Tumblr search makes the most sense once you realize that tags carry much of the weight: a tag page shows posts their authors deliberately labeled, while a keyword search casts a wider net. If you remember which blog posted something, search that blog directly. It’s almost always faster than searching all of Tumblr.
Three ways to search, three different jobs
Tumblr gives you three main routes, and choosing the right one first saves a lot of scrolling:
- Global search: the search bar on the dashboard or in the app. Good for exploring a topic and finding blogs about it.
- Tag pages: every tag has its own page of posts carrying that exact tag. Good when you know how a community labels things.
- In-blog search: searching inside one blog. Good when you know who posted it.
They don’t behave identically, and the search syntax each one supports can differ, so Tumblr’s search and filtering help page is the place to check what works where today.
How tags actually work on Tumblr
Tags on Tumblr do two jobs at once. Some are for filing: #watercolor, #sourdough, #bullet journal. Others are for talking, and people write whole sentences in them as a kind of side commentary. Only the filing kind helps with search, so when you see a post you like, notice which of its tags are real labels and follow those.
A few habits make tag searching more reliable:
- Tags can contain spaces, so #bullet journal and #bulletjournal may be different tags with different posts. Try both.
- Fandoms and hobby communities settle on their own abbreviations and nicknames. Look at what the most active posts use.
- If you check a tag regularly, follow it, and new posts will come to you instead of you going to them.
Search inside one blog
If you remember the blog, go there and use its search. Depending on how you’re viewing it, that’s either a search box built into the blog’s theme or a search icon on the blog’s page in the app or dashboard.
Tags help here too. Many blogs can be browsed one tag at a time, often by adding /tagged/ and the tag name to the blog’s address, and artists in particular use this to organize their work: one tag for finished pieces, another for sketches, another for reblogs. To my mind, a blog’s own “my art” or “original” tag is one of the most underused shortcuts on the site.
Narrowing a global Tumblr search
Global search is broad by design, so narrow it with whatever you remember:
- Put a remembered line in quotation marks to look for that exact wording.
- Switch the sort between options such as top and latest: top for the popular take, latest for the newest posts.
- Use the post-type filters where they’re offered, to show only images, text, video and so on.
- If results feel thin, drop a word. Tumblr search tends to reward short queries.
If Tumblr’s own search keeps missing something, a search engine can sometimes catch it; our guide to searching within one website explains how to use site:tumblr.com.
Finding the original poster behind a reblog
Much of what you see on Tumblr is a reblog, sometimes several layers deep. The person who made the work is the original poster, or OP, and their name usually appears at the top of the reblog chain. Click it to reach their blog and the original post.
Why bother? Because credit matters on Tumblr. Linking to the original post rather than a reblog of a reblog sends people to the creator, and it’s where you’ll find their own words about the work and any reuse rules they’ve set. If the chain has been broken because someone reposted an image instead of reblogging it, a reverse image search can sometimes lead you back to the artist.
Tracing a comic back to its illustrator
Jonah writes a small newsletter about board games and wants to mention a funny comic he saw on his dashboard. The copy he saw had been reblogged by a friend, who had reblogged it from a meme blog. Every tag on it was commentary.
He opens the post’s notes and follows the chain to the top, which leads to an illustrator’s blog. A pinned post there explains that people are welcome to share her comics with a link and credit, but shouldn’t repost them elsewhere. Jonah browses her “comics” tag, finds the original post, and links to it in his newsletter with her name instead of pasting the image. It takes him about four extra minutes, and the illustrator gets the new readers rather than the meme blog.
When a post seems to have vanished
If you can’t find something you’ve seen before, work through these in order:
- Search the blog rather than the whole site.
- Try the tag with and without spaces, and with any common abbreviation.
- Remove filters and switch the sort order.
- Check whether the blog has changed its name, since links to the old name can stop working.
Posts can also be deleted or made private by their authors, and that’s their call to make.
FAQ
How do I search a specific Tumblr blog?
Open the blog and use its search box or search icon. Many blogs can also be browsed by tag, which is often quicker if the owner tags consistently.
Why doesn’t Tumblr search show every post with a tag?
Search and tag pages apply their own sorting and filters, along with your account’s content settings, and spelling variations split tags apart. Open the tag page directly, change the sort, and try spaced and unspaced versions.
How do I find who originally posted something on Tumblr?
Look at the top of the reblog chain or the post’s source link, then visit that blog. If the chain is broken, a reverse image search may lead you to the creator.
