Click the search bar at the top of Pinterest, type your terms and press enter, then narrow the results with the guides under the bar or the filters menu for Pins, Boards, Profiles, Videos or Products. You can also search only your own saved Pins, and on iOS and desktop you can pick a Pin and search from it.
Most people only ever use the first step. Pinterest's own Help pages describe five or six different ways to narrow a search, and a couple of them are easy to miss because they only appear after you've searched. Here's each one, as of Nov 2026, in the order you'd use them.
Start with the search bar
Pinterest Help says you click the search bar at the top of the screen. From there you can do three things:
- Type the search terms you want.
- Click a recent search to run a previous idea again.
- Click a suggested term to explore something new.
There's a small extra that Help mentions almost in passing: for some searches you'll see a Less AI button, which shows you less AI-modified content. It doesn't appear on every search, so if you don't see it, nothing's wrong. It just isn't offered for that query.
| Tool | What it does | When it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Search bar | Runs a search from your words, a recent search or a suggested term | Always, at the top of the screen |
| Less AI | Shows less AI-modified content | Only on some searches |
| Guides | Adds a popular search term to your original search | After you search, near the search bar |
| Filters | Limits results to all Pins, Boards, Profiles, Videos or Products | After you search, via the filter icon |
| Search with this Pin | Uses a chosen Pin to shape the next results | After you search, iOS and desktop only |
| Voice search | Turns what you say into a search | US only, with English set as your language |
Narrow it down with guides
After a search, you might see suggested terms near the search bar. Pinterest calls these guides, and they're built from its most popular search terms. Click one and Pinterest runs a new search with that term added to what you typed.
- Log in and click the search bar.
- Enter your search terms and press enter.
- Click the guide under the search bar that you want to add.
- For some searches, you can also select Less AI to see less AI-modified results.
Guides are the quickest way to go from a broad idea to a specific one without retyping anything.
Filter by content type
Here's the catch most people miss: guides and filters aren't the same thing. Guides change what you're searching for. Filters change what kind of result you get back.
After a search, Pinterest shows a filters menu. You can pick all Pins, Boards, Profiles, Videos or Products, and the results then show only that type. Help's own example: choose Boards and you'll only see Boards related to your search.
- Click the search bar and enter your terms.
- Press enter.
- Click the filter icon on the left, just under the search bar.
- Choose your content type. Some searches also offer Less AI here.
For marketers, the Boards and Profiles filters are the useful ones. They show you who's curating your topic, which is a fast way to see the kind of content that gets saved in your niche. If you're looking for one specific person, though, there's a better route: here's how to find someone on Pinterest.
Search only your saved Pins
You can search your own saves rather than the whole of Pinterest. Help's steps are simple: log in, click the search bar at the top of the screen and enter your terms.
If you've been saving ideas for months, this is the fastest way to find that one Pin again without scrolling through every board.
Search with this Pin
Pinterest calls its newer search the evolved search bar. It lets you combine text and Pins to narrow results. Help gives a nice example of the idea: you like a jacket, but you want it in a different colour and a more formal style.
- Click the search bar and type your search terms.
- Click a Pin in the results.
- Click Search with this Pin.
- Type extra words, or pick one of the suggestions.
Pinterest says it uses that Pin to inform your future results. The limit worth knowing: as of Nov 2026, Help says this feature is only available on iOS and desktop. If you're on Android and can't find the button, that's why.
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Voice, camera and visual search
Voice search. Click the search bar, tap the microphone icon and say your term. Your words appear in the bar and the search starts. Pinterest Help says voice search is currently only available in the US, and your language must be set to English. If it can't turn your audio into text, it tells you and you can try again.
Visual search. Pinterest's visual search features let you search using an image, or part of one, when you don't have the words. Help says they work best on the Android or iOS app and aren't available on ads or collage Pins. Pinterest also has a camera-based tool, Pinterest Lens, and a way to search by skin tone and hair pattern.
Recent searches. If you'd rather your recent searches didn't show up, Pinterest has a separate Help article on clearing them.
What I'd do
For everyday browsing, I'd type a broad term, click two or three guides, then use the filter to switch to Boards. That gets you to the best curated collections in about four clicks. On iOS or desktop, I'd use Search with this Pin whenever the results are close but not quite right, rather than starting again.
If you're on Pinterest for your business, I'd skip treating search as just a way to browse. Watching which guides Pinterest suggests for your topic tells you how real people phrase what they want, which feeds straight into your Pin titles and descriptions. That's where Pinterest SEO takes over.
If your brand relies on Pinterest to get found, knowing how people search there is the first piece of the strategy I help businesses build. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.
Frequently asked questions
How do I search on Pinterest?
Click the search bar at the top of the screen, then type your terms, click a recent search or pick a suggested term. Press enter to see results, then narrow them with guides or filters.
What's the difference between guides and filters on Pinterest?
Guides add a popular search term to your original search. Filters limit results to one content type: all Pins, Boards, Profiles, Videos or Products.
Can I search my own saved Pins?
Yes. Pinterest Help says you log in, click the search bar at the top of the screen and enter your search terms.
Why can't I find Search with this Pin?
Pinterest Help says Search with this Pin is only available on iOS and desktop at this time, so it won't show on Android.
Is Pinterest voice search available everywhere?
No. Pinterest Help says voice search is currently only available in the US, and your language must be set to English.
