Searching craigslist

Refining Your Search

Searching craigslist

There are two ways to search craigslist: homepage search and category search.

1. Homepage Search

To search from the homepage, start typing in the box beneath “search craigslist”.

Make sure the location named at the top is where you want to search.





If the location is not correct, visit our list of available sites , and choose the most appropriate one.

As you type, you will be given results in a variety of categories.

Click the one that best describes what you are looking for.

2. Category Search

To search a specific category, click on the category (e.g. "for sale") or sub-category (e.g. "bikes") name.

If you select a sub-category (e.g. "bikes"), you may choose "all", "by-owner", or "by-dealer" postings.

Type in the box at the top of the page, then click the magnifying glass to search.

3. Display Options

To change how results are displayed, click on the dropdown menu under the search bar on the left.

craigslist provides four different ways to display search results:

List: post titles only

Thumb: small image to the left of the post title

Gallery: large image above the post title

Map: postings are displayed on a map; click a pin for more information

Refining Your Search

1. Adjusting Search Results

Each category has options for refining your search on the left side of the screen.

Once you have chosen the options you want to search by, click “update search”.

2. Location Search

For some sites, you can click on a subarea to the right of the location name to filter your results.

For these sites, you can also use the drop down menu on a search page.

3. Narrowing Your Search

The following methods can be used to further narrow your search results:

Phrase Search: You can use quotation marks to search for a specific phrase.



e.g. this search finds postings with the exact phrase "coffee table" listed: " coffee table"

Exclude Terms: You can exclude a term by using the "-" symbol before the word you want excluded.



e.g. this search finds postings that have the word 'table' but not 'coffee': table -coffee

"OR" Search: You can find postings with one or multiple terms by using the "|" symbol between words.



e.g. this search finds postings that have 'honda' or 'toyota' (or both): honda | toyota

Grouping: You can group terms together in parenthesis when queries are complicated.

e.g. this search finds postings with 'honda' or 'toyota' (or both) but not 2000 or 2001: (toyota | honda) -2000 -2001

Wildcards: You can search for different forms of a word by using the "*" symbol.



e.g. din* table (matches "dining table," "dinner table")

e.g. wood floo* (matches "wood floors," "wood flooring", etc)

e.g. iphone* (matches "iphone," "iphones," "iphone5," etc)







4. Saving Searches

To save searches for later use, please see our FAQ on [saving searches].