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Facebook can be a great tool for tracking people down. There is no guarantee that your friends from high school are on Facebook – but it's a good place to start your search. Begin by searching for someone's name, and then narrow your search by filtering for location and education.
Steps
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Pick a long-lost friend. First, run a basic Facebook search for the name of the friend that you wish to find. Type the name in the "Search Facebook" search bar at the top of the page. Make sure that you type in both their first and last name.
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Search through the list of people who come up. Unless your high school friend has a very unique name, it's likely that they won't be the only person with their name on Facebook. Take some time to search through all of the people. Click on the profile picture "thumbnail" photos to figure out which profile belongs to your friend. They will likely have a photo of themselves on their profile.
- If you can't find a profile picture that looks like your old friend, chances are you either don't recognize them or they have a different sort of profile picture on Facebook. Some people choose to make their profile picture a photo of animals, cars, cartoon characters, and other things they like.
- If you can't tell, try clicking on some of the people's Facebook profiles. While much of the information on their profile will probably be hidden, since you haven't "friended" them – you may be able to uncover enough information to recognize the person you're looking for.
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Filter your search terms. If you can't find the person right away, you'll need to get creative. Think about what you know about this person. Search their name again – but this time include their middle name, or enter a nickname that they went by. Some people go by a different name entirely on Facebook. If they have ever voiced wishes about having another name, they may have decided to go by that name on Facebook. If your search results look promising, scroll through the resulting profiles and try to find your friend.
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Find your high school friend using your other Facebook friends. Perhaps one of your other Facebook friends is already friends with this person. Click on one of your Facebook friends' profiles. Then, if you scroll down a bit and look at the second box on the left of their profile, you'll find their list of friends. Click on that to access their full list of friends, and scroll through the list. Look for someone who might be the friend you want to find.
- If you find someone and think it may be them, but you aren't sure, consider sending them a friend request anyways. Otherwise, send your Facebook friend a quick message asking if the person on their "Friends" list is the person you are looking for.
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Click on "Find Friends". This service may make your search less tedious if you have friends in common with the high school friend, or if you are trying to find multiple friends. This button is at the top of Facebook, next to the "Friend Requests" symbol and the button that says "Home". Pressing on this will show you a list of people you may know because both of you have mutual friends. Scroll through this list for a while to see if the person you're looking for pops up.
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Message one of your Facebook friends and ask them about the person you're looking for. They may immediately know who you're talking about and be able to send you the link to the person's profile so you can friend them. To save you time, and to prevent seeming desperate, only ask a few Facebook friends who you think may know this person. Don't go through your entire Facebook friend list and ask them about the person you're looking for.
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Add your old friend as a Facebook "friend". Once you find the person, click "Add Friend" to send them a friend request! First, click on their name, which will send you to their Facebook profile. At the bottom right of their cover photo, you should see three buttons: one that says "Add Friend", one that says "Message" and one that is simply three dots. Click on the one that says "Add Friend", and wait for them to accept your friend request. Facebook will send you a notification when this happens.
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Keep trying. If you've been waiting for a few weeks, and they don't accept the request, don't take it too harshly! If you really want to be their Facebook friend, perhaps go to their profile again and press on the "Message" button. They might not recognize you, so simply reminding them that you two used to be friends in high school might be a good idea. Be warned that some people choose to only let certain people (such as Facebook friends) message them, so this might not work for everyone.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionIs there a way to search by high school attended?Community AnswerYes. Type in the high school name in the search box. If the school has a Facebook page, check friends and followers.
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Tips
- If your friend isn't on Facebook, look on other social or school networks. Try running a simple Google search. Try using an online people-finding service .Thanks
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Things You'll Need
- Facebook Account
- Name of your High School
- Name of your Friend
About This Article
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 164,492 times.
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