“How to find people online”is one of the most searched for phrases in all search engines. One of the most popular activities on the Web today is simply looking up information about other people online, whether that be friends, family, or long lost acquaintances from years past.
How to Find People Online: Getting Started
There are a huge variety of resources available that you can use to find people online for free. Before diving into what we’ve got outlined for you here, keep the following principles in mind:
- Be aware that you won’t find everything at once. It’s almost impossible to find everything you might be looking for in one single search, one single search engine, or one single tool. Use all the suggestions here to create a complete plan of action.
- Don’t limit your searches. No single search tool will hold all the answers. Expand your horizons and try something new!
- Do NOT pay for information. If you find something here that is charging for information, let me know. We never suggest tools that require payment for information. Learn more about whether or not you should pay to find information online.
In order to get the most out of this guide on how to find people online, I suggest you do the following:
- Have an open Word document or Notepad tab handy to keep track of your information. You will not find everything you are looking for in one place; that’s why we always suggest that you use a wide variety of sites and tools in order to find all the information that is possibly available to you.
- Put together as much information as you have on the person you’re looking for first. Do you have an address? Last name? Date of birth, date of death? These are all tidbits of information that will greatly aid in your search.
- Use as many different sources as possible. It is virtually impossible to find everything you’re looking for from one source. In order to get the best array of information, it’s imperative that you use as many sources as you can.
Also, a word of caution. Every week I get many letters from frustrated readers who have clicked on an ad promising the moon for a low monthly fee, usually in regards to how to find people online. I never suggest that readers utilize these sites; they are accessing exactly the same information as you are and therefore you should not be paying for it. If at any time one of the sites suggested in these pages suddenly changes their policies and starts charging for services, I do my best to take that site off the list of free Web resources. For more information about why you shouldn’t pay to find people online, read this article: Should I Pay to Find People Online?
We all know what a powerful search engine Google is, and it offers a whole spectrum of search tools that you can use to find people online. Whether you’re finding a phone number, tracking down maps, or images, you can learn more about using Google to find people.
In order to find someone on the Web, you’re going to need all your sleuthing skills – very rarely does all the information you’re looking for come to you in one search. That’s where Google comes in.
The behemoth search engine tracks everything users search for and provide; some people call it spying while others call it smart business. Regardless, the information can help you immensely if you know where to look.
You can use this article on Google People Search for specific Google tips that will help you find who you’re looking for with this popular search engine.
For instance, merely typing the person’s full name in quotations – “John Smith” – into Google’s search field can potentially yield quite a few favorable results. If you know where the person lives – “John Smith” Atlanta – you’ll get even more results. How about where the person works? “John Smith” “coca-cola” Atlanta.
Google is able to uncover an astonishing amount of information and is one of the best tools you can have in your people-finding arsenal. Look up addresses, business information, phone numbers, satellite photos, published books, and a whole lot more using advanced Google search techniques.
Family Tree Now
Family Tree Now is a surprisingly powerful site that gives an amazing array of information, all for free. Anything from addresses to birth dates and phone numbers can be found at Family Tree Now. Learn more about using Family Tree Now to find people.
Zabasearch
One of the first places you’ll want to go when trying to find someone online is Zabasearch. Type the person’s full name into the search field, and see what comes up.
You most likely will get a lot of information here, but do not pay for information. If you see something that asks you to pay, just disregard it. You’ll be able to obtain a good amount of absolutely free information here on the person you are looking for – or at least enough to keep going.
Once you have your information, copy and paste it into a Word document or Notepad file for easy access, and keep on going to the next step in this list.
Zabasearch is a free people search tool that pulls data from public domain sources. Note: if you’d rather not have your information show up here, read How to Remove Personal Information from Zabasearch.
Free People Search Sites
Looking for even more tools to help you find people free online? Check out these people search sites. You’ll learn about finding everything from obituaries to images.
Pipl
Pipl is a people-specific search engine that gives you information that’s a bit different than what you’ll find using Google or Yahoo because it searches the invisible Web, otherwise known as the information that’s not readily accessible in a cursory Web search.
Type in the person’s name that you’re looking for in the Pipl search box, and see what you come up with.
Obituaries
Obituaries can be relatively simple to track down, or they can require a lot of research both on the Web and off. It just depends on when and where they were published. However, you can use the Web to find many obituaries online for free, or, at least get started on your research.Obituaries are one of the most sought after items of information when trying to find people online. Learn more about finding obituaries on the Web.
Facebook is the most popular social media site in the world, and thus it’s an invaluable tool for finding people online. Learn more about using Facebook to find people.
If you have the full name of the person you’re looking for, you can use that to find them on Facebook. You can also find someone on Facebook by using their email address if you have it. Or, you can type in the name of the high school, college, or company that the person you’re looking for is affiliated with.
Public Records
If you want to find someone online, one of these resources in the Top Ten Public Records Sources is sure to help you.
These are some of the best free public record search databases online, from obituaries to census records. Note: Depending on the state or country that you live in, you might not be able to access more personal public records, such as birth certificates, drivers’ licenses, marriage certificates, etc., without A)showing physical proof of identification or B)paying a fee. Many of these resources give you a good starting point from which to begin your research.
If you’re doing a genealogical search, you know that sourcing original public records is incredibly important. Learn more about finding public records online.
People Search Engines
Did you know that there are search engines that only focus on finding people and people-related information? Learn more about people search engines.
Niche Search Engines
As we become more connected and socially aware on the Web, more personal information than ever before is being shared, which in turn creates more personal information that is able to be searched for. These niche search engines focus on picking out only information that is specifically related to the people you’re looking for, whether that be social networking updates, background information, or comments on a Web site. Use several of these search engines to find information that might not have otherwise been picked up in a typical search.
