How to Search on Facebook for a Specific Person

The search box at the top of Facebook's site allows you to search for a specific person by name. You can use it to find people you're already friends with and you just want to go to their timelines, or to find people you aren’t friends with yet.

But basic search can be a little confusing because Facebook auto-completes the names that you type and assumes you’re trying to get to your friends’ timelines. If you’re the type of person who is used to pressing the Enter key to begin a search, this can send you to friends’ timelines when you meant to search for someone else named James, for example.

Read on to learn better strategies for finding people on Facebook.

You can also use the search box at the top of the site to find posts, pages, groups, events, and even things your friends have liked.

Two basic ways to use Search in Facebook

You’ll wind up using search two basic ways. The first way is if the name of the person you’re looking for (or at least someone with the same name) appears in the auto-complete menu. You can accomplish that sort of search following these steps:

1. Begin typing the name you're looking for in the search box.

   Pay attention to the people who appear in the autocomplete menu. Facebook displays first your friends and then friends of friends. There’s a good chance that you may find the person you’re looking for in this menu.

2. If you see the name in the autocomplete menu, use your mouse or arrow keys to highlight the person you're looking for.

3. Click the name or press Enter.

   This brings you to the person's timeline, where you can verify that you know the person and add them as a friend.

Use "See More" for a further search

1. Type the person's full name in the search box.

2. Click See More at the bottom of the search menu.

   The search menu expands to reveal new options for search. So, if you type Jane Smith and then click See More, you can now either search People Named Jane Smith, Pages Named Jane Smith, or Places Named Jane Smith.

3. Click the People Named option.

   A blue friend icon is next to this option. A search results page appears with larger previews of people’s profile pictures and timeline info. The right side of the page also has options for narrowing your search using fields such as Gender, Employer, Current City, and so on.

4. Use the fields on the right side of the page to zero in on your actual friend.

   This might be information like where your friend works or where they're from.

5. When you find the person you’re looking for, add them as a friend.