Getting the email address connected to a Facebook account can be useful for a variety of reasons. You may want to contact someone you met on Facebook directly via email instead of through Messenger. Or you may need to verify an account belongs to someone by matching their Facebook profile to an email address.
While Facebook doesn’t display email addresses publicly, there are a few different methods you can use to try to obtain the email connected to someone’s Facebook account. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most common ways to find the email for a Facebook account.
Check for Visible Email Addresses
Some Facebook users have their email addresses visible on their profiles. Before trying any tricky methods, do a quick check to see if the email is publicly available.
Pull up the profile of the person whose email address you want to find. Click on the “About” section of their profile and scan this page for any email addresses.
You can also click on “Contact and Basic Info” from the menu on their profile. If the user has made their email public, you will see it here.
However, most users choose to hide their email addresses on Facebook. So in most cases, the email will not be visible on the profile.
Use the Facebook Search Bar
Believe it or not, one of the easiest ways to find someone’s email address on Facebook is by using the Facebook search bar.
Go to Facebook.com and click on the search bar at the top. Type in the name of the person plus “@” plus a domain name like @gmail.com or @yahoo.com. Hit enter.
If an account with that email address exists, even if the privacy settings hide the email address elsewhere, it will show up in the search results.
You can repeat this with common email domains until you find a match. Some top domains to try include:
- @gmail.com
- @yahoo.com
- @hotmail.com
- @aol.com
- @outlook.com
- @live.com
- @icloud.com
- @msn.com
If an email with the name and one of these domains appears in search, you’ve likely found the right email address connected to the Facebook account.
Use the Facebook Lookup Tool
Facebook actually has a tool specifically designed to look up profiles using an email address.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/lookup and enter the person’s full name and email address.
If an account matching that name and email exists, it will show you the profile. This lookup tool works even for accounts with private email addresses.
So if you already have the full name and a guess at the email address, this is the fastest way to confirm the email belongs to the Facebook profile.
Use the Profile Picture Lookup
Here is a clever trick that works surprisingly well. You can use Google’s reverse image lookup to match a profile picture to an email address.
To do this:
- Go to the Facebook profile and save the profile picture to your computer.
- Go to https://images.google.com/ and click on the camera icon to do a reverse image search.
- Upload the profile picture you saved previously.
- Check the search results – often you will find social media accounts and websites where that person uses the same profile picture.
- Look for any instances where the email address is visible on these sites.
Often people reuse the same profile picture on multiple sites, including sites where their email is visible. So this can uncover the email address they’re also using with Facebook.
Use Facebook Search History
If you have recently looked up the person’s profile before, you may be able to see their email address in your Facebook search history.
Go to the search bar and click on “Recent”. You will see a list of your recent searches. Click “See More”.
This will show you a longer list of recent searches, including some that didn’t show up under the initial recent list.
Any profiles where you’ve visited the email address may have the email visible here, even if it’s now hidden on their profile.
Ask a Mutual Friend
If you have friends in common, reach out to them to see if they have the email address and are willing to share it with you.
Mutual friends who have likely communicated outside of Facebook before may have the person’s email address from exchanging contact info.
Just politely ask if they happen to have it and would be willing to pass it along to you. Make it clear you only plan to use it for the specific purpose you mentioned.
Search Web Pages for Email Addresses
Many people post the same email address in various places around the web, like on forums, websites, or social media bios.
You can search the web for pages and accounts associated with the person’s name where the email might be visible. Use Google search operators like “email” or “e-mail” to specifically search for email addresses.
Once you find a possible email address you can confirm it by using the Facebook lookup tool.
Use the Facebook Links Directory
Buried in Facebook’s help pages is something called the Links Directory – a kind of makeshift white pages for Facebook users.
Go to www.facebook.com/directory/people/ and enter the name. If they have a public profile, it will show up along with any info they have made public.
You may get lucky and find some users who have made their email address visible through this directory.
Use a Email Lookup Tool
There are various websites and tools that promise to look up the email address linked to a Facebook profile. These work by scouring public data sources, but effectiveness can vary.
