How to search Instagram comments
You remember a comment said something about shipping, or you want to know whether a particular person commented, but the post has 2,000 comments and Instagram gives you no way to search them. Here are the options, from the browser trick to a proper search.
Updated Oct 6, 2026 · 7 min read
Instagram doesn’t have comment search
The Instagram app lets you search for accounts, hashtags, places and audio, but not for text inside the comments on a post. The comment sheet shows comments in Instagram’s own order, loads them in batches as you scroll, and keeps replies folded under “View replies”. If the comment you want is number 1,400, you have to scroll past the first 1,399 — and hope you don’t miss it inside a collapsed thread.
Account owners get a few moderation tools (filtering, hiding, restricting), but none of them is a search either. So whether you are the post owner or not, finding a specific comment needs a workaround.
Workaround 1: Find in page on a computer
On a desktop browser you can open the post at instagram.com and use the browser’s find function (Ctrl+F, or Cmd+F on Mac) to search the visible text.
It works, with a catch: find only searches what is currently loaded on the page. Instagram loads comments in batches, so you have to keep loading more (and expanding reply threads) until the comment you want is on the page before Ctrl+F can see it. On a post with a few dozen comments that is fine. On a post with thousands, it means a lot of clicking, and you can’t tell whether “no results” means the comment doesn’t exist or simply hasn’t loaded yet.
It also only matches exact text. A search for “shipping” won’t find “ship to Canada?” and a search for “colour” won’t find “color”.
Workaround 2: search with IGComments
- Copy the post or Reel link (Share → Copy link). The account must be public.
- Paste it into IGComments and press Get comments. No Instagram login is needed.
- Open the Search tab and type a word, part of a word, a phrase or an
@username, then press Search.
The search runs across every fetched comment, replies included, so nothing is hidden behind “View replies”. It is case-insensitive and matches anywhere in the text, which means a search for ship finds “shipping”, “ships” and “Do you ship to Mexico?”. Typing a username (with or without the @) finds comments by accounts whose username contains it, plus comments that mention it. To see only one person’s comments, click their username in the results — the list narrows to “Comments by @username”.
The result count appears above the list, so “0 matching comments” genuinely means none of the fetched comments contain that text. See also the dedicated Instagram comment search page.
Posts with up to 200 comments are free. On larger posts the first 200 comments are searchable straight away; a one-time Export Pass ($4.99 for up to 10,000 comments) fetches and searches the rest.
Narrow the results with filters
Search combines with the filters next to it, so you can be more specific than a word alone:
| Filter | Use it to find |
|---|---|
| Top-level / Replies | Original comments only, or only the answers in threads — for example your own replies to customers |
| Questions | Comments containing ? or ¿ — the fastest way to find things people asked |
| @mentions | Comments that tag another account |
| #hashtags | Comments that include a hashtag |
| One per person | One row per commenter — their first matching comment |
| Date range | Comments posted between two dates (whole days, UTC) |
| Sort | Oldest first, newest first, or most liked |
A few combinations that come up often: search “price” + Questions for pricing questions; search a competitor’s name to see how often they come up; Replies + search your own username to review how you answered people; Most liked with no search to see the comments the audience agreed with.
Searching for several words at once
The search box looks for one piece of text at a time — there isn’t a keyword-list filter. For a handful of words, run them one after another (“price”, then “cost”, then “how much”) and export each result if you need to keep it.
For many keywords, or for “this word OR that word” logic, download the comments and search in a spreadsheet, where the comment text is in column E:
- Excel, any of several words:
=SUMPRODUCT(--ISNUMBER(SEARCH({"price","cost","how much"}, E2)))>0returns TRUE when the comment contains at least one of them. Filter that column to TRUE. - Google Sheets:
=REGEXMATCH(LOWER(E2), "price|cost|how much")does the same with a regular expression. - Google Sheets, all matching rows in one go:
=FILTER(A2:L, REGEXMATCH(LOWER(E2:E), "price|cost|how much"))
Spreadsheet search is also where you handle spelling variants and languages — "colou?r" in a regular expression matches both spellings, and you can add “precio” and “preço” to the list for Spanish and Portuguese commenters. More in exporting comments to Google Sheets.
Save what you found
Whatever you search or filter, the Export these buttons above the results download exactly the matching rows as CSV, Excel or JSON. Each row keeps the full comment, username, timestamp, likes and reply details, so a colleague can find the original comment on Instagram if they need to respond.
If you need to pass the results to another system — a help desk, a database or a script — the JSON export contains the same columns as named fields for each comment, plus a short header describing the post and when it was fetched.
Useful habits: name the file after the search (“launch-post-shipping-questions.xlsx”), keep the comment_id column so rows can be matched later, and remember that an export is a snapshot — new comments arriving after you fetched won’t be in it until you fetch the post again.
When a comment you know exists doesn’t show up
- It may be hidden. Comments that Instagram filtered as spam, hid via Hidden Words, or posted by restricted accounts aren’t publicly visible, so no outside tool can fetch them. The post owner can review some of these in the app.
- It may have been deleted by the commenter or the post owner.
- It may be newer than your fetch. Fetch the post again for the latest comments.
- Different spelling. Try a shorter part of the word — “deliv” catches “delivery”, “delivered” and “delivering”.
- Emoji-only comments can be searched by pasting the emoji itself into the search box.
For why the total can differ from Instagram’s count, see why the Instagram comment count doesn’t match.
FAQ
Can you search comments on Instagram?
Not in the app. Instagram has no search for comment text. You can use your browser’s find function on loaded comments, or fetch all comments with IGComments and search them there.
How do I find a specific person’s comment on an Instagram post?
Fetch the post in IGComments, search for their username, and click it in the results to see only that account’s comments.
Does the search include replies?
Yes. Replies are fetched along with top-level comments and searched the same way. Use the Top-level or Replies filters to limit the results.
Is the search case-sensitive?
No. It matches the text anywhere in the comment regardless of capitals, so a search for ship also finds Shipping.
Can I search for several keywords at once?
The search box takes one word or phrase at a time. For several keywords, run separate searches, or export and use a spreadsheet formula such as REGEXMATCH in Google Sheets.
Can I search comments on a private account?
No. Only public posts and Reels can be fetched and searched.