Cell Phone Numbers
Cell phone numbers can be tricky to track down online, but it’s not completely impossible if you know how to search. Learn more about how to find a cell phone number.
ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo takes searching for people on the Web to a whole new level; by using a combination of various technologies to crawl the Web (Web sites, press releases, electronic news services, SEC filings, etc.), ZoomInfo organizes all the information about people into a readable, sensible format – profiles that can also be searched within ZoomInfo by corporate headhunters.
Type in who you’re looking for into ZoomInfo and you’ll potentially come back with a lot of information that leads to other information: i.e., links that show you where else that person is on the Web (that’s IF they have a presence online. If the person you are looking for doesn’t get on the Web much, this isn’t going to do you much good.).
PeekYou
If the person you’re looking for has done anything on the Web, PeekYou should be able to pick it up.
For example, Peekyou enables you to search for usernames across a variety of social networking communities. For instance: say you would like to learn more about the person who uses the handle “I-Love-Kittens”; you can use PeekYou to see what else they might be doing on the Web under that username (most people use the same username across many different Web services; you can learn more about searching via username in this article: Five Ways to Find Someone Using A Username).
If you know the person’s name that you’re looking for, type it into the LinkedIn search box and you’ll get information such as current job, professional affiliations, and more.
If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to find a LOT of information on LinkedIn, and you’ll be able to use that information, in turn, to keep going in your people search. Every little bit counts when you’re trying to find people online.
Zillow
If you have an address, you can find out a lot about your person’s home at Zillow. Just type in an address, a general area, or a zip code, and Zillow will return a whole plethora of real estate information about your query.
In addition, you’ll also be able to see how much that person’s house has been valued at, houses in the surrounding areas, local resources, and more.
Directories
Phone directories, business directories, and obituary indexes can all be useful resources when looking up information on someone. Specialized directories can help you find almost any phone number, business indexes can find an astonishing amount of corporate information, and there are a wealth of sites that can aid you in finding death notices, obituaries, or interment information.
Military search tools
Many people look back with pride on their military service days and want to relive those experiences with their fellow soldiers. There are free sites and search resources that can help you do just that, anything from connecting with veterans on social networking sites to job directories specifically tailored to those who have served in the armed services.
Images
When you’re looking for someone, don’t forget to check for relevant images and photos. Many times searches for someone using image search engines or image options can turn up a surprising amount of information that wouldn’t be found otherwise.
Newspapers and Archives
Traditional newspapers are printed on paper, but most local, state and national papers have some kind of presence online that you can utilize to find all kinds of information.
Social Media
One of the largest and most popular social networking sites online is Facebook, which boasts memberships in the hundreds of millions. Using just an email address, you can track someone’s Facebook profile, find out what companies, schools, or organizations they’re affiliated with, and see recent status updates.
Instead of flipping through a large, unwieldy telephone book to find an area code or zip code, you can simply search for an area code or a zip code using a variety of methods.
Find a Zip Code on the Web
Zip codes – numerical codes used to facilitate mail delivery – can be found and verified on the Web quite easily. Here are the easiest ways to find zip codes online.
- USPS Zip Code Lookup: If you have an address (or partial address), you can look up the zip code here. You can also search by city, company, or find all cities in a particular zip code.
- International Post Codes: This site (maintained by Columbia University) offers an extensive index of both domestic and international postal codes, as well as mailing acronyms, policies, and best practices.
You can also use various search engines to find zip codes; for example:
- Google: Type in your zip code and Google will bring back what geographic location it belongs to, as well as maps and Web results.
- DuckDuckGo: Type in a zip code and DuckDuckGo returns a map, the location of the zip code, weather, real estate, and pertinent Web results.
- Bing: A zip code look-up at Bing brings back what city/locale it pertains to, maps, and local attractions (grocery stores, hotels, movie theaters, etc.).
Use a Search Engine for an Area Code Search
If you’re trying to figure out what part of the country a U.S. area code is related to, all you need to do is type in the area code into most any search engine. This works best in the following search engines.
Using Google to find an area code: Finding an area code with Google is quite easy. Simply type in the name of the city and state you’re looking for, followed by the words area code, and you’ll usually come up with what you’re looking for.
Using Yahoo to find an area code: Using Yahoo to find an area code is quite similar in process to that of Google; just type in the city and state and you’ll get an instant result. International codes? Not as easily found as using Google; using the same query as previous didn’t get me the streamlined results I had before. You’ll have to do more digging, then, with Yahoo than with Google.
Using Bing to find an area code: Type in the city and state and you won’t get instant results at Bing; however, you will get a very informative page of listings that can help you drill down further; this is the same when you search for international calling codes. Neither Yahoo or Bing feature the instant search results that Google does; however, you do receive plenty of search listing results that will give you the information that you need with just one extra click. Use these extra tips to help you when you search on Bing.
Using Wolfram Alpha to find an area code: Out of all the search engines on this list, the computational engine Wolfram Alpha was by far the most helpful when attempting to find an area code in the United States; not only did I get an area code for the city I was looking for, but I also received information about adjacent cities, their area codes, and interesting tidbits of information about the area code I was looking for (for example, the date it was established).
Websites that Specialize in Area Code Search
There’s also quite a few websites that allow you to drill down and find area codes that aren’t easily discoverable in a simple search engine query.
Here are a few free resources you can use to find nearly any area code and/or country calling code in the world.
- BT Phonebook: Use this site to find area codes in the UK.
- Area Codes: Area codes from mostly the States; there are other countries scattered in here as well.
- LincMad: A zip code map that offers a visual representation of area codes in both the United States and Canada.
- Country Codes: This site asks you what country you’re calling from and to in order to assign the correct country code and/or area code.