Bug with X search source: command not working correctly and how to work around it

In X (Twitter) search, a bug is occurring where adding search operators (search commands) such as source:twitter_web_app or source:twitter_for_iphone to a search query causes the [Latest] tab to show no results, or causes posts containing the string “source:twitter_web_app” to appear.

There is currently no complete fix for this bug, but you can view some search results by using the [Top] tab.

What is the source: operator?

X provides a source: search operator that lets you filter posts by the app or environment they were posted from.

Common filters are as follows:

• Posts published from the web version: source:twitter_web_app
• Posts published from the iPhone app: source:twitter_for_iphone
• Posts published from the Android app: source:twitter_for_android

This search operator, written in the form source:<client_name>, lets you filter X posts by the client they were posted from.

The major official clients are listed above, but for posts automatically published from apps and similar services, it may also be possible to filter by the app name, with spaces replaced by underscores.

Using the source: operator in the [Latest] tab causes search results not to appear

Currently, when source: is included in a search query on X, a bug can cause the [Latest] tab to show no posts at all, or cause the source: operator to be treated as a search string rather than an operator.

For example, searching for lang:ja source:twitter_web_app should normally display Japanese posts published from the web.

At present, however, when the search query includes the source: operator, the [Latest] tab may return empty results, making it impossible to view posts in chronological order, or it may display posts that contain the text “source:twitter_web_app.”

In other words, with lang:ja source:twitter_web_app, Japanese posts containing the text “source:twitter_web_app” may be displayed regardless of where they were posted from.

This bug is likely caused by the source: search operator being interpreted as a search string rather than as an operator.

If no posts containing text such as “source:twitter_web_app” are found, the search results may appear empty.

X is also experiencing similar issues where some search results do not appear, or posts from the most recent seven days are not displayed.

X search Latest tab not showing posts from the last 7 days: how to fix it

Since around early April 2026, a behavior has been observed on X (Twitter) in which, for some keywords, recent posts do not appear in the search results [Latest] tab, and only posts older than 7 days are shown. This issue does not occur for all search keywords, and there are also keywords for which the latest posts are displayed normally.

April 13, 2026

Workaround for using the source: operator

This bug occurs only in the [Latest] tab of search results and does not occur in the [Top] tab.

Therefore, by opening the [Top] tab instead of the [Latest] tab, you can view search results with the source: operator applied.

In the [Top] tab, posts are not sorted chronologically, and some posts may not be displayed.

If you want to check recent posts, using the since: operator as well is recommended.

For example, to search for Japanese posts published from the web on or after May 28, 2026, search for lang:ja source:twitter_web_app since:2026-05-28 and open the [Top] tab.

Because this is the [Top] tab, posts are not necessarily sorted chronologically, but filtering by date lets you view only recent posts.

Conclusion

A bug is occurring in X search where using the source: operator causes search results not to appear in the [Latest] tab, or causes posts containing the string “source:” to be displayed instead.

Search results appear without issue in the [Top] tab, so using the [Top] tab is recommended.

To limit results to recent posts, you can combine it with the since: operator to filter search results by date.