How to Search & Find Someone on Tinder?

Tinder is an online dating application where you can 'swipe right' or 'swipe left' to indicate whether you like the person or not.
Tinder: the revolutionary dating platform connecting millions of cheating spouses (some may be single) via mutual interests and location.

Studies have shown 45% of Tinder users are in long-term relationships or dating someone. You know what? it also shows 30% are married. Some just join to take a look, and others, take it a little further. Others live an alternative life online! Need to search for someone on Tinder in a hurry? We got your back.

“Married individuals on Tinder walk a thin line, tempted by the allure of new choices while risking the sanctity of their vows.”

Source: Renowned relationship therapist Dr. Sarah Johnson, in her book ‘The Dangers of Digital Dating.’

Key Takeaways on searching Tinder:

  • Yes, you can search for someone on Tinder with a username, email address, or nickname.
  • Yes, you can search Tinder without needing to register.
  • You can reduce the time it takes to find someone on Tinder, if you know some information about who you’re looking for (i.e. location, age, specific traits, and usernames from other social networks).
  • Tinder tries to prevent you from searching for specific people, but you can do it with some know-how.
  • To skip the manual stuff, you could just use a free reverse Tinder lookup, such as UserSearch.org.

We’ll show you how to quickly search and find specific people on Tinder. No nonsense, no time wasting, no giving you waffle on what Tinder is; just simple hard facts on searching it.

How to Search Tinder for someone?

You can easily search for a specific person on Tinder (internally) if you’re matched with that person. To search for someone in your match list, tap the message bubble icon on the main screen. Then, press and pull down the screen until a search bar appears. Type that person’s name in the search bar. ”

You can try to modify your settings via trial and error. To determine if that person will pop into your searches, but it’s not an ideal method. Traditionally, to find a user on Tinder, you’d have to do it via a third party.

What does Tinder make public for searching?

By understanding what Tinder makes public without being registered, you can ‘kind of’ work out what information can be searched. What does this mean? Basically, you don’t know, what you don’t know. You need to know what Tinder provides as default, as a starter for ten.

In a bit of a rush? quickly find someone on tinder by typing their username into our search engine. Or, keep reading to become somewhat of a Tinder search expert!

What can you see without a Tinder Registered account?

Tinder makes a shocking amount of information totally public for you to see.  However, they do try to hide email, phone numbers, and social accounts.  But..you can work these out with our help.
Tinder makes a shocking amount of information public for you to see. However, they do try to hide email, phone numbers, and social accounts. But…you can work these out with our help.

1) Searching Tinder Users with Background Information

The more information you gather on the person before searching, the easier it will be to find their profile on Tinder. We guess the amount of prior information will vary greatly, depending on the situation.

“In a world where millions flock to Tinder in search of love, the fear of discovering one’s own partner on the app has become all too real.”

Source: Dr. Rachel Green, in her book ‘The Paradox of Dating Apps.’

If you want to find out if a person you’re dating has a hidden profile for cheating, you are all set. You’ll have all the information you need to find someone on Tinder; however, if you’re looking for an old classmate or a co-worker that you’d like to hook up with, your going to have to resign yourself to a lot more search attempts.

To find the correct user you need to be familiar with the tinder interface.  You also need to have all the correct information, such as age, location, know what they look like, and their name.
To find the correct user, you must be familiar with the tinder interface. You also need to have all the correct information, such as age, location, know what they look like, and their name.

One method you can use to test out some usernames is using the main search bar and entering the user. Type in the username into the URL bar like this: www.tinder.com/@[username] and check out the result. If you have no luck, try different variations and see what you get. It’s common to find users using the same usernames and information across other sites, so it’s always worth trying out.

2) Search Tinder by Location and distance

Another way is to change the settings and preferences on your account so the user you’re looking for will ideally come up as a match. This is how you do that:

  • Set your preferences on gender to match their gender
  • Update your age preference to match the person you’re looking for. If you’re unsure, try a guess and change by a year until you get a match.
  • Update your page, so it matches the location of your target, so Tinder considers them local to you.
  • Run a new search and keep swiping through all the matches. While looking carefully at each Tinder profile for the profile, you are interested in. If you’re not getting much luck, try updating the age, location, and rinse-repeat.
ook for other information on social media to help you! Chances are you know a little about who your looking for.
Look for other information on social media to help you! Chances are, you know a little about who you’re looking for.

All these suggestions give you a good chance of finding the Tinder profile, but it’s not perfect. This is due to the Tinder algorithm not being publicly known to us. We can never be sure how they match people; it’s a trade secret. You could not be finding the Tinder profile 1) because you’re settings just are not configured to match, 2) The user you’re looking for is simply not on Tinder! That’s why it’s sometimes helpful to try a third party.

3) Search Tinder with reverse lookup tools and third parties

More commonly, there are two main kinds of third-party tools other than Tinder to find a person. The first is Tinder-specific tools that try to pull out information from profiles on Tinder. If there is a used one on Tinder, that is. These tools typically charge per search and vary in how effective they are. Given your strategy, maybe test and trial to find the profile; this method can get expensive quickly.

Generally, the best option is to use a bespoke Username search tool. UserSearch lets you run as many searches as you want without any limitations. That’s great for trying out alternatives. It also has a specific dating site search to easily allow you to ignore false positives that may pop up from other social networks. However, it would be wise for you to try and gather as much information as possible. So, you could start by gathering information from connected social media and forum websites on UserSearch, which can further educate your searching.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is online-tools-to-find-tinder-users.webp
Learn as much as you can to find the user. Do user lookups on other social networks to find as much information as possible on who you're looking for.
Learn as much as you can to find the user. Do user lookups on other social networks to find as much information as possible on who you’re looking for.

Why is background information helpful for Tinder searching?

