How to Search For Effects on Instagram

Effects on Instagram can help make your Stories stand out; many platform creators understand this quite well. The app already gives you various effects, but if you are looking for more options, keep reading as we show you how to search for more effects on Instagram.

How to Manually Search Filters on Instagram

Instagram has a vast catalog of effects that you can browse through. You can even manually search for a particular style of effect from their Browse Effects page. To do so, follow these steps.

1. Swipe right from the Instagram app’s home screen to enter the camera viewfinder.
2. Scroll towards the right on the effects row at the bottom. When you scroll to the very end, tap on Browse effects (marked by a magnifying glass icon)
3. Tap on the search icon inside the effects menu.

4. In the search section, type the effect name, style, or theme.
5. If you like an effect, tap on it to see a preview of it in the viewfinder.

For example: I wanted a snowy effect, so I typed “snowfall” and got some fun effects to pick from.

How to Browse Effects Across Categories

In the effects library, you can even sort out different effects based on categories. You can go through them if you are unsure and don’t know which effect you want to use. Here is how you can do it.

1. Go to the Browse effects screen inside Instagram as shown above.
2. Select a category tab on the effects menu. You can choose from different categories including Appearance, Aesthetic, Games, Humor, etc.
3. You can now scroll through different effects and select the effect you like to preview it.
4. Then tap on the viewfinder/preview at the top to use the selected effect.

How to Bookmark Effects on Instagram

Let’s say you managed to stumble upon an effect that you like to use for a story or a Reel sometime later, then you can save it by bookmarking the effect. To save an effect, select it from the effects menu and then tap on the bookmark icon on the left side. This effect will now be available inside the Bookmarks tab on effects screen.

How to Search for Reels with the Same Effect

If you want to see how an effect will appear before trying it for yourself, you can search for reels where others have used it. This way, you can decide whether the fancy effect is something you’d want to use for your content.

1. Go to the Browse effects screen inside Instagram.
2. Here, select an effect that you like.
3. When the effect loads up in the viewfinder, tap on the plus + icon on the right.
4. You’ll now see all the reels from people you used the selected effect. You can tap on a reel to view it directly from here, or use the bookmark icon to save it for later.

This is how easily you can look up different effects on the Instagram app on your phone. This is a pretty simple thing to do but confuses even long-term users from time to time. Even I wish for the magnifying glass icon to be a shortcut somewhere in the camera viewfinder. But what did you think about this short guide? Did you find it useful? Let us know in the comments below.