Look at a Facebook Profile Without Signing Up

This article teaches you how to view a limited amount of a Facebook user's profile without having to sign up. Although you'll be able to determine whether or not your selected user has an active Facebook account, you cannot view a user's full profile (e.g., their basic information, their photos, or their posting history) without signing up for a Facebook account.

10 Second Summary

1. Go to https://www.facebook.com/ on a computer.
2. Scroll down and click People.
3. Click the search bar in the right side of the page.
4. Type in a person's name.
5. Click Search to view matching profiles.

Steps

Using the People Search Page

  1. Go to Facebook's home page on a computer. It's located at https://www.facebook.com/. You cannot access the People search bar on a mobile device.
  2. Scroll down and click the People link. This option is in the group of blue links near the bottom of the sign-up page.
  3. Click the search bar. It's a white bar on the far-right side of the page with "Search for people" written in it.
  4. Type in a user's first and last name. Make sure they're spelled correctly. If you've tried this method before, you can also try variations of their name (e.g., "Jack" for someone usually named "John", "Vicki" for "Victoria", etc.).
    • You may first need to verify that you aren't a spam bot by typing in a code as it is displayed on-screen.
  5. Click Search. It's right of the search bar. This will search Facebook for all profiles matching your entered name.
  6. Review the search results. If you don't see the profile of the person for whom you're searching here, you might want to try a Google search just to be sure.
    • If you do see the profile here, you won't be able to click on it; however, you'll at least know that the person in question has a Facebook account.

Searching in a Browser

  1. Click your browser's URL bar. It's the white bar that likely has text in it at the top of the browser page. Sometimes Facebook users who won't appear in an internal search will appear in a Google search.
  2. Type site:facebook.com "First Last" into the URL bar. Replace the word "First" with your user's first name and "Last" with their last name.[1]
    • For example, you might type site:facebook.com "Old MacDonald".
  3. Press ⏎ Return (Mac) or ↵ Enter (PC). This will search for your selected user in the context of Facebook pages.
  4. Click a search result. Doing so will open the user's profile in limited view; in most cases, you'll be able to see their profile image and name.
    • You can also use an image search to confirm that the profile for which you're searching matches a result.
  5. Review your selected search item. If your selected user has a profile that appears in search engines, you'll see their profile picture, their name, and any other information that they have chosen to make public.

Tips

  • You can always ask a mutual friend to show you your selected user's profile page.
  • In some cases, creating a fake Facebook profile tied to a spam email account is the best way to view a user's profile. You can delete the Facebook profile in question as soon as you're done.

Warnings

  • Most users restrict their information to be accessible only by their Facebook friends. In cases such as these, you may not even be able to see their profile picture.
  • If a Facebook user has requested that their account be hidden from search engines, searching for their account on Google or in the People finder won't help you.

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-see-a-facebook-profile-without-an-account
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