Use the photo search
A big stroke of luck wanted that, in one way or another, I could get you a photo depicting the person you are looking for: perhaps it will seem strange to you, but you can use it to try to trace the name and surname of this person.
How? Nothing could be simpler: connected from your favorite browser to the Google image search site, press the icon in the shape of camera located in the search bar, click on the item Upload an image, by pressing the button Choose file and, using the proposed panels, upload the photo depicting this person. With a bit of luck, you might find his Facebook profile (or, at least, a reference to his name and surname) among the top places on the search page!
If you are from smartphone or tablet, I'm sorry to tell you that you won't find the option to manually upload an image directly to Google. However, this is not a problem, since you can use an "external" website to achieve the same result.
So, to start, connected to this Web page, press the button Upload Picture and, through the proposed screen, proceed to upload the chosen image. After a few seconds (the browser may seem blocked, but it is not), you will be shown a second page confirming the upload of the photo: all you have to do is tap the button Show Matches to get results from Google Images. Again, and with a bit of luck, you might find the profile of who you are looking for in the search results!
Consult the contacts of mutual friends
Did you meet this person at the party organized in honor of your friend? Well, there's a very good chance they're both in contact on Facebook - if so, you might be able to trace his name by browsing the mutual contact's friends list.
Before explaining how to do it, it is good that you are aware of one important thing: not all contacts make the lists of friends public and, likewise, there is the possibility that a contact does not appear at all in the aforementioned lists. I have explained all the details on this topic to you in my guide on how not to appear in Facebook search.
Having made this necessary premise, below I will show you how to consult the contacts of mutual friends both from smartphone / tablet and from PC.
Smartphone / tablet
To get your contact's friends list, the first thing you need to do is start theFacebook app, then tap onsearch area at the top (the one marked with a magnifying glass), type the name and surname mutual friend and tap the item for the exact profile.
At this point, in the next screen, presses on the item Friends located in the central panel (and not on the "Friends" icon you notice at the top left), touch the item All and, with a lot of patience, carefully scrutinize all the contacts on the list, looking for the person you are interested in contacting.
If you want, you can also use the "Meet friends" feature to make everything easier (but also a little longer): press on the voice Do you know friends of [Name] to display a small card containing information about each contact. To move forward in the list and scroll to the next contact, you simply need to make one swipe da right to left.
computer
As I mentioned earlier, you can repeat the same procedure also using Facebook for computer. To begin with, connected to the main Facebook page, log in if necessary, type the name and last name of a mutual friend in the search box placed at the top left, then click on the result for the contact you are looking for.
At this point, fai clic sulla voce Friends placed in the central menu bar (and not on the resident button on the cover image) and, with a lot of patience, scroll down the list in search of the person you are interested in. If the latter lives in the same city as you, you can "target" the search by clicking on the item Current city (assuming that the chosen person has decided to declare the real city in which he resides on Facebook).
Use Facebook search filters
If you haven't had much luck with the previous methods, for find a person on Facebook without knowing their name you can take advantage of the search filters that the social network makes available. In a nutshell, just call up the function relating to the search for possible new friends, entering specific information on the person you want to find (city, school attended and so on) to "skim" the results.
Doing so is very simple and does not require special tools: below I will explain how you can proceed both from a smartphone / tablet, via the official Facebook app, and from a computer. In the latter case, however, the search is much more effective!
Smartphone / tablet
As I mentioned earlier, the Facebook app is not very suitable for the use of search filters, as it is not possible to set them manually. You can still find good suggestions by using the automatic engine that, based on some personal information (place of residence, friends, interactions and so on) can provide excellent results, perhaps allowing you to find the person you were looking for.
To proceed, start the Facebook app from your device's app list, tap the button ☰ located at the top right on Android or bottom left on iOS, tap on the item Friends and do swipe to the right inside the bar at the top, so as to make the section visible Suggestions.
