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In yesterday’s issue of my Tech Tips Newsletter I explained how everything you have ever posted on Facebook is searchable.
In a nutshell, if a post’s “Audience” is set to “Public” any Facebook user will be able to find it via the Facebook search tool.
After that newsletter went out several readers asked me how they can use the Facebook search tool to find posts dealing with a specific topic or phrase. Well, it’s actually pretty easy…
Below you’ll find instructions for searching for most any word or phrase that’s contained in every existing post on Facebook – even your own. Just follow the procedure for the device you use to access Facebook.
If you use Facebook in a browser on a laptop or desktop computer:
1 – Click on the magnifying glass icon at the top of the page.
2 – Type a word or phrase into the Search box, then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
3 – In the left-hand pane, click Posts. You should now see a list of all the existing posts on Facebook that contain the word or phrase you searched for.
4 – (optional) If you want to narrow the search to include only your own posts, click Posts From and select You from the list of options.
If you use the Facebook app on a phone or tablet:
1 – Tap the magnifying glass icon at the top of the screen.
2 – Type a word or phrase into the Search box, then tap the arrow to initiate the search.
3 – Select Posts from the menu at the top of the screen. You should now see all the existing posts on Facebook that contain the word or phrase you searched for.
4 – (optional) If you want to narrow the search to include only your own posts, first tap the Options icon that’s located beside the Search box (it looks like two lines with dots on the ends), then tap Posts From and select You from the list of options. Now tap the Show results button.
That’s all there is to searching the existing posts on Facebook for a word or phrase. Just be aware that Facebook’s search tool provides several other ways to search for various terms as well as which specific areas of Facebook to search (pages, groups, etc.). Feel free to simply click or tap the magnifying glass icon and start experimenting.