Background information can tell you who you’re dealing with, bringing up everything from their marital status to criminal history. How do you get this background information? you’ll need to venture out and use some third-party tools, like UserSearch.org.

If you knew that you’re dealing with a scammer, a cheater, or someone who’s downright dangerous, would you change how you acted? Would you change your approaches to the investigation? most likely. Having a good awareness of a person background information, can be critical to your safety and success in searching Tinder.

People search tools help give you the truth about a Username or person by showing you the extra information you may not have known (such as if a person is married and on Tinder). If you know you’re not dealing with a potential scammer, cheater, or someone who’s utterly dodgy, you can relax a bit after the searching. However, these evil people are good at using different usernames and online identities to trick you, so keep that third eye open!

4) How to Search Tinder without an account?

You can use three main methods to find anyone you like on Tinder without registering an account.

  1. Use a reverse lookup tool like UserSearch.
  2. Search by entering their username within the URL
  3. Use Google to search for their username by using the double “” symbols.

5) How to use Google to search Tinder?

It’s pretty easy to use Google to search Tinder, plus it’s free! It’s not the best results-wise, but it’s worth trying before you pay for a service. You can do this in three simple steps:

  1. Visit Google.com
  2. Type in the search field: site: tinder/[the person you’re looking for].
  3. Check check out the results.

If you know usernames they tend to use online, you will have a much higher chance of finding them. If you don’t…then it’s worth running a few variations and seeing if you get lucky!

Want to look into more tricks of using google to find Tinder ‘stuff’? You probably already know, but this type of searching is called ‘Google Hacking’ or ‘Google Dorking’. It’s all about using specific queries in Google to find ‘stuff’ that you may not typically see in Google. What exactly? we’re talking Tinder user accounts, password lists, and old versions of dating profiles (that may now be private or deleted). We show the depths of Google Hacking here, but there is a great Dorking cheat sheet on how to do this. If you are struggling to find something, Google Dorking cheat sheets are a quick way to help you search.

Our Experts: Searching for someone on Twitter

We asked our team of experts directly, no messing about…if someone has tried all of the options listed in this article, what else can they do? are they out of options? The short answer was no (15 times no!). Get your sherlock homes cap on and see what they said:

Searching for users on tinder can someone's not be as simple as 1-2-3, but with some elbow grease and determination, it can be done!
Searching for users on tinder can someone’s not as simple as 1-2-3, but with some elbow grease and determination, it can be done!
1) Connected Facebook Account:

If you’ve linked your Facebook account to your Tinder profile, your Facebook friends can find you on the app. And if your Facebook profile is public, anyone on Facebook can find you by searching your name.

2) Searching by Name:

If your name is unique or common, someone may be able to find you just by searching your name on Tinder. They could also use search engines like Google to gather information about you and find your Tinder profile.

3) Public Location Data:

If location services are enabled on your device, your current location information may be visible on Tinder. Someone could also use location tracking apps or services to find your location and potentially discover your profile.

4) Shared Interests:

If you have shared interests, like mutual friends or similar job titles, this information can be used to find you on Tinder. Someone could search for users with similar interests on social media platforms and potentially find your profile.

5) Discoverable Groups:

If you’ve joined any public groups on Tinder, like “Tinder for Hikers,” someone could find a profile through them. You could also search for simular groups on social media or forums, to locate a linked account.

6) Shared Images:

If you have some images from Tinder profile (or some from another social network account), someone locate it in Tinder. You could use reverse image search to find the same image online and discover the Tinder profile.

7) Searching by Location:

Searching for users in a certain radius of your location, could potentially expose that profile to the public. They could also use GPS tracking tools or location-based social media apps to find your area’s users and your profile. You’ll need be in the same location as your target, and know when they go on Tinder, to catch them.

8) Common Interests and Activities:

If you’ve listed interests and activities on your profile, someone could find you by searching for users with similar interests. They could also use online forums or social media groups related to your interests to find other users and potentially discover your profile.

9) Public Profile Information:

If you’ve shared personal information like age, education, or work experience on your profile, someone could find you by searching for users with similar information. They could also search for this information on social media or professional networking platforms to find users with similar backgrounds and potentially discover your profile.

10) Email or Phone Number:

If they linked an email address or phone number to their Tinder account, someone could find it by searching for these. You could also use reverse search engines like UserSearch. From this, you could find information about an email or phone number, and marry up the information to Tinder.

11) Mutual Friends:

If you have mutual friends with someone on Facebook, they could find you on Tinder by searching for their friends on the app. They could also use Facebook’s People Search function or other social media platforms to find mutual friends and potentially discover your profile.

12) Geotagged Images:

If they uploaded images a Tinder profile that have been geotagged, you could find them by checking the EXIF information within the image. Geolocation search tools or mapping services can find pictures taken at a specific location and potentially discover your profile. They can even find other pictures online that have been taken by a specific camera model!

13) Public posts or comments:

Someone could find a Tinder profile by searching for the same username that was used to make any public posts or comments on social media platforms. Platforms like Reddit or Instagram, provide usernames publically. Quite often, people use the same usernames across multiple dating / social media accounts.

14) Social media accounts:

If you’ve linked your social media accounts to your Tinder profile, someone could find you by searching for your username or profile information on those platforms.

15) And last but not least, word of mouth:

If someone knows the name and has heard about your Tinder profile, whats stopping them speaking to your friends online to find out more information? Check out reverse social engineering. A powerful skillset to get information from other people, a somewhat good acting skillset is required!

Further Reading: Dating Site Searching

“Online cheaters are as predictable as the wind. Just apply the science of observation, and their digital footprint will lead you straight to them.”

Source: A seasoned private investigator.

Like what we have to say? Want more expert thoughts on finding people online? or if you are trying to check if your partner is on a dating website, review our other articles.