At this point, touch the relevant item to view a list of automatic suggestions: you can navigate it by swiping up and down in the appropriate screen. With a bit of luck, you will find the person you are looking for there.
computer
To access the search filters via your computer browser, connected first to the main Facebook page, log in as usual, click on the you don't know placed at the top (to the right of the search bar, so to speak), then on the item Friends on your pulse + Find Friends.
At this point, locate the module Look for friends located on the right side of the screen and fill in one or more fields with the information you are aware of (city of birth, school attended, current city, employer, etc.): as you fill in the boxes, the results on the left will decrease, so as to remain relevant with what you have declared.
If you are lucky, the person you are looking for will be waiting for you among the items on the aforementioned list.
Use Graph Search
One of the most valid tools that Facebook makes available, as far as searches are concerned, is certainly Graph Search: it is a mechanism that allows, by typing in precise parameters, to obtain targeted and relevant results to your requests. Just to give an example, through Graph Search it is possible to search in one go all the friends of friends who like an actor X.
Although it is a very sophisticated technique that can help you in your task, I have to tell you something very important right away: Graph Search only works perfectly if the Facebook language is set toUS English, so you need to make this change before proceeding. Don't worry, the change is not final and you can go back to cittàn again at any time!
Smartphone / tablet
As mentioned earlier, the first thing to do to use Graph Search is to set Facebook in English, in the US variant. To proceed, start the app by recalling it from the app list of your device, tap the button ☰ placed at the top right on Android or bottom left on iOS, scroll until you find the item Language, select it with a tap and put the check mark on the item English that appears in the next panel.
Once the app has automatically restarted, you can finally use the search box located at the top (and marked with a magnifying glass icon) to search using the "human" language of Graph Search. Here are some examples of questions to ask the social network.
- If you know the city where the person you are interested in lives in, you can ask Facebook to show you the list of friends of friends who live in a certain city, by typing friends of friends who live in [nome città].
- If, for example, you know that the person you're looking for is a friend of your friend and loves Gucci, you can type friends of friends who like Gucci.
- Again, if you know that the person in question appreciates Chinese cuisine, you can ask Facebook to search for all the friends of your friends who like this type of cuisine by typing friends of friends who like chinese cooking.
At the end of each question, tap the button in the shape of magnifying glass located in the keyboard to search.
Once you have obtained the required results, which also include pages, posts, videos and so on, press on the voice People to view the complete list of Facebook users who satisfy your search: take the time to scroll through it, at least until you find the person you are persistently looking for!
When you are done, you can easily set the cittàn language again in the app: press the button ☰, scroll until you find the item Language and check the item Device language (to set the same language used on the device) or cityno, then wait for the automatic restart.
computer
To use Graph Search from PC, first connect to Facebook as usual, then click on the small one freccia rivolta verse il basso, select the voice Settings and, in the proposed new window, click again on the item Language located on the left.
At this point, clicca sulla voce Modification at the section What language do you want to use on Facebook?, select the voice English (U.S.) from the drop-down menu proposed and press the button Save Changes: a few seconds later, Facebook will be fully translated into English.
Once this operation is complete, the time has finally come to use Graph Search: using the usual one search bar placed at the top (and distinguished by the magnifying glass), you can ask Facebook to show you results relevant to your needs, using a "human" language and the English language, exactly as I have already explained to you in the section on smartphones and tablets.
Remember that, at the end of each question, you must press the button Submit to access the search results. If you want, you can further skim the results using the appropriate form located on the left side of the screen, which allows you to also select the city of origin, the university attended, the friend in common and much more.
Once you have finished using Graph Search, you can return Facebook to the cittàn language in the following way: press on freccetta verse il basso located at the top left, click on the item Settings, select the option Language from the left side of the proposed new screen, click on the item Edit placed next to the sentence What language do you want to use Facebook in?, choose the item cityno in the drop-down menu and presses the button Save changes.
How to find someone on Facebook without knowing their name