Quick answer: Your match preferences guide who we show you — they are not strict limits, so you will always see some members outside them.
- Preferences shape your results everywhere. They do not hard-filter them.
- Discover is deliberately broader and includes profiles outside your preferences.
- Liked You shows anyone who liked your profile, whatever their distance or age.
- Recommended follows your preferences most closely, but it is still guided by them rather than limited to them.
- If few members fit your preferences, you will see more people outside them — and narrowing your preferences makes that happen sooner.
Preferences guide your results; they do not restrict them
Your match preferences, including distance and age, tell us the kind of people you want to meet. We use them to decide who to show you first and most often, but they are not strict filters — you will see some members outside them anywhere on Jdate. This is what the Match Preferences screen means when it says your preferences are not strict.
Where you will notice it most
- Discover is built to show you profiles that do not fully match your selected preferences, such as age or distance. See How does Discover work?
- Liked You shows every member who has liked your profile. Anyone can like you, so these members do not have to match your preferences at all. See How does the 'Liked You' tab work?
- Recommended follows your preferences most closely, but it is still guided by them rather than limited to them.
A smaller pool means more members outside your preferences
When there are not many members who fit your preferences — because your distance or age range is narrow, or because there are fewer members nearby — we show you people beyond those preferences rather than an empty screen.
This has a result that surprises people: narrowing your preferences can lead to seeing more members outside them, not fewer. A tighter range empties your pool faster. If your results look far away or off the mark, try widening your distance and age range — a bigger pool means more of what you actually asked for.
How to update your preferences
See How do I change my location or distance settings? for setting your location and adjusting the Distance slider.
If something still looks wrong
If your results are far outside anything you would expect, contact Customer Support with the preferences you have set, roughly how far outside them the profiles are, and whether you are on the app or the website.