Icon Filters Removed From Airbnb Homepage

[Craig1038]

Why have the icon search filters been removed from the homepage?

That made it so easy for potential guests to filter through hundreds of listings to get down to a smaller number that were relevant for the type of property they want to stay at.

E.g., A Cabin

Now, it's just a generic search for "homes" at the top of the homepage.

I understand that once you choose a location and dates, that you can filter down to (house, apartment, guest house, hotel).

However, that is not the level of specificity that Air BnB specifically offered, which made it one of the best platforms for booking unique places to stay.

(The OMG, Cabin, Lakefront, Beachfront, Farms, etc. filters were what made this platform truly unique.)

Hoping that these will be brought back, as otherwise, sifting through the search results is too overwhelming to continue booking through Air BnB when someone knows exactly what they want.

[Joan2709]

@Craig1038 

Yes...Airbnb called them "Categories" and they quietly removed them from the platform in April 2025. You can contact Airbnb and ask to provide feedback regarding this, but not sure we will see them back anytime soon. 

[Olga1502]

I hate the removal of that option.  I am looking for a trip to a lakeside cabin and since I only know of 2 lakes near me -- I would not have minded having an option presented in another state or a place I would not have considered.  So this is making my search way more difficult and I might have to go to another site to find places.

[Terri466]

Incredibly disappointed that that feature was removed.  I used it everytime.  They need to bring the feature back. ... I'd like to understand why they removed it in the first place.  

[Colin587]

I am unbelievably disappointed. They MUST have a good reason to get rid of such a great feature.

[Joan2709]

@Colin587 

I believe they were removed to make room for their New Services Launch, but don't understand why they couldn't have BOTH categories and Services?

I believe the data for listing categories data is still there on the Host side, so maybe they will add Categories to Guest Search Filters, which seems to be a logical place for them? We shall see...

[Talia1949]

Like everyone else on this thread, I am incredibly disappointed as well.

If you came here for answers like me, I just found a tiiiny hack that gets you back to a similar functionality (just not the same.)

(this is in the Airbnb app and it’s likely there’s a similar flow on the desktop version as well)

1. Do a search in a very wide map area— cover as much distance as possible.

2. In the top right corner, click the search settings icon that looks like three stacked sliders

3. Scroll down to Amenities and click “Show more”

4. See if the feature you’re looking for is there (e.g. “Waterfront”) and click it.

5. That now filters down the options

6. Now you can zoom into certain areas of the map

It’s important to note that you have to start with a wide map range because I noticed the amenity filters only show up if there ARE stays in that area that have those filters. 

Good luck, and Airbnb, please bring back a more personalized way to search for stays!!!!!

[Philipp3028]

totally agree. Airbnb you are messing it up. This was exactly what i loved about the platform. It was so easy to find great homes over categories. Why did you do that?

[Matt7565]

I've been booking on VRBO because of this.  It really sucks to have to sift through ALL the properties to find ones that I used to be able to find right away through using categories.  They are definitely doing themselves a disservice.  VRBO allows me to filter for pools - when we're going to airbnbs that have nice weather - we look for homes with pools.  VRBO has 14 different property types to choose from, so if we want to stay on a cool boat for an adventure - It will take me 1 minute to find it by having that filter.  Same with a cabin in the woods - 1 minute.  I spent close to an hour going through airbnb properties to find a cabin.  Unbelievable - I don't have that kind of time.  They will lose us as customers.  

[Ana-Rita21]

Just came by to add fuel to this fire. The fact this feature was removed has rendered Airbnb useless for me. As it stands right now, users are better off using Booking.com (no hidden cleaning fees, and a loyalty program with discounts). I stop by Airbnb when I want a different experience (a cute cabin, a big house with a pool for a group of friends, a coastal cottage) and not just a random place to stay between DD/MM/YYYY and DD/MM/YYYY. 

[Fed2575]

I can not express how angry I am at the removal of these filters. The options are house, hotel, guest house, flat. That is nothing short of bull ****** as it completely removes all the awesome quirky properties. Its a mind boggling decision! Okay remive the icons from the header if they want to save screen real estate... but why the heck remove them from the super filter!!!

[Joan2709]

@Fed2575 

Many Hosts did not like Categories as there were so many issues with listings being placed in the wrong categories, denied being added to categories they absolutely should have been in and erroneous proximity callouts to things like beaches and national parks. I truly do understand why guests liked them though, as it really made the process of narrowing a search easier. 

Adding categories to filters since Airbnb wanted the "real estate" for the New Services launch may have been put on the back burner, or not even considered, as it might be harder to do than you would think from a programming perspective. I do think we will see some additional filters, but not sure that will be any time soon. 

[Chris24512]

Agree 100%. Bring back filter by categories….or tell me how I’m able to find a home with a view + chef kitchen without looking at 1,000s of listings. 

[Thomas4363]

I am also super disappointed in the removal of this!!

[Amber1115]

Agree!!! I HATE the app now. Right now I’m trying to figure out where I want to go and can’t because all the interesting categories are gone. Now it’s like all the other apps. So disappointed.