How To Search Facebook Without an Account or Logging In

Whether you refuse to create a Facebook account or have an account that you can’t access at the moment, it might be difficult to find information hosted on this social media platform.

This article covers the ways you can use Facebook’s built-in search options without signing in. Is there a way to find a Facebook profile without an account? What if you want to search for events or locations? Read on to find out.

Facebook Directory

The best place to start is https://www.facebook.com/directory/people.

If you’re not signed in, you’ll have to prove that you’re not a robot before you can continue. After this quick security check, you can browse Facebook under three different categories.

To encourage people to sign in, Facebook made this process a little inconvenient. Every time you click on a category or a search result, you’ll have to wait for the security check. This also happens whenever you make use of the search bar.

Now let’s look at the three categories you can browse:

People

Here, you can see a list of Facebook users sorted alphabetically.

Use the search bar on the right to enter the name of the person you’re looking for. The search results will depend on individual users’ privacy settings.

On Facebook, users can’t opt out of searches entirely. However, they can remove their name from the Directory. They can also restrict how much of their information you can access.

Pages

This category covers verified celeb profiles, as well as restaurants and other businesses. If you’re looking for a club or an NGO, this is a good place to start. You can also go through the brands that have profiles on Facebook.

Places Tab

This is where you can hunt for events and hotels, as well as businesses. When you’re logged in, Places shows you which of your friends are nearby. But even without an account, searching this tab could lead you to the information you need.

What About People Search?

Facebook Directory acts like a phone book of sorts, and here is Facebook’s official search page where you can search for the person you’re looking for.

With People Search, you can use identifying details to track a person down. For example, you can narrow down your search using their location, workplace, or school. However, you have to log in to use People Search. If this is the browsing method you want to go with, you can make a fake Facebook account.

You Can Always Try Google

If Facebook’s Directory didn’t yield results, why not just Google it?

Here is what you need to do:

1. Open Google
   
2. Enter site:facebook.com into the Search Bar
3. Add the Name of the Person, Group, or Event You Are Looking for
   

You can use the same steps in Bing, DuckDuckGo, and other search engines.

Social Search Engines

Here’s another option that could help.

Social search engines aggregate data from social media. You can use them to do general research on Facebook’s user base. For example, this is the best way to discover what Facebook users think about a particular subject.

You can use social search engines to browse Facebook comments by topic. When you have a keyword in mind, you can find out which demographics discuss it the most on Facebook. You’ll also know whether the discussions are positive or negative. Researching market trends on social media would be impossible without tools like this.

They can also help you find specific people and events. So which social search engines are a good pick for you?

Talkwalker Social Search

Talkwalker is a thorough and versatile social search engine. The free version lets you browse mentions during the last seven days. It can be a huge help if you are looking for information about a concert, a conference, or any other event. You can also upgrade to the paid version, which lets you see data from over a year.

Social Searcher

Here’s another great free option. You can use Social Searcher to find people or keywords on Facebook. The site also lets you filter and sort search results.

A Final Word

In the second quarter of 2018, Facebook reached around 2.23 billion users. Although the Cambridge Analytica scandal inspired some users to delete their accounts, Facebook’s user base is still growing. Even if you prefer to stay away from Facebook, you can’t deny its reach.

Sometimes you have to search this site for information, and you can’t get anywhere else. For example, you may need a social search engine to track down old friends. You can also search Facebook when you’re researching organizations, brands, and small businesses. In fact, some small businesses base their entire online presence on this website.