Facebook is the world’s largest social network, but that is not to say that everyone has an account. After the several scandals and consistent data-mining allegations against Mark Zuckerberg and co over the years, several human beings have either gotten rid of their Facebook accounts or moved on less controversial platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
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If you are one of the people who no longer likes what the social media platform is all about, not to worry, there are still ways to search Facebook without owning an account or logging in to it. If you’re not aware, users could look up almost all users on Facebook up until some years back via one way or another. In several cases, it was even possible to see all of their posts, pictures, clips, comments, likes, and so on.
However, after serious backlash from its userbase and the added pressure from lawmakers, Facebook has stepped up its privacy. It now restricts what and how much information users can see of other users. Having said that though, there are still ways to look up or search for individual users without an account, and this tutorial will break everything down.
Be aware that the methods below will only work if the target user is yet to lock their Facebook profile with the highest privacy settings. For profiles that can be searched for, their name, profile pictures, and other information will be visible without an account, depending on their security settings. See How To Search Facebook Without Signing In your Account:
1. Facebook Directory – Search Without An Account:
Facebook Directory allows you to do a cursory search of profiles without needing an account or logging into one. It allows you to search for any individual, group, or page, but you’ll only see the results of those who didn’t turn off public discoverability. First, head to Facebook People Directory and solve a captcha to prove that you are no robot. You can also head to the Facebook.com site and tap “People” way down on the screen to access the directory without getting yourself logged in.
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The list is sorted alphabetically, and only a few names will be included on the first search page. Anyone can, however, perform a search and look up someone’s Facebook profile. Also, be aware that the results Facebook People Directory brings are not the same as the ones in the general search results. It’ll reveal all of the content available to the public. However, much of it will be limited to account holders.
Even if a user’s privacy settings also restrict the search results, you can find profiles and view some content with this method. This is no rosy solution, it is true, but it is an official way to search Facebook profiles without having an account.
2. Search Engines:
If Facebook People Directory did not give you the profile you are looking for, search engines could help. One of the best methods to search without an account is by using search engines such as Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo. To locate somebody’s Facebook profile, simply do a normal web search. However, you should specify that you only wish to view results from Facebook.
For instance, if you are looking for Cristiano Ronaldo on Facebook, your search would be like “Cristiano Ronaldo site- facebook.com.” to view the profiles of all users named Cristiano Ronaldo. Google will only reveal results from Facebook because of the “site:” qualifier you added.
Also, note that the search engine will only list profiles under that name, as long as the users are yet to set their personal privacy controls to limit visibility. As you already know, all Facebook account holders can choose to make their profile available to search or hide it completely from search engines.
In fact, users can even limit visibility from other Facebook users who are not friends with them on the social media platform. And unlike personal accounts, business accounts will most likely be visible on public search results.
3. Social Search Engines:
Social search engines make use of algorithms to mainly cut through a large amount of information about individuals on social media. Some of the very known free and popular options include Social Searcher and snitch.name, and they both help you to search Facebook without an account.
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However, if you own a business and you wish to do some major research before employing, you can also subscribe to the likes of Mentionytics and Social Mention. Many of these services can be used online. However, be aware that they only get the job done based on the user’s privacy settings you wish to find.
Social search engines work like general search engines but allow you to narrow down your search with lots of filters, including location info. This instantly narrows your search down to a specific region. Therefore, if you’re looking for Folami David from Lagos, Nigeria, you will not keep seeing information about Folami David from the USA, London, or Canada. Some social search engines even provide the ability to bring up results according to specific hashtags and topics.
4. People Search Engines:
There are lots of “people search engines” on the internet, and they all claim to help people who are looking for their long-lost buddies or trying to look up someone they interacted with at a party or social gathering. In summary, there are various people finder services that allow you to search for people and see details about them. Their results do not focus on only Facebook, and they are simply an aggregation of all web-crawlers can find about an individual.
Some of the most popular services for this category are Pipl and PeopleFinder, and they both aid users in finding more information about people on Facebook. Be aware that Pipl is a premium service that will cost you a monthly subscription. You can use PeopleFinder if you need some basic information for no charge at all. Even if people search engines bring up details from across the web, Facebook results are still more appreciated than other sites, even if it all depends on the person’s privacy settings.
5. Ask Buddies With Real Facebook Accounts For Help:
I know this one is quite obvious, but it is definitely one of the best ways to search for anyone on Facebook without needing an account. In fact, you’ll most likely get the result you are looking for with this method, especially if the friend assisting you is close with who you are searching for on Facebook.
Once more, the amount of information you’ll have access to will depend on the privacy settings your target prefers. Be aware that this method is not perfect at all. However, as long as you’re not being creepy about it or attempting to stalk somebody, it could be your best option to check someone’s Facebook profile without an account.
Conclusion:
At a point in time, Facebook allowed any random person to look up information about everyone on the platform. However, those days are long gone. In fact, stepping up its privacy amid huge pressure from lawmakers and users, the company now allows users to get rid of 3rd-party application access and delete off-Facebook activity for an added level of privacy. On top of that, users can even lock their profiles so as to stop accounts that are not their friends from checking their personal details like profile information, pictures, and so on. Sadly, it could just be a matter of time before looking for people on Facebook will be impossible without an account; however, till then, the methods above should help you.
There you go; if you need to search a Facebook account without logging into an account, you now know what to do and how to go about it.
