How To Browse Skillshare Classes (Ultimate Guide)

If you’ve already signed up for Skillshare, you probably know a little something about the wide range of classes that they have on offer.

With over 30,000 online courses on Skillshare, covering everything from graphic design to how to write a great story, there will always be something new to learn. 

However, one thing you might be struggling with is how to accurately browse through the huge list of the best Skillshare classes out there.

You might be asking yourself: “Can I browse Skillshare classes?”

Can I Browse Skillshare Classes?

Unfortunately, Skillshare doesn’t feature the most extensive search/filter functionality, so you may find yourself struggling to find exactly what you want.

If you’re encountering this problem—don’t panic!

We’re here to help! 

In this article, we’re going to give you the ultimate guide to how to use Skillshare.

We’ll explain the fastest way to browse, how you can learn more about the courses you’re looking at, and how you can use Skillshare to quickly learn some of the most important factors of the field or artform you’re interested in! 

What Is Skillshare

Before we take a look at its browsing functionality, let’s first take a look at the platform in general.

If you’re new to Skillshare, then it’s important to explain why this online platform exists and how it works at a fundamental level.

In short, Skillshare is a place where people can join to learn new skills from experts.

If you sign up and pay for the monthly Skillshare subscription, you’ll have unlimited access to over 30 thousand courses on a range of topics with your Skillshare account.

And if you are uncertain about what you want, there is a Skillshare free trial so you can watch free classes before you try the Skillshare premium membership. (If you’re interested in free courses, see ‘15 Best Skillshare Free Courses You Can Try Today.’)

If you’re interested in any kind of creative pursuit (no matter how niche) there’s a good chance that Skillshare will have a class on it so you can improve your creative skills.

Selecting a class and working through it with Skillshare is very simple.

All you need to do is search for the Skillshare class you’re looking to take or select one from the extensive list of popular classes listed on the home page, and you’ll be taken to its portal.

From here, you can learn a little more about it before starting.

You’ll be able to watch each video in a row, and you can come back to the class in question at any time.

Classes on Skillshare are almost always split up into smaller lessons, usually in relation to the length of the class in total, and there is always a class project.

They can range from 15 minutes all the way up to 4 hours.

If you’re looking to take very personalized classes from teachers who create every inch of the material they’re teaching, then Skillshare is a great choice for you. 

The Problem With Skillshare’s Browsing Function

As great an online learning platform as Skillshare is, one of its main problems is that the search functionality is limited and can be difficult to use.

Let’s say you want to find a Skillshare course on ‘watercolor human portrait paintings.’

If you search this, you’ll be presented with a huge range of different choices, none of which completely narrow down your search. 

For example, you’ll find a few results that feature human portraiture classes, but also classes that use animals as their subject.

More than this, you might also get results that focus on other forms of painting—for example, acrylic or sketching with watercolor paints. (Check out ’15 Best Skillshare Art Classes You Can Try Today.’)

This can lead you to become a little confused and have to cycle through a lot of Skillshare courses before you find the one you want. 

How To Easily Narrow Down Your Search On Skillshare

To become adept at browsing for the right classes on Skillshare, we first need to learn a little more about how Skillshare works.

Firstly, it’s important to understand that Skillshare’s wide library is split into 4 distinct categories: business, creative, lifestyle, and technology.

Any class that’s on the platform will fit into one of these four.

However, they also feature upwards of 30 sub-categories that help users to narrow down their search. 

So then, if you use one of these search terms you will be presented with the most popular Skillshare videos from that category.

However, if you’re looking to perform a more precise search, you’ll want to make use of their entire sorting and filtering tools.

When you use the Skillshare browse function, you’ll see two tools placed next to each other. The first is ‘Sort by.’

This will give you two different drop-down menus to choose from.

The first lets you switch between popular and trending.

Popular courses are the highest rated and most enrolled while trending courses refer to courses that are currently picking up steam.

Next up, you’ll want to check out the ‘filter by’ section, which allows you to choose different time periods.

If there’s a new course that you’re trying to find, you can use this to try and find it. 

If those two tools aren’t helping you, then you can always use the general search bar, choosing precise search terms.

We’d recommend keeping your searches brief, with keywords that will help the search function bring you to the correct place.

Another great thing to use is the course teacher’s name (should you know it!) 

And if all else fails, you can always type in the exact course into Google.

Their extensive search function offers you another way to get to the courses you want! 

A Note On Recommendations: Once you’re signed up with Skillshare you will have a section of your profile called ‘Creative Interests.’

Here you will be able to help the platform’s algorithm to suggest classes that are more in line with the type of skills you’re trying to learn.

Make sure you set your creative interests to what you’re interested in developing, and you’ll often be suggested relevant courses. 

Final Thoughts

So there you have it! That was our guide on how you can use the browse feature on Skillshare.

Unfortunately, Skillshare’s search functionality pales in comparison to something like YouTube, but there are a lot fewer courses on the platform, so with a little bit of digging we’re sure you can find anything you’re looking for.