How to Find out What You Got for Christmas

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: December 6, 2024 References

Everyone knows it's hard to wait for your Christmas gifts to come. With all the excitement that the holiday season brings, the downtime you have seems like it is going ten times slower than normal. Searching for your Christmas presents early isn't the best idea, but if you must, here are some ways you can do it.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Finding Your Present

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1
Avoid getting caught when searching for your present. This is the most important part of finding your Christmas presents. If someone else, especially the gifter, finds you snooping, they will probably be very angry about it, and they may take away the gifts if they are extremely upset. Therefore, you should only look for presents when you know you won’t get caught.
- For example, a good time to snoop is when you have a few hours alone at home, or if your loved one is very busy with something in another part of the house.
- Make sure you have a place to hide if they do come back into the room you are searching, or at least a good excuse to give them about why you are in there in the first place.
- If you are searching for your gift at someone else's house, then you should only do so if you're certain that the person won't mind you being there. Under no circumstances should you break into someone's house to look for gifts.
2
Prepare to search the home thoroughly. Some people are very clever when it comes to hiding things, and may have arranged clothes, bags, or blankets over your gifts. They may know exactly how they are arranged, and it will be obvious if they come back and they are arranged differently. Snap a quick photo of the area before you begin moving stuff around.
- When you’re finished searching, use the picture to place everything back exactly as it was.
- Don’t forget to delete the photo! If the person giving you the gift sees the picture, they might figure out what you were doing.
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3
Begin by looking in the most obvious places for your gift. If you are observant, you may already know where the gifter tends to hide stuff they don’t want you to find. For example, under the bed in their bedroom, or in the closet.
- Hall closets and high shelves are also good places.
- Don’t forget to search in the basement and/or attic.
- Try to think of places where you don’t normally go. If you live with the person giving you the gift, and they know that you hardly ever go in the laundry room, they might have hidden something there.
4
Search the less obvious places for your gift. The gifter may have thought very carefully about how to hide your gifts, so they may be in places you would never think of hiding anything.
- Look in your sibling’s room, if you live with them, as well as your own. If the gifter is really clever, they might even hide your gift in your own room. For example, they might have hidden them on a high shelf that you can’t easily see or reach.
- If you have an outdoor shed or garage, you should also look there. This probably seems like a good hiding spot if you don’t spend much time doing outside chores.
- Don’t forget to search in the trunk of the car! People often leave gifts there for a little while before sneaking them into the house.
5
Search in shopping bags and suitcases. Your presents are unlikely to be wrapped if Christmas is still a few weeks away. Therefore, you should look inside any shopping bags you find during your search.
- If you come across a suitcase, look in there too! They may have thought this to be a clever hiding place.
6
Search their office for your gift. If the person giving you the gift has their own office at work, or if they own their own business, they might hide your gifts at work.
- Do not enter their office without permission! Especially if it is not their own business, you may get caught, and you may get yourself and the gifter into very big trouble.
- If you get the chance to go to their office with them, casually walk around their office to see if you notice anything. You probably won’t be able to search too thoroughly, and it probably isn’t a good idea to try as you may unintentionally get into someone else’s property.
7
Check receipts for things you have asked for. If you can’t find the gifts, you may be able to find receipts. Search in kitchen drawers, where the mail is usually kept, as well as in wallets and purses.
- If you look in their wallet, be sure to put everything back just as it was. Make sure none of the money falls out, as they are likely to notice missing cash.
8
Look for your Christmas list for items that have been crossed off. If you wrote a list of wishes for Christmas and gave it to them, try to find that. It might be in their purse or wallet, in their bedside table, or in a desk near the computer.
- If you are able to find the list, look to see if any of the items have been crossed off. This may suggest that they have already gotten it for you.
- However, be aware that a crossed off item could possibly also mean that there was no way they could get you that. If the item was a far-fetched one, or was very, very expensive, then keep in mind that this may be the case.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Checking Browser History

