Facebook Profile Search by Username or Vanity URL

On Facebook, a username is the short name in a profile or Page address: the janedoe.designs in facebook.com/janedoe.designs. People often call it a vanity URL. It is separate from the name shown on the profile, which does not have to be unique. Facebook's help center says usernames help people find you and form your web address.

If you have a username or a link, finding the account is usually simple. The harder cases are links with no username at all, and Facebook search results that look alike. This guide covers both, plus how to set or change your own username.

Find a profile or Page from a username

The direct method works best. Put the username after the domain and open it in your browser:

https://www.facebook.com/username

Profiles and Pages share this address format, so the same test works for a person, a business or a band. If the account exists and you are allowed to see it, the profile or Page loads. If it does not, Facebook shows a message that the content is not available.

That message is not proof that the username is unused. Facebook shows a similar page when a profile has been deactivated, when it is only visible to some people, or when the owner has blocked you. Many profiles also show less to people who are not logged in, so try both ways before you draw a conclusion.

Two details from Facebook's username guidelines help when you type a name by hand:

• Usernames can contain only letters, numbers and periods.
• Capital letters and periods do not make a username distinct. Jane.Doe55 and janedoe55 point to the same account, so you do not need to guess where the dots go.

What a profile.php link means

Not every account has a username. When a profile has none, its address uses a number instead, in the form facebook.com/profile.php?id= followed by digits. You will see these links when someone shares a profile from the app or when the owner never picked a username.

A profile.php link still opens the profile. It just does not give you a name to search elsewhere. If the person has a public username on other sites, it will usually be listed in their bio or links, and you can search for it from there. Do not try to work backwards from the number to anything else about the person. That is not what the ID is for, and it is outside what this guide covers.

Using Facebook search

If you only have a display name, use the search bar at the top of Facebook. You can filter results to People, Pages or Groups. Results depend on your location, your connections and each person's privacy settings, so two people searching the same name can see different lists.

When several accounts share a name, open each one and compare the address bar. The username, or the profile.php number, is the only part that is unique. Profile photos and display names are easy to copy, which is how many impersonation accounts work.

Facebook profile lookup without an account

Facebook's own search bar needs you to be logged in. You can still do a basic Facebook profile lookup without an account, with less to see.

• Open the address directly. facebook.com/username often loads for logged-out visitors, showing whatever the owner made public, such as the name, profile picture and some public posts. Facebook may cover the page with a login prompt after a moment or after some scrolling.
• Use a search engine. To search Facebook without an account, type the person's or business's name plus "Facebook" into a regular search engine, or add site:facebook.com to the query. Public profiles and Pages are often indexed this way, unless the owner turned off search engine linking in their privacy settings.
• Pages show more than profiles. Business Pages are built to be public, so a logged-out visitor usually sees more of a Page than of a personal profile.

What you will not get without logging in is anything a person shared only with friends. That is how it should be. Tools that promise to reveal private Facebook content usually want your login or your money.

Facebook search by name, and searching without an account

To search Facebook by a person's name, use the search bar at the top of Facebook while logged in and filter the results to People. You can narrow by city, school or workplace. Results depend on each person's privacy settings, and some people turn off the option that lets search engines link to their profile.

For a Facebook search without an account, a general search engine works as a Facebook search engine: try site:facebook.com "Jane Doe". You will only see profiles and Pages that are public and indexed. Our tool does not search Facebook by name. It checks usernames, so it helps once you know the vanity name in a profile link.

Checking the same username on other sites

People and brands often reuse one handle across networks. If a Facebook Page uses bakerymia, the same name may also exist on Instagram, TikTok or a shop platform. The FreeUsername username search checks one name across 3,450+ sites at once. It is free, you do not need an account, and you can enter up to five usernames per search. Found results show public profile details, such as display name, avatar and bio, when the site provides them.

Read those results as leads. The same handle on two sites can belong to two unrelated people, so open each Found result and look at what is actually there. Our page on reverse username lookup explains what a match can and cannot tell you. To see whether a name is free to register on Facebook, use the Facebook username checker.

How to set or change your Facebook username

Facebook's help center has separate instructions for profiles and Pages, and the menus move from time to time, so check the current article if a step looks different.

For your profile

Facebook's help center has a section for finding or changing your profile username under its "usernames and user IDs" articles. In general, you open your settings while logged in, find the username field, type a new one and save. Facebook checks availability as you type and tells you if the name is already in use.

For a Page

According to Facebook Help, you can only change a Page username from a computer, and only if you have full control of the Page:

1. Log in to Facebook on a computer and switch to the Page.
2. Open Settings and privacy, then Settings.
3. Go to Page setup, then Name.
4. Select Edit next to the username, enter the new one and save.

People with partial access to a Page, limited to specific tasks, cannot change its username.

Rules to keep in mind

Facebook's username guidelines say a username must be at least five characters, use only letters, numbers and periods, and not already be taken. Each profile or Page can have one username. Generic words and domain endings such as .com or .net are not allowed, and a username cannot impersonate someone else. Facebook also notes that usernames on inactive Pages may be removed.

Because capitals and periods do not count, adding a dot will not get you around a taken name. Add a word instead, such as a city, a trade or a short descriptor. If you are naming a business, check the domain at the same time with our name checker, which covers .com, .net, .org, .io, .us, .app and .dev.

Related guides

Facebook and Instagram are run by the same company but keep separate usernames. If you are looking on both, see how to find an Instagram account by username. To review your own accounts, start with the digital footprint checker and our guide on locking down your social media privacy settings.

FreeUsername is not affiliated with Facebook or Meta. Platform names and trademarks belong to their owners.