Twitter is a great place to get different opinions on a wide range of topics. Searching for the general consensus on a certain topic using the search bar is simple enough, but what if you want to find a specific tweet or thread?

There’s the tedious and laborious option of scrolling through thousands of tweets in search of the tweet. But, surely, there must be an easier way to do it!

Sometimes Twitter users will even delete old tweets for fear of receiving backlash or because their accounts have been suspended. Are those tweets gone forever? 

To put it simply, no. In most cases, what happens on the internet stays on the internet!

This article will discuss how to search for someone’s tweets and how to find an old deleted tweet.

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Performing an advanced search might seem like a complicated process, but it's a lot simpler than it sounds. This method can be done with any kind of device. 

First, log onto Twitter. Then, type in a keyword into the search tab. After getting some results, there should be a button with three dots next to the search tab. Press on this button and click advanced search and then the Search Filter button. 

Next, scroll down to the Accounts field. There should be a box labeled From These Accounts. In this box, fill in the desired account’s username.

To get more specific results, fill in some of the other parameters. Filters enable users to include or exclude replies or tweets with links. 

There is also an option to filter the tweets based on engagement levels. This means that tweets with more replies and likes are brought to the top of the search. Certain words or languages can also be included or excluded. 

The final way to refine the search is to fill in the Date section. After filling in all the necessary parameters, click search.

The advanced search option on smartphones and tablets is the same as the process mentioned above. The only difference is that instead of accessing Twitter using your browser, you access it using the Twitter smartphone app. 

There is an easier method to find a tweet from a specific Twitter account. First, log into Twitter. Then, click on the search bar. Next, type “from:” followed by the account name.

Note that there shouldn’t be a space in between the “from:” and the account name. For example, if the tweet is by Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey, type ‘from:jack dorsey.’

It’s also possible to add more search parameters. To look for tweets featuring a specific word, simply add the word at the end of the search entry. For example, to find all the tweets by Jack Dorsey including the word Twitter, type ‘from:jack Twitter.’ 

There is no limit to the words that can be added to the ‘from:’ search query. To search for a phrase, the same process is repeated, however, the phrase should be placed in quotations. 

After filling in the search bar, press enter and all tweets matching the criteria should be displayed.

How to Search for Tweets Using Advanced Search

Sometimes Twitter users will either delete their own tweets or they’ll get deleted automatically by Twitter. So, how can Twitter users find deleted tweets?

The first option is highly dependent on luck, how popular the account is, and how long the tweet was up for. 

If a tweet has a lot of engagement or the user is famous, there is a high chance that someone took a screenshot of it before it was deleted. 

In this case, it might be possible to look for the screenshot by conducting a quick Google search. It's also likely that the screenshot was reposted to Twitter. If this method fails, don’t worry; there are a few other options. 

The second option is to check the archives. There are many websites dedicated to archiving old data on the internet. Some of the most popular websites are archive.org and the Wayback Machine.

If all else fails, check the Google cached version of the webpage. This option is the most likely to work. However, for this method to work, the Google search entry will need to have extremely similar phrasing to that of the original tweet.

If the Google search is successful in finding the tweet, don’t click the link. Instead, look below the blue hyperlink. There should be a green web address. Next to the green link, there should be a small arrow. Click on the arrow. 

Clicking on the arrow should prompt a button that says Cached or Similar. If the button appears, click on it to find the version of the webpage before the tweet was deleted.

How to Find Deleted Tweets

In conclusion, there are many possible ways to search for someone’s tweets. If the user still has the tweets on their accounts, this process is quite simple. 

All that is needed is a quick Google search or an advanced search on Twitter. This process is the same regardless of the device being used.

However, if the tweet has been deleted, this process gets a little more complicated. In this case, there are three possible options. 

If the tweet garnered lots of attention due to its content or even the person who made the tweet, there might be screenshots floating around the internet. If a screenshot doesn't exist, websites that collect and archive data from the internet might have the tweet saved. 

The last option for finding a deleted tweet is checking the cached version of the tweet. However, for this to work, an extremely similar phrasing of the tweet or a direct link is needed. 

It’s important to remember that it’s impossible to completely delete something off the internet. It might require some digging around, but you should be able to find what you're looking for.

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How to Search Someone’s Tweets

How to Search for Tweets Using Advanced Search

How to Find Deleted Tweets

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