Find a Person with Google: Tips for Searching Online

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A fast and easy guide to finding virtually anyone over the internet

Co-authored by Gerald Posner and Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: December 13, 2024 Fact Checked

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Filtering Search Results

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Using "People Search" Websites

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Using Social Media

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Video

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Q&A

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Warnings

Google has become a go-to modern search tool for information, opportunities, and people. If Google doesn't turn up what you need, try using more specialized "People Search" websites.

How to Google a Person

The best tip for searching for a person on Google is to include their name in quotes so the search picks up the first and last names together. If you know any details about the person, include them in your search so you have more luck finding the person you're looking for.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Filtering Search Results

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Search the person's first name and last name as a single search term within double quotation marks: e.g. "John Smith". If the name is a somewhat common one, many irrelevant results will show up. To filter these results, try including a middle initial or middle name with your original search: "John A. Smith" or "John Andrew Smith".
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Include details. If you're Googling someone, you likely know something about him/her besides the name. Perhaps you know the name of the company the person works for. Perhaps you know the names of family members. Perhaps you know activities or hobbies, schools or churches. Most often, you will know their general geographic location (city/state). Think of where you met the person or how you know the person, and include one or two of these elements in your search.
- For example, you met John Smith on an elevator in ABC Corporate Building. You would Google "John Smith" and "ABC" in the same search bar.
- Or perhaps John Smith's boy Greg plays soccer for nearby Allentown High. Google "Greg Smith" "soccer" or "Greg Smith" "Allentown" to find information about Greg.
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The other way to strike gold is to find the person's online pseudonym and Google that. Pseudonyms might include nicknames, screen names, pen-names, business names, or known aliases. This can often pull up more information than Googling the person's name. Of course, this approach doesn't work if the person has created a separate pseudonym for each site or account. Few people are that privacy-savvy, though.
There are a few people left who just don't put themselves online. You will Google these people largely in vain. You might find their name mentioned briefly in an article written by a colleague, or you might see their name in a long list of other participants in some community event. Don't discount the information gathered this way – it can still be very helpful. However, it may not be as useful as information that the person posts about himself or herself.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using "People Search" Websites

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1
Try using sites beyond Google. Google can be great for bringing up someone's searchable information – but it doesn't always get you what you need. The Internet is full of people-searching websites, some of which can even pull up public records. If you need less-public information, such as phone numbers, addresses, marriage and criminal records, you may need to use a more advanced search tool.
- Beware of sites that ask you to pay. There are free sites and for-profit sites – some of which descend into outright scamming.
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Find a "People Search Engine". Simply entering someone's name into Google will likely give you too many results, so there are a number of sites dedicated to People Search. Some work better than others. You can find a listing of people-searching tools at The Search Engine List.
- Yahoo People Search is another tool to try, although its functionality is very basic.
- If all else fails, try zabasearch. This will turn up every single phone number, address, and person with a similar name going back decades!
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Try using Whitepages.com. This site brings up people with names similar to the one you're looking for, sorted by state. Whitepages.com can be both helpful and confounding, as it often contains duplicate results. This can be frustrating when you're trying to pin down which John Smith lives in Allentown — but it can be helpful if you happen to know that John Smith used to live in Indiana and now lives in Pennsylvania. Then, you can use the duplicate records to your advantage.
- Whitepages.com also often gives names of people closely related to the one being searched. This gives you more keywords to search, and more opportunities to find the information you want.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using Social Media

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1
Consider tracking someone down on social media. Social media sites are a mixed bag. If you can find the person's social media accounts (and they're not protected), you've struck gold. However, many people protect their social media accounts, either through privacy settings or pseudonyms. Finding someone on Facebook is a good place to start.
- If the person was an adolescent in the early 2000s, see if his/her Xanga or Myspace is still online. Several of these sites have few privacy settings and can provide a wealth of information.
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Consider how much energy you want to put into this. Sometimes a manual approach works (e.g. searching Facebook for "John Smith" and scrolling through all 500 results until you find one whose profile picture matches your memory of his face). Often, however, this is more tedious than it's worth.
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Follow social media trails. If you can find someone's Facebook page, you may be able to find a link to their Instagram, X (also known as Twitter), or professional portfolio. If you can find a tagged photo of a person on someone else's social media page, then you may be able to follow this clue to the person's profile. Look for any information that might be useful: a person's hometown, birthday, past employment, associates, etc.

Community Q&A

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Question

How do I find a friend's phone number?

Jackson Quesinberry

Community Answer

Your friend most likely has not given that information out for you to find. Check their social media accounts otherwise it's impossible.

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Question

What if I don't know his name?

Community Answer

Then it is going to be very hard, eh? If you have an image, do a reverse image search. Otherwise, find the guy's name, from someone, anyone.

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How do I use Google Maps for finding the location of someone?

Community Answer

If you know their house address, or their neighborhood at least, you type in the address in the search bar within the application.

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