Reddit is the go-to online destination for millions of people, drawn by the fact that you can find movie discussions, political debates, the latest memes, life advice, and almost anything else within its virtual walls. It’s an astonishing repository of information and it’s getting bigger every day. [Source: Popsic.com]
Whether you’re just getting started on Reddit or you’ve been using it for years, there are lesser-known tricks and handy tips you can use to get more out of the site—whether that’s finding stuff you’re interested in more quickly, changing how you appear on Reddit, or tweaking how subreddits are displayed.
Use the new Discover Tab
Recently, Reddit added the Discover Tab to its mobile app as another way for you to cut through the noise and get to the posts you find most interesting. You can open it by tapping the compass icon at the bottom of the app interface.
What you see next will depend on the communities you’re already part of as well as where you’ve been spending your time on Reddit. Tap any of the topics at the top (just below the search bar) to narrow down the subreddits listed on screen. We also have a more detailed Discover Tab walkthrough if you’re interested in learning more about what to expect.
The more feedback you give, the more relevant the Discover Tab will become: long-press on a post and pick Show more posts like this or Show fewer posts like this and the app will adjust its algorithm accordingly.
Find community wikis
Some Reddit communities (subreddits), especially the larger ones, have established informational documents, and reading these “wikis” can be a useful way to learn more about the community.
If you find a community with a wiki, such as r/jobs, you’ll see a Wiki Pages link at the top of the list of posts on the website. On the mobile app, you can find wiki pages behind the Menu tab on the front page of a subreddit.
[Related: Become a Wikipedia master by accessing special pages and other handy tricks]
Wikis can include links to popular posts from the communities, archives of past discussions (including Ask Me Anything threads), and relevant links elsewhere on Reddit—though the wikis you get will depend on the community you’re viewing.
See everything happening on Reddit
If you want to get an overview of everything happening on Reddit at any given time, point your browser towards r/all. You’ll see highlights from all the Reddit communities, not just the ones you’re subscribed to.
Use the options at the top to sift through what’s Hot and trending now, what’s New (recently posted), and the Top posts (given the highest ratings by other Reddit users). It’s a convenient way to discover the best content Reddit has to offer.
In the mobile app, the home tab (the little house icon on the bottom navigation bar) fulfils a similar role. If you tap Best posts at the top of the list, you can sort posts by what’s newest and what’s most popular.
Build your own custom feeds
When a subreddit just isn’t giving you enough of what you need, you can build a custom feed—this will combine posts from multiple subreddits into one single feed. You can make as many of these as you want.
Open up any subreddit on the Reddit site or in the app, and you’ll see three dots up in the top right corner of the feed. Click or tap on these dots, then choose Add to Custom Feed to give your feed a name and start building it. You can repeat the process to add more subreddits to the feed.
You can access your custom feeds from the drop-down menu in the top left corner of the website interface, or from the main menu inside the app (tap the three lines in the top right to see it). You don’t necessarily have to join subreddits to add them to custom feeds either.
Change autoplay and thumbnail settings
You don’t have to accept Reddit’s defaults for how the site and app displays images and videos. You might want to cut down on the amount of media you’re shown, for example, to create a more streamlined experience.
In the mobile app, tap your avatar (top right) and then pick Settings. The next screen gives you options for turning off video autoplay, hiding all thumbnails from communities, and blocking animations in posts and comments.
The same options are available on the Reddit site as well. You can get at them through your web browser of choice by clicking your avatar (top right) and then choosing User Settings and Feed Settings.
Search through just about anything
Make sure you’re aware of everything the search box can do—it’s up at the top of the interface on the website and the app, and you can get started by typing out a few keywords. Choose the Search… (website) or Results for… (app) options to see a full list of matches from Reddit.
You’ll see matches from Reddit posts at first—switch to the Communities tab to see subreddit matches instead. You can also use the Sort and Time options to bring some order to your results: maybe you want to see the newest results first, or limit the matches to posts from the past week.
[Related: How Reddit helped fix my posture]
There’s an additional option when you search on the Reddit website: Comments. This lets you see matches from comments across Reddit, and it’s another handy way to see what people are talking about across the site.
Quickly edit your profile
Your profile represents who you are on Reddit and it’s important to get it looking exactly the way you want it to. This is now easier than ever: On the website or in the mobile app, click or tap your avatar (top right) to see the editing options.
Choose Style Avatar to give your avatar a whole new look. You can edit everything from hair styles to footwear choices, though some picks require a premium account that will cost you $6 a month. Anything that requires a paid-for upgrade will have a little red icon next to it.
