Facebook allows users to tag each other in photos. When you’re tagged in a photo, it appears on your profile and in your timeline. However, Facebook’s default privacy settings limit who can see photos you’re tagged in to your friends or friends of friends. If someone outside your friend network has tagged you, you have the option to remove the tag. But what if you want to see photos you’ve been tagged in by people who aren’t your Facebook friends? Or what if you want to view all the photos another user has been tagged in? Here’s what you need to know about viewing tagged photos on Facebook when you’re not friends with the person who posted them.
Searching for Photos of a Non-Friend
If you want to find photos of someone who is not your Facebook friend, the simplest way is to do a search. Go to Facebook’s search bar at the top of the screen and type in the person’s name. This will bring up matches for their profile, but it may also show some public photos they are tagged in.
However, this only reveals a limited selection. To see more, click on the “Photos” filter underneath their name in the search results. This will display all public photos of that person that Facebook’s search tool can find. You may see photos posted on their own profile, as well as ones friends have tagged them in with open privacy settings.
Browsing a Non-Friend’s Profile
You can find additional tagged photos of someone by browsing their public profile. To do this:
- Go to their profile page.
- Click on the “Photos” tab under their cover photo.
- Select “Photos of [Person’s Name]” in the left sidebar.
This will show you any public photos and albums they are tagged in, even if the photo was posted by someone else.
Keep in mind the photos displayed here are public or visible to your network. Private photos shared with friends only will not be shown.
Using Mutual Friends to Access Photos
Having mutual friends with the person can grant you access to more tagged photos. If the person has a friend that is also your friend, any photos they are both tagged in may be visible to you.
To find these photos:
- Go to your friend’s profile.
- Click on their photos section.
- Look for photos they are tagged in with the non-friend.
This takes more effort, but lets you uncover photos the non-friend may have set to be visible to friends only. So if you and the subject have 5 mutual friends, check all their profiles for shared photo tags.
Adjusting Your Privacy Settings
As you browse for tagged photos of others, keep in mind that the same rules apply to your profile. Anyone can see photos you’re tagged in if:
- You’ve set the audience to Public.
- The audience is set to Friends of Friends or wider.
To adjust who can see tags of you by others:
- Go to your profile.
- Click on the three dots in the top right corner.
- Select Settings & Privacy > Settings.
- Click on the Privacy tab.
- Under the How people can find and contact you section, click Edit next to Who can see posts you’ve been tagged in.
- Choose Friends, Only Me, or a Custom setting.
Making your tags more private limits who can browse and access photos you appear in on Facebook.
Removing Tags of You Entirely
If you don’t want a specific photo of you visible to anyone, you can remove the tag completely:
- Go to the photo and click on your name tag.
- Select Remove Tag from the dropdown menu.
This eliminates your association with the photo altogether. Keep in mind the photo itself may still be visible to the person who posted it and their audience.
How to See Older Tagged Photos on Facebook
Over time as you accumulate more tagged photos, the most recent ones will be displayed first on your profile. To see older tags:
- Go to your profile and click on Photos.
- In the left sidebar, select Photos of You.
- In the top right, click on Photos
- A menu will appear allowing you to Sort photos by date posted.
- Choose an older date range to see tags from previous years.
You can browse back through your photo tags by year or month this way.
Downloading Your Tagged Photos
If you want to save copies of photos you’re tagged in, Facebook allows you to download them:
- Go to your profile and click on Photos.
- Click on the three dots in the top right corner.
- Select Download your information from the dropdown menu.
- Deselect all categories and check only Photos and Videos.
- Choose JSON as the file format.
- Click on the blue Request a download button.
It may take Facebook up to 24 hours to compile your tagged photo archive. You’ll get a notification when it’s ready to download. The file contains metadata and URLs pointing to each photo you’re tagged in. You can write a script to automatically download all these photos to your computer.
Using Third-Party Apps to Save Tagged Photos
Manually browsing and downloading your tagged photos takes effort. An easier option is to use a third-party Facebook app that will automatically save your tags for you. Some options include:
- Social Book Post Manager – Browser extension that lets you export all your Facebook photos, including tags.
- Replay Photos for Facebook – App that backs up your tagged photos to Google Photos.
- Save All Facebook Photos – Program that downloads your entire Facebook photo library.
These tools automate grabbing all your photo tags in one go. Just be careful granting third-party apps access to your Facebook account and data.
Searching for Hidden Tagged Photos
In some cases, you may be tagged in a photo on Facebook that is completely hidden from your profile. This can happen if:
- The photo is set to an extremely limited audience like Only Me.
- Your tag was removed after the photo was posted.
- The photo was uploaded then deleted, but the tag still exists behind the scenes.
These “ghost” tags are still associated with your account. The only way to uncover them is via Facebook’s graph search tool. To try finding these hidden gems:
- Go to Facebook’s search bar and type @me.
- Scan the results for photos, albums, or posts you’re not already tagged in.
- To dig deeper, try searches like @me photos posted by [friend’s name] or @me photos from 2020.
Graph search can reveal photos of you that don’t show up anywhere else on your profile.
Pro Tips for Browsing Tagged Photos
Here are some additional pointers for perusing tagged photos:
- Check tags by year – The easiest way to surface old tags is browsing by year or month posted.
- Look for hidden gems – Use graph search to uncover tags that may be invisible on your profile.
- Partner up to share tags – Have a mutual friend check their account for photos of you they’re also tagged in.
- Adjust tag privacy – Limit old tags visible to Friends Only if you want to tidy up your profile.
- Download your archive – For a foolproof copy, download your full tagged photo library.
Stay persistent, and you can discover just about any photo on Facebook you’re tagged in – even ones you didn’t know existed.
Limits of Viewing Non-Friend Tags
Despite your best efforts, there are some barriers to seeing tagged photos of people outside your friend network:
- Tags shared with Friends only will not appear.
- Some users restrict tags of them by others.
- Deleted or expired tags may not show up in searches.
- Heavy Facebook users have thousands of buried tags.
If someone’s profile and tags are generally private, you will have limited visibility. Also beware that constantly browsing outside your network may seem creepy or harassment-like behavior if noticed.
Rules and Regulations on Accessing Other’s Data
When attempting to view non-friend’s tagged photos, be aware of Facebook’s rules:
- Don’t use third-party apps or scripts that spam search for hidden tags.
- Don’t hack or brute-force attempt access to private profiles.
- Don’t use tags for stalking, harassment or malicious purposes.
- Respect others’ privacy settings and tagging preferences.
In general, stick to normal browsing functions built into Facebook itself. And if someone contacts you requesting removal of tags or photos, comply promptly. Failing to follow the rules around access and privacy can lead to account restriction or termination.
Etiquette Around Tagging Rights
To maintain positive digital etiquette around photo tags:
- Ask friends before tagging them in embarrassing or unflattering photos.
- Respect when someone asks you to remove a tag of them.
- Be selective in who you tag – don’t just tag everyone in every photo.
- Tag thoughtfully in photos containing alcohol, inappropriate gestures, etc.
Consider how your tags may represent others and if they align with how they want to be portrayed publicly on Facebook.
Conclusion
Facebook’s default privacy keeps your tagged photos limited to friends. But with the right tools and techniques, you can access tags of almost anyone on Facebook – even non-friends. Just stay within the platform’s rules, respect individual preferences, and be careful about third-party apps. With some effort, you can uncover just about any photo you or someone else is tagged in.