Since most people nowadays use social networks for both entertainment and business purposes, there is rarely a person or business that does not have a web presence on some of the major social medial platforms like Facebook or Instagram. In this handy guide, you will discover how to easily find someone on Instagram using both the platform’s search and other social networks. Here are the options at your disposal.

Search Instagram By A Person’s Real Name or Username

To find someone on Instagram by their name, go to the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of your home page. Once you click on it, a new page will appear with a search bar at the top of the screen. When you type the name of the person you are looking for into the search bar, you will immediately see suggested profiles containing the entire name, part of the name or different variations of the name. The search categories that will appear once you start typing the name into the search bar include:

  • Top
  • Accounts
  • Tags
  • Places

Top searches contain all search results related to your search, including tags, places, users, and accounts. You can scroll through suggested results and select a profile you believe is the right match or explore other potential profiles you think may belong to the person you are looking for. Determining whether the profile truly belongs to the person you are looking for depends on whether it is private or open for public viewing. There are profiles whose owners allow access only to people they know and if you want to view their private feed, you have to send a follow request and wait to get approved. 

Search Instagram By Accounts/Tags/Places

If the person you wish to find has a business, a thematic community, a blog or a brand account, your best option is to search by the name of the account, hashtags that may be associated with the profile or known location. The accounts search requires a keyword that is relevant to the account. After you type the keyword, Instagram will show you all the accounts containing that keyword. If you decide to conduct a search using hashtags, make sure you put the # symbol in front of the keyword. Instagram will display posts and tags relevant to the hashtag you have entered. Search by places enables you to see posts that contain your searched location or the name of the place you have searched for, for instance, a university, restaurant or city. What is important to mention is that, according to Instagram’s help section, search results generated from your search are unique for every user and depend on multiple factors including your interests, people you follow, and many others.  

Search Instagram By Phone Number

What most people do not know is that you can use Instagram to find people by using their phone numbers. If you have a missed call from an unknown number, you can use Instagram to discover if the number belongs to a person you know. Here is how. 

  • Go to your profile page by tapping on the “small person” icon in the bottom right corner.
  • Go to the top right corner on the screen and select Discover people from the menu.
  • Select Connect contacts and click Connect.
  • Instagram will ask you to allow the app to access your phone’s contacts, after which it will automatically sync the contacts from your phone with the ones from your account.

Note that this is only possible if a person adds their phone number to their Instagram account. However, if that is not the case, there are other ways to find someone by using their phone number. You can check the number on BeenVerified, a background check company that can provide you with all the information available about someone based just on their phone number, and find more about the person who called you. 

Find People Who Are On Facebook

If someone you are looking for is using Facebook, you can easily find them on Instagram. All you have to do is go to your Instagram profile and enter Settings. Select Discover people and click on the Connect on Facebook option. Your Facebook contacts will automatically synchronize with your Instagram contacts and you will find them added to your Instagram account. Instagram has the option to suggest adding your Facebook friends who have an Instagram profile to your friends’ list, which makes finding people even quicker. 

Bottom Line

Instagram is one of the most popular social networks in the world and there is a strong chance you will be able to find anyone you are looking for by using one or all of the methods mentioned above. In case everything fails and your Instagram search does not yield any results, you can always try your luck with a background check company and see where it takes you.