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You fell out of touch with an old friend or distant relative, and now all you have is their name and an outdated address. Fortunately, there are all kinds of ways you can find someone's current address, and most of them only require a computer and the person's name. This article will walk you through all of your options, from using people search websites to searching public records.
Steps
Searching Whitepages.com
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1Go to https://www.whitepages.com in a web browser like Google Chrome. Whitepages is one of the oldest online resources for finding addresses and other contact information for people across the United States.
- Whitepages will show you some addresses and phone numbers for free, but you may need to pay a fee if the person's address is not public information.
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2Enter the person's first and last name into the field. Both the first and last names go into the same field.
- Alternatively, if you know the person's phone number, you can click the REVERSE PHONE tab above the fields to search by phone number. This works best if the person has a landline, as mobile phones are generally unlisted.
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3Enter the person's city, state, or ZIP code. This goes into the second field. If you don't know the city, you can just enter the state.
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4Click Search. It's the blue button next to the form fields. This displays several options for finding information about the person.
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5Click View Details next to any of the search results. Whitepages displays many types of search results, including paid and free options that all look similar. If you can get a free address from Whitepages, you'll find it on the Show Details page (not "Current Address," as this option costs money).
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6Find the address in the "Addresses" section. If this person's address is available for free, you'll see it under "(name's) CURRENT ADDRESS" near the middle of the page.
- If an address is available, you can also click Map to see where it is.
- If the address is not available (or you know the person no longer lives there), click the back button and click the Current Address link instead. This takes you to the option to unlock this person's full report, which should contain their full address. Follow the on-screen instructions to process your payment ($9.99 for one report, or there are various subscription options available).
Using Other People Search Sites
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1Melissa Lookups. Melissa is a free searchable database used by government agencies and companies to find valid addresses in the US and Canada. The addresses provided by Melissa's lookup tool are all validated by the US Postal Service and Canada Post.[1] Here's how to find what you're looking for:
- Go to https://www.melissa.com/lookups.
- Click Personator under "Address & Street Data."
- Enter the person's name and state. If you know the city, you can enter that as well.
- Click Submit to find the person's address.
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2TruePeopleSearch. TruePeopleSearch is another US online address lookup site that displays address results for free. In addition to finding current addresses, you can also use this tool to find past addresses and phone numbers.
- Go to the website.
- Enter the name, city, and state of the person you're looking for.
- Click the magnifying glass.
- Click View Details next to the person's name to find their current and past addresses.
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3FamilyTreeNow. FamilyTreeNow is technically a genealogy website, but it also hosts current and past US addresses and phone numbers for living people.[2] This site can also help you find the names of someone's family members, roommates, and other associates, as well as their addresses. To use the site:
- Go to the website.
- Enter the person's first name, last name, and city and state into the three fields.
- Click the green Search Records button.
- Click Living People in the left column to see only living person records.
- Click View Details next to a search result to view this person's current and past addresses, possible relatives, and alternate names.
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4ZabaSearch. ZabaSearch is another mostly-free US address lookup website, although you'll also have the option to pay for additional information about the person's background. You'll also see partial phone numbers for people in your search results (if that information is public).
- Go to https://www.zabasearch.com.
- Enter the person's first and last names into the field.
- Enter the city the person lives in (if you know it) and select a state. To search all states at once, select All 50 States.
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5Infobel. Infobel is a Belgium-based website that helps you locate people in countries all over the world. You can use Infobel's own lookup tools to search particular countries, or check out their directory list to find more directories for those countries that you can check.
- Go to https://www.infobel.com.
- Select the country from the "Select a country" menu at the top of the screen to bring up Infobel's search page.
- Select People from the drop-down menu that says "Company" by default.
- Enter the person's name and city.
- Click Search to search.
- If you don't have any luck, return to the main Infobel page and select the country from the second drop-down menu (under "See all the directories"). Then, click the Select a directory menu to select from one of their suggested people search sites.
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6Google. You can find more information about a person in the Google search engine than you may think! The best way to search for someone's address is to type their full name in quotation marks, along with their city or state. For example, "Maria Smith" San Francisco, CA would turn up results for people named Maria Smith in San Francisco. You could also try other information, such as their occupation "Maria Smith" hairdresser or college "Maria Smith" Dartmouth.
- Be careful with websites that require payment to display addresses and other data. Don't pay anyone until you've researched the website thoroughly and have already exhausted the free options.
- If you don't know which city or state the person lives in, check their social media accounts. You can learn a lot about somebody by visiting their Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram profile.
Doing a Reverse Phone Number Lookup
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1Get the person's landline phone number if possible. If you know the person's phone number, you may be able to use it to find their current address. Mobile phone numbers are generally private and not associated with addresses, so it's best to do reverse-lookups with a landline phone number.
