matter).
• exact phrase: results that contain exactly the expression, for example "horas felices".
• Any of these words: acts as an OR between related terms.
• None of these words: excludes noise or unwanted meanings.
• Language: Limit tweets to the language you select to maintain relevance.

For campaigns or trends, you can search specific hashtags and combine it with location or time period to focus on conversation peaks.

2) Accounts (people)

If you are interested in who posts or who is mentioned, this group lets you narrow it down by sender, receiver or mentionsIt's very useful when analyzing a brand, competitor, or influencer.

• From these accounts: Displays tweets posted by one or more specific accounts.
• Towards these accounts: Locates replies and tweets directed at an account.
• Mention these accounts: Collects tweets that quote specific @users.

For quick audits, combining “from” with key terms allows you to see what a profile has said about a topic over time.

3) Content filters

When you are only interested in them tweets with links, images or you want to decide whether to include answersThese toggles make a difference. You can exclude replies if you're looking for "original" posts or stick with posts that link to websites to detect coverage and earned media.

When analyzing campaigns, filter by images or videos speeds up the review of creatives and user-generated content.

4) Interactions (engagement)

Perfect for locating content that has gained traction. You can pin minimum responses, likes or reposts and filter out the weak signal. If you're looking for high-impact references or examples, this block is gold.

For example, if you want to study what works, ask for tweets with at least 250 responses or a threshold of likes. Another way to use it is to combine it with specific accounts to identify peaks of notoriety.

5) Dates and location

With “From” and “To” you can focus on limited periods (month/day/year format). Very useful for tracking events, launches, crises or historical milestonesLocation lets you see what's being said near you or in a specific country/city.

If you analyze local conversations, join keywords + location reduces overall noise and better shows you the pulse on the ground.

 

Ready-to-copy templates

Below we present a series of Advanced Search templates in X that covers common scenarios. Replace terms, users, and dates as you like and paste them into the toolbar. search for X:

• Follow a hashtag with minimal signal: #TuHashtag min_retweets:1 exclude:nativeretweets
• Tweets with an image on a topic: tema filter:images
• Only animated GIFs of a topic: tema card_name:animated_gif
• With links (or without them): palabra filter:links | palabra exclude:links
• From a specific user on a topic: tema from:usuario
• History of a user's topic to date: tema from:usuario until:YYYY-MM-DD
• Last minutes/hours/days (if your interface supports it): tema within_time:1m | within_time:1h | within_time:1d
• OR between related terms: término1 OR término2
• Exact phrase without noise: "frase exacta" -excluir1 -excluir2
• Unlabeled brand: nombre_marca -@marca (adds variants and common errors)

If you are working with multiple keyword variants, mix “any of these words” with exclusions and a time range to limit conversation peaks to useful periods.

Tabs and filters in results: get the most out of them

When X shows you results, remember to toggle between Featured, Latest, People, Photos & VideosThe “People” tab also looks at the biographies, which helps you discover new profiles that are related to your topics.

In addition, you can adjust by “From any user” or “People you follow” and by location: “Anywhere” or “Near you”. Save your searches to access them in two clicks and, in the three-dot menu, review the search settings to hide sensitive content or remove blocked/muted accounts from the results.

From advanced X search to social listening: tools that add up

If you need to go further (monitor at scale, generate social walls or embed widgets), there are tools that extend advanced search in X and make your life easier in marketing and event projects with UGC and analytics.

Social Walls: AI-powered social walls

Social walls allow you to collect and display content from Instagram or X on websites, event screens or storesA “free AI-powered social wall” can boost trust by showing real user posts. It often includes features to add multiple photos, exclude retweets or replies and approve content before making it public.

Among its extras are options such as Snapup (easy sharing), STUDIO (screen customization) and 24/7 support. You can add content based on searches, beyond hashtags and mentions, and build a AI-powered Twitter wall aligned with your brand.

EmbedSocial: Keyword and Widget Monitoring

EmbedSocial allows you to monitor keywords in X, create customizable feeds, filter tweets with advanced search and embed them as widgets on any website. It works especially well for brands that combine social listening with on-site UGC.

Typical steps to configure it:

1. Basic X API Plan: Request a developer account, choose the basic plan, and generate your key and secret.
2. Connect your API: Sign up for EmbedSocial, choose X as your platform and “Keywords” as your source type; share your API key and the keywords you want to monitor.
3. Filter and sample: Apply advanced search, design the widget (carousel, wall, feed), customize branding and add the block to your website.

Important Notes: With the Basic X API You will only be able to recover data from the last 7 days. To avoid losing coverage, set up a continuous tracking of keywords and update the list regularly.

Metrics, tracking and analytics

Advanced search in X helps gather signals, but to analyze trends and competition you'll need additional methods. For example, with Metricool you can analyze competitors and locate posts of interest from the list of tweets from the profile you monitor, using keywords in its internal search engine.

Keep in mind that although there is no “pure” advanced search, this approach competitor + keyword It is used to retrieve specific tweets and obtain performance context.

Templates by objective (fast and effective)

To top it all off, here are a few useful combinations ready to be adapted. They work well as starting points in campaigns, reporting or social listening.

• Discover untagged mentions: marca -@marca (+ common variants and errors)
• UGC with image: #TuHashtag filter:images exclude:nativeretweets
• Reaction analysis: tema min_replies:50 min_retweets:50 min_faves:200
• Event window: #Evento until:YYYY-MM-DD or range by “From/To” fields
• Links only (press and coverage): marca filter:links -is:reply
• Explore a topic in a country: tema + filter location in the interface
• Stories with GIFs: tema card_name:animated_gif for pieces with a light format

Remember to adapt interaction thresholds to the size of your sector; for small niches, min_retweets:5 may be more than enough to separate the wheat from the chaff.

You now have what you need for advanced search in X: filters, operators and templates, you know how to access advanced search, how to resolve absences, and what tools to use to scale and integrate the results into your website or dashboards. If you invest ten minutes in practicing these combinations and saving your most useful queries, you'll save hours a week and have the relevant content at a click.