How to Find Your Old School Friends for Free

Use Google. It may sound obvious, but you will probably be amazed at the wealth of information that can be garnished from your Google searches. In the first instance, you could do a specific search such as “John Smith”. In order to connect the name with a city or town (if you have that information) you could do “John Smith” + Dallas. This search technique could also be applied if you have the name of the high school that he attended. For example: “John Smith” + “Hillcrest High School”. This should give you more targeted results. If you don’t have any luck, try searching for people who may have been friends of the person you are looking for, as they may have contact details.^[1]

Use Free People Search Engines. These websites can be of use in order to provide you with basic information that you may not be able obtain elsewhere on the web. The way they tend to operate is offering basic information for free and a charge for more detailed facts. This being said, they can be especially useful at the beginning of a search to quickly identify a location or specific address.^[2] They can also provide a paid option if all other avenues are explored without success.

Use Free Friend Finder Forums. These sites are message boards that are moderated by "search angels" or volunteers with special people search tools. Put in a request, and they'll go looking for you.

Use Facebook. The incredible popularity of Facebook makes it a valuable resource in finding your old school friends. It should be considered that not everybody has a Facebook account.^[3] However, even the huge numbers that do and the frequency that it is used by its members. It could be an excellent way to reconnect with people very quickly.

Use Myspace. Myspace is another hugely popular site. Millions of people do have profiles on this site and the old school friend you are searching for could be one of them.^[4] You can either go the site and use their search facilities or alternatively Google My Space “John Smith” for example. There is also the facility to send a message to your old school friend if you do find them their.

Use offline methods. . You can phone your old school to see if they may have a forwarding address. A check of public records might as well prove to be useful.

My Hometown Schools is another free site to consider. They specialize only in schools and have over 50,000 schools and colleges listed to help you find your old school friends at http://www.myhometown-schools.co.uk.