- Some sites may be able to report the name that owns a mobile phone number if the person hasn't made that information private. If you can find the name of the owner of the phone number, you can usually use Whitepages or another people searching website to find their address.
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2Go to a reverse-lookup website. There are some with free options, and many with paid options that may be helpful if the phone number you're looking for isn't listed.
- TruePeopleSearch. This site has a great US-only reverse-phone number lookup tool that provides names and addresses. It even shows current addresses for some mobile phone numbers.
- Whitepages. If the phone number you're looking for is in US public records, you'll find its address (sometimes partial) in Whitepages. You can also pay for a deeper lookup, which may bring you better results.
- Zlookup. This is a free international reverse lookup tool that can help you find the name associated with a phone number. It works with mobile phone numbers if they aren't private, but you will only see the person's legal name.
- Cocofinder. This is another reverse-lookup tool that can display addresses associated with landline phone numbers. Again, mobile numbers will be more difficult, but you can pay for a deeper search which might have more info.
- You can also try Google: Just search for the person's phone number and see what you find.
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3Enter the phone number and click the search icon. The steps are different depending on the site you're using, but they are all similar. If you're using Zlookup, you'll need to select the country code (e.g., 1 for United States or 49 for Germany) before you search.
Requesting a Postal Address Correction
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1Address a sealed envelope to the person's previous address. If you're looking for a person in the United States who has recently moved, you can usually find their new address through the United States Postal Service (USPS).[3] No need to include a letter, as the envelope will just be returned to you.
- As long as the person you're looking for has requested that mail addressed to their previous address be forwarded to their new address, their new address will be easy to find this way.
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2Write your own name and return address. You'll want to write this in the upper-left corner of the envelope. Make sure to write clearly, as the post office will need to return the letter to you.
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3Write Address Correction Requested. Do Not Forward.. Write this a few spaces below your return address. This tells the post office to return the letter to you instead of actually forwarding it to the person.
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4Attach a postage stamp and send the envelope. In anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, your envelope will be returned to you along with the person's new address.
Using Public Records
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1Contact the person's county's tax assessor office. If you're looking for a person in the United States who owns property, you can find their address through their local county tax assessor. Depending on the location, this information may be freely searchable online—you'll just need to know the name of the county in which the person lives.
- The easiest way to find the official website of the county's tax assessor is to search Google for county name "tax assessor". Once you find their website, look for a free search option. If it's not possible to do a free search, you can generally find steps for searching that county's public records on the website.
- NETR Online is a free online directory of county tax assessor, treasurer, and recorder office websites for all United States counties. If the county you're looking for doesn't have this information online, you'll find the appropriate contact info so you can make a request.
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2Request a public voter registration list. If the person you're looking for votes in the United States, you may be able to find their address on a list of official voter registrations.[4] Some states allow anyone to request a full of registered voters, while others only release this information to certain people. To see a list of what's included in voter registration lists in all 50 states, as well as who has permission to access them, visit https://www.justia.com/administrative-law/voter-registration-lists-50-state-survey.
- Not all states include addresses in their voter registration lists. Some states that do include addresses in voter registration may also allow voters to keep their addresses private.
- Some regions may charge a fee for access to voter registrations.
Community Q&A
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QuestionHow can I find someone's address if I know their full name, city, and state?Community AnswerSearch the Whitepages by name and city and look for the most likely one.
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QuestionHow do I find an address with a phone number?Community AnswerSearch up "reverse phone lookup"; there should be websites for your country.
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QuestionHow did someone find me using my maiden name and my married name from my first marriage?Community AnswerSome states allow access to marriage certificates online, while others require a request to be filed. If someone found your marriage certificate by using your maiden name they would also find your married name.
Warnings
- Using or exposing someone's address to harass them, is illegal—never look up somebody's address for shady purposes.[5]⧼thumbs_response⧽
References
- ↑ https://www.melissa.com/v2/lookups/personator/
- ↑ https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/its-creepy-but-not-illegal-for-this-website-to-provide-all-your-public-info-to-anyone/
- ↑ https://about.usps.com/publications/pub8/pub8_v05_revision_092017_006.htm
- ↑ https://www.justia.com/administrative-law/voter-registration-lists-50-state-survey
- ↑ https://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2018/01/is-doxing-illegal.html
About This Article
1. Visit anywho.com if the person lives in the United States.
2. Search for the person's name and city (if you know it).
3. Try a reverse phone number search if the person has a landline.
4. If the person moved recently, you can request an address correction from the post office.
5. Check tax records and voting lists.