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1
Open all of the browsers on your family computer. If the gifter has their own computer that they use, then go to that computer. Make sure you do this when they aren’t home, or are busy with other things so they won’t notice what you are doing.
- Remember to open all the browsers installed on the computer, unless you already know what browser they use. For example, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.
2
Open settings. Although the instructions will vary based on which browser you are in, you will probably need to go to the “settings” or “preferences” tab in the browser.
- In Google Chrome, for example, if you go to settings, a new browsing tab will open. On this browser page, you will find the “history” section.
Again, this will vary depending upon your specific browser, but you will usually see a setting called history.^{[1]
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Trustworthy Source

Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

Go to source} If you click on this, it will show you a list of the websites that have been visited using that browser.
4
Check the history carefully for websites that might sell your gift. Once you have found the history page, look through all the websites listed carefully. If you made a list of things you want, you should look for websites that might sell what you asked for.
- Remember though, that just because you don’t see anything that looks like it could be your gift doesn’t mean they didn’t get you something online. They may have just deleted the browser history. It is possible to delete a specific website without clearing everything.^{[2]
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- Understand that it is unlikely that you will be able to figure out whether they actually bought the gift for you or not using this method. However, it may be able to clue you in on what they have been considering getting you.
5
Check their email for purchase confirmations. If you have access to their email, you can look through to see if they received any emails that confirm their purchase. If you find any, then you will know exactly what you’re getting.
- However, be careful doing this! This is a big violation of privacy, and they may feel very hurt if they find out what you've been doing.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Guessing Wrapped Gifts

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1
Examine the box. When doing this, keep in mind the things you asked for. For example, if you asked for a CD, and you find a gift that is thin, relatively small, and square, it is likely the CD you asked for.
- If you find a relatively light, rectangular box that gives a bit when you press on it, it is almost definitely clothing of some sort.
- If the box is tall and a bit rectangular, try feeling along the long edge of the box. If you can feel a lip where a flap is, it could be a new pair of shoes.
2
Shake the box. What do you hear? Is there a rattling noise of any sort? Do things shift around in the box? Although this will not give the most obvious clues, it can help if the shape of the box didn't give you any answers.
- This will be especially helpful if you have all of the things you asked for in mind. For example, if you asked for a music box, and you hear a chiming sound when you shake it, then it is pretty likely that is what's in the box.
3
Beware of very large boxes, as they may be a trick.^{[3]
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Research source} If the gift giver likes to play tricks, then they may have also put your gift inside a box that is way too big for it.
- If you find a very large box, but did not ask for anything very large, and if the box is also light considering the size, then you probably have a smaller gift inside a larger box.
- Keep in mind that this could mean that the gifter knows you are likely to snoop!
4
Feel around in gift bags for clues. If you find your gift already placed in a gift bag with tissue paper, you can also slide your hand down the side, between the side of the bag and the tissue paper.
- Be careful doing this! You don’t want to disturb the tissue paper too much or it will be obvious that you peeked. Simply slide your open hand down the side, and try to gently feel around in the bag.
- You can also carefully remove the tissue paper. Try to grab all of the tissue without crushing it. Lift it out of the bag and peek inside, Your gift may be wrapped in more tissue, or it may simply be in the bottom of the bag. Either way, you should be able to see what it is.
5
Open the gift carefully. You should only do this if you have enough time, all of the right supplies, and the skill to re-wrap the gift exactly as it was done the first time. If you want to do this, make sure you have all of the supplies out (e.g. wrapping paper, tape, scissors, etc), and a way to dispose of all the evidence, for example, in a dumpster down the street. Unwrapping the present will only work with gifts that come in regularly shaped boxes, such as squares or rectangles. If they have wrapped a gift with a strange shape, it will be hard to get the paper back in place exactly as it was.
- Snap a photo of the gift. You should make sure you take a photo so you can compare your rewrapped gift with how it was originally. Make sure to take a close up of the wrapping on the edges, too!
- Begin by trying to cut the tape. Carefully use a pair of open scissors, or a knife, and slide the blade along the seam of the paper, where the tape is. Repeat this for all tape on the gift.
- Very carefully open the paper. You should try to unwrap the present in the reverse order that it was wrapped in order to avoid tearing or creasing the paper. This usually means you will have to unfold the paper on each end of the box first. If there are any bows on the gift, leave them alone as much as possible.
- Examine the box. Hopefully, the box will give you an indication of what is inside. If so, you now know what you are getting. If not, you will need to see if the box can easily be opened. If it is sealed with packing tape, do not try to open it. In this case, it is very unlikely that you will be able to seal the box so that it looks the same.
6
Rewrap the gift to look as though it hasn't been opened. If you were able to unwrap the gift without tearing, creasing, or otherwise messing up the paper, then you should just wrap up the gift again. Use the creases in the paper to guide you. If you damaged the paper, then you will need to use your gift wrapping supplies to wrap your gift again. Make sure that the gift wrap is the same one, and that you use the photos you took to wrap it up to look the same as it did before.^{[4]
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- If you are simply folding the paper back onto the box, and not rewrapping with new paper, you will need to begin by folding the paper over the gift lengthwise. After you do this, tear off a piece of tape that is exactly the same length as the old piece of tape.
- Carefully line up the tape with the old piece. If you are able to lay the new piece directly on top of the old piece, it won’t be so obvious that it was re-taped.
- Fold the paper at each end of the box. Do this carefully, as each person tends to do this a bit differently. You should try to fold the paper as neatly and carefully as it was done the first time. Once you have folded it as best you can, you will need to, again, lay a new piece of tape over the old ones so that they line up exactly.
If you opened multiple gifts, make sure you put them back exactly how they were. Hopefully you took photos, as these will be very helpful in making sure they are in the same position, and same place as they were before.