Some options to consider if you’d like to try one of these email lookup tools:
– Voila Norbert
– Hunter
– TruthFinder
However, free trials of these tools often have limited lookups, so you may need to pay for a membership to fully use them. And results will depend on the amount of information the person has made public.
Ask the Person Directly
One of the simplest options is to just ask the person directly for their email address. Send them a message through Facebook Messenger explaining why you would like to have their email.
If they are comfortable sharing it with you after understanding your reasons for asking, this is the easiest way to get the email address.
Just keep in mind that some people prefer to keep their email more private. Make sure to only ask in a polite manner.
Use a Fake Facebook Account
If you’ve exhausted all other options, as a last resort you can try creating a fake Facebook account to friend request the person and gain access to their email address.
However, this is risky: Facebook forbids creating misleading accounts and will delete accounts reported as fake. Going this route could get your fake account banned very quickly.
We only recommend attempting it if you have a very compelling reason and have tried everything else first. And be prepared for the high likelihood Facebook disables your account before you ever gain access to the email address.
Use at your own risk!
Conclusion
While getting someone’s email address through their Facebook profile can take some detective work, there are a variety of methods you can try. Your best options are utilizing Facebook’s own lookup tools, checking for emails associated with the person’s name online, or asking mutual connections.
With persistence and some clever searching, there’s a good chance one of these tactics will eventually uncover the email address tied to a Facebook profile. Just be sure to use any email addresses ethically once you obtain them. And be aware that going to extreme lengths to get private information could be considered harassment.
| Method | Difficulty | Risk Level |
|---|---|---|
| Check Visible Email on Profile | Easy | Zero |
| Facebook Search Bar | Easy | Zero |
| Facebook Lookup Tool | Easy | Zero |
| Profile Picture Lookup | Medium | Zero |
| Search History Lookup | Easy | Zero |
| Ask Mutual Friend | Medium | Low |
| Search Web Pages | Hard | Low |
| Facebook Links Directory | Hard | Zero |
| Email Lookup Tool | Easy | Medium |
| Ask Directly | Easy | Low |
| Fake Account | Hard | High |
The legality of obtaining someone’s email address
It’s important to keep the legality and ethics of obtaining someone’s personal information in mind as you search for emails connected to Facebook accounts. Here are a few key things to ensure you stay on the right side of the law:
- Only use public information sources. Do not try to hack or steal private data.
- If someone denies a request for their email, respect their privacy and do not pursue further.
- Be transparent about why you want the email address.
- Consider if you have implied consent – i.e. the person has given you their business card in the past.
- Never create misleading social media accounts or impersonate someone.
- Remember email harassment laws if contacting someone repeatedly.
Obtaining an email can cross legal lines if you use illegal methods to get it or misuse it for harassment, spam, or identity theft. Be ethical in your pursuit and respect the person’s privacy.
When is it appropriate vs inappropriate to look up a Facebook email address?
There are appropriate and ethical reasons to want to know the email behind a Facebook profile. For example:
- Getting in touch with a business contact or old friend
- Verifying the identity of someone you are interacting with
- Confirming ownership of an account
However, looking up a Facebook user’s email can also be inappropriate and problematic in situations like:
- Trying to make contact with someone who has not given you permission
- Stalking or harassment
- Stealing the identity of the person
- Signing them up for spam or scam offers
In general, only look up an email address if you have a legitimate reason and the person is likely to be comfortable with you contacting them directly. Obtaining private info about someone without consent is unethical.
How to protect your own Facebook email address
To prevent your personal Facebook email from being found, here are a few tips:
- Turn off public visibility of your email in the Contact and Basic Info section of your profile.
- Avoid listing your email on public websites and forums.
- Use a unique email address just for Facebook that doesn’t reveal your real name.
- Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know.
- Be cautious when asked for your email from someone you met on Facebook.
Keeping your primary email address private prevents people from obtaining it without your consent. Never share personal email addresses publicly online.