Searching for someone on Facebook by their email address used to be possible by entering the email into Facebook’s search bar. However, in recent years Facebook has removed the ability to search for profiles this way due to privacy concerns.
Why Facebook Disabled Search by Email
Allowing people to search for profiles by email address made it easy for anyone to look up a person’s Facebook profile as long as they had that person’s email. This raised concerns over privacy and stalking. As a result, Facebook decided to disable search by email in 2018.
Here are some key reasons why searching by email was removed:
- Privacy – Email addresses can contain personal information like someone’s name. Facebook wanted to protect privacy by making it harder to look up profiles.
- Stalking/Harassment – Search by email made it easy to stalk or harass someone by looking up their profile. Disabling it helps prevent abusive behavior.
- Security – Email addresses can sometimes be guessed or compromised. So searching by email was a security risk.
- User Control – Users should be able to control who can find and contact them on Facebook. Search by email took away some of that control.
Overall, the privacy and security risks of allowing search by email outweighed the convenience benefit. So Facebook understandably decided to remove the feature.
Can You Still Search by Email on Facebook?
While you can no longer search for profiles by email on Facebook, there are some limited ways email can still be used to find people:
- Friends/Contacts – If someone is in your contacts or friends list, you may be able to search their name and find their profile.
- Messenger – You can use someone’s email or phone number to search for them as a contact on Messenger.
- Tagging – If someone is tagged in a post by their email, their profile may appear in search results.
However, these methods only work if you already have some connection to the person on Facebook. You cannot enter a random email address and find a profile anymore.
Are There Any Workarounds?
Since the direct search by email feature was removed, people have tried finding workarounds to lookup profiles this way. But Facebook has closed most loopholes that existed before. Here are some workarounds people have tried:
- Email hacking – Trying to “hack” into an email account to get access and search Facebook. This is illegal.
- Phishing – Creating fake login pages to try and get someone’s Facebook login details to access their profile. Also illegal.
- Contact importing – Importing email contacts to try and match profiles. Facebook has restricted this.
- Email uploading – Uploading lists of emails to try and find profiles. Facebook blocks this.
As you can see, any workaround that involves breaching privacy or security is banned by Facebook. There are simply no legitimate ways left to search Facebook by email address anymore.
Why You Should Not Search Facebook by Email
Here are some key reasons why trying to search Facebook by email address is not recommended:
- It’s banned – Facebook clearly prohibits searching profiles by email, so you could get banned.
- It’s unethical – Email search breaches people’s privacy expectations.
- It’s creepy – Using someone’s email to stalk their social media comes across as creepy.
- It could be harassment – Looking up someone’s profile against their wishes is a form of harassment.
- It’s useless – Facebook has cut off all pathways, so you likely won’t succeed.
- It wastes time – Attempting workarounds is a pointless waste of time when email search definitively does not work anymore.
For all these reasons, trying to find ways around Facebook’s policy is foolish – it’s unethical, against the rules, and does not work. Accept that email search is gone, and move on.
What to Do Instead to Find Someone
If you need to look up someone’s Facebook profile, here are some constructive approaches to try instead of email searching:
- Search their name – You may find their profile through a name search.
- Ask around – See if mutual friends can connect you to the person’s profile.
- Use Messenger – Look up their phone number or contacts on Messenger.
- Send a friend request – Try sending them a request directly if you know their profile name.
- Connect outside Facebook – Get in touch outside of Facebook and ask to connect there.
The key is to use ethical methods focused on mutual connections and consent, not trying to “hack” around someone’s privacy. Be respectful, and you’re more likely to find the person.
Facebook’s Stance on Email Searching
Facebook has made their policy very clear – searching profiles by email address is prohibited on their platform. Here are some key points on Facebook’s stance:
- Removed feature – Email search was intentionally removed citing privacy reasons.
- Against policy – Attempting to search by email violates Facebook’s rules.
- Bans workarounds – Any technical workarounds are banned when discovered.
- Zero tolerance – Facebook has zero tolerance for email searching or hacking attempts.
- Increased security – Security measures are put in place to prevent email misuse.
- Encourages reporting – Facebook asks users to report any email searching they encounter.
Facebook has essentially made email searching a complete non-starter. Any attempts will hit roadblocks and could risk your account. Respect their policy, and don’t try to find loopholes.
The Bottom Line
In summary, here are the key points to remember:
- Searching Facebook by email was removed several years ago.
- There are currently no effective workarounds that work.
- Attempting to search by email is unethical, pointless and risky.
- Instead use name search or mutual connections to find people.
- Respect Facebook’s clear policy prohibiting email lookups.
Facebook has set their stance firmly against email searching to protect user privacy. Accept that the capability is gone, move on, and find alternative ethical ways to connect with people that respect their consent and boundaries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it possible to find someone’s Facebook by email?
No, Facebook intentionally removed the ability to search for profiles by email address several years ago due to privacy concerns. There is currently no way to lookup someone’s Facebook profile using just an email address.
Can I upload a list of emails to search for profiles?
No, Facebook blocks any attempt to upload lists of emails to try and match to profiles. This kind of batch searching by email goes against their privacy policy.
What happens if Facebook catches me searching by email?
Trying to lookup profiles by email is against Facebook’s rules. If they catch you attempting to search by email, your account may be banned for violating their policies.
Why can I only see limited profiles when searching by email?
When email searching was first removed, for a time it only showed limited profile info. But now it will not show any profiles at all. Facebook completely removed the ability to search by email.
Can someone find my Facebook using my email address?
No, your Facebook profile can no longer be looked up with just an email address. Your privacy is protected from email searching due to Facebook’s policy changes.
Conclusion
Searching by email address was once possible on Facebook but is now definitively prohibited due to serious privacy concerns. No current workarounds exist, and any attempts could risk your account. The best approach is to move on and find alternative ethical ways to connect with people that respect consent. Email searching on Facebook is a thing of the past.