Why Does Tinder Show Me People Far Away?

Are you a man or a woman who frequently opens Tinder ready to connect with attractive singles in your area, only to frequently wonder “Why does Tinder show me people far away?”

In Tinder’s settings, there’s a feature allowing you to select the maximum distance that your recommended matches should be from you. If you’re being shown people further away than that, it’s usually because they swiped right on you while in your proximity or using Tinder Passport. 

Quick tip: In 2022 Tinder is mainly good for chit-chatting back and forth but It’s not really a serious dating app anymore. I would recommend Eharmony instead. It arguably remains the number 1 dating website for personality-based matching and more serious relationships.

In this guide, we’ll explore these and other reasons why Tinder shows you people far away in more detail. 

How To Alter Your Maximum Distance On Tinder 

By default, Tinder will show you potential matches up to 50 kilometers away.

You can change this by navigating to your Settings, scrolling to Discovery and tweaking your Maximum Distance.

The minimum distance you can apply is one kilometer. The maximum distance is 100 kilometers.  

Why Does Tinder Show Me People Further Away Than My Settings Suggest? 

Here are the five most common reasons why Tinder shows you people who are further away than the maximum distance in your settings.

You Were Close Enough For Them

Ryan and Lucy live 40 kilometers apart. Ryan’s maximum distance for potential matches is set to 10km. However, Lucy’s is set to 100 kilometers.

This means Ryan might still appear in Lucy’s Tinder pack. If she swipes right on him, she’ll appear in his list of people who like him on Tinder Gold or Tinder Platinum. She’s also more likely to appear in his pack too. 

These People Swiped Right On You Using Tinder Passport

Tinder Passport is a feature available only with premium Tinder accounts, which allows you to swipe in any location you desire across the globe. If someone who lives far away finds you and swipes right using this feature, they’ll still appear in your list of people who like you on Tinder Gold or Tinder Platinum. What’s more, they’re more likely to appear towards the top of your Tinder pack too.

You Two Were In Proximity At Some Point

If a woman uses Tinder while on holiday in your home city, she’s going to be presented with a pack of people who are in that area. If she swipes right on you, she’s going to appear in your Tinder Gold list and usually towards the top of your pack too. But what if she goes back home by the time you swipe right on her? Her distance is going to be too far away for your tastes. 

Tinder Bent The Rules

On Tinder’s help pages, it’s stated that the app might sometimes show you potential matches that are slightly outside of your preferences. 

There Is A Technical Issue With The App

According to Tinder’s help pages, if you believe a bug is causing you to be shown users who are too far away, you should try logging out and logging back in again to solve the problem. If that doesn’t work, try deleting the app and reinstalling it. You can always email Tinder’s customer service team too. 

Final Thoughts 

When people in your Tinder pack are really far away, it usually means they have already swiped right on you. 

However, unless you’re willing to travel an obscene distance to meet them, your best move is to swipe left on them. It’s widely believed that you’ll be more highly favored by the Tinder algorithm if you’re more picky with your right swipes, so don’t waste them on women who are too far away to meet. 

For more tips to improve your success on Tinder, see Ice White’s book ‘The Message Game’. This book is packed with tried-and-tested openers, lines to inspire women to meet you and advice on creating an attractive profile.