Community Q&A

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Question

How will I know if my parents are getting me a dog?

Community Answer

Look around the house for any dog owner's essentials your parents have tried to hide from you, such as dog food, a dog bed, dog toys and a leash. Also, check relatives' houses; they might be looking after the dog for you until Christmas morning!

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Mum got me a huge square box, but I didn't ask for anything like that. She's not the type to put small gifts in bigger boxes.

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The gift might be a surprise. Or maybe she bought you lots of small things which are difficult to wrap, so she put them in a big box and wrapped that for convenience.

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What do I do if I can't unwrap my gift? How do I know what it is?

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Check their email accounts, as described in the article. Look for purchase confirmations from stores where they might have been shopping for you.

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Tips

If you have a sibling who also wants to know what they got, talk with them. They might know what your parents got you, and you can swap information. You can also use them as a look out when you are searching for your gifts!

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If you know that you got a certain gift because you managed to get it out of your 8 year old brother, then practice your "poker face" and act surprised because you don't want to get caught red handed.

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If the sources for finding your gift are completely unreachable, just wait until Christmas. And, if you get caught, just be honest. If you lie, you will probably get into more trouble.

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The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Try to look through the seams in between the pieces of tape. If you can’t see anything, try to stick a few fingers through the seams and feel around. Also remember to think about what you asked for.
Feel your presents. If there’s a small, square present, feel it. If you feel a lid, it might be jewelry. If it’s taller and rectangular and you feel a lid, it might be a shoebox.
If there is a tear in a wrapping, carefully open the tear and look at the inside and then close it up.

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Warnings

Don't shake a box if you've asked for something fragile.

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Don’t get caught. If you do get caught, the gift giver will probably be sad, mad, and/or disappointed. It might put a real damper on your Christmas celebration.

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Consider resisting your temptation to snoop. Although it is extremely tempting to try to figure out what you’re getting, think about how nice the surprise will be when you do get to open it. Your loved ones give you gifts because they enjoy seeing your excitement. If you aren’t excited because you already know what it is, they might worry that you don’t like it.

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