How to See Who Views Your Facebook Profile

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: January 18, 2023 Tested

Are you curious about who's been viewing your Facebook profile? While some apps and websites claim they can show you your recent profile views, they don't work. But don't worry—there are still several things you can do to find out who's checking you out! This wikiHow article will teach you a few tricks for finding out who looks at your Facebook profile the most.

Section 1 of 6:

Are There Tricks I Could Try To Find My Top Viewers?

1
Monitor who likes your posts. People who like your posts probably look at your profile, too. To test the theory, create a neutral but interesting post, like a really cool photo, oddball news story, or an interesting scientific discovery—something sure to elicit a response. The people who look at your profile most often will probably like or otherwise react to your post.
2
Create about 5 or so posts over a week's time. Are there certain people liking or commenting more than others? Compare responses to all the posts to find out—people who react to a lot of your posts may be looking at your profile to see what you have to say.

Section 2 of 6:

Are My Suggested Friends People Who Looked at My Profile?

Facebook doesn't suggest new friends based on who views your profile. Instead, the People You May Know list is based on mutual friends, networks (such as your work or school), activity (including tagged photos and posts), group memberships, and your friends' uploaded phone contacts.^{[1]
X
Research source} Sadly, there is no way to find out who views your profile by looking at your friend suggestions.

Section 3 of 6:

Are There Advanced Methods to Find My Top Viewers?

1
Post tracking links to log peoples' IP addresses. This will only work if you have friends in a variety of cities. You can use a URL shortening tool like Grabify to share links on Facebook and log the IP address of everyone who clicks them. This won't tell you people's names, but you can look up their IP addresses to find their general locations. It's pretty simple:
2
First, decide on a site that people would want to check out, such as a funny wikiHow article. Copy the URL of that site. This will be the link that you'll entice people to click on.
3
Go to https://grabify.link and paste the URL into the field. Then click Create URL and agree to the terms.
4
Write down or copy the "Access Link." You'll need it to track your results - the results will show you who has clicked your link.
5
Click View other link shorteners. You will be able see other services you can use to mask the fact that you're using Grabify—its name may prevent people from clicking the link.
6
Select a less obvious URL shortener from the list. These URLs will look like cutt.ly or goo.gl, which creates a link to your Grabify URL.
7
Copy the shortened URL. Then share it on Facebook with an enticing message. This will make sure you get some clicks on your link.
8
After some time, check the results by visiting the Access Link. This is where you'll find a list of all IP addresses that clicked your link. Repeat this for other interesting links you want to share, and check those Access Links, too.
- IP addresses change often, so the person viewing your profile most may not always have the same address. Still, if they aren't using a VPN or proxy, it should help you figure out their region.

Section 4 of 6:

Is There a Built In Feature on Facebook to Find My Top Viewer?

1
Check your profile's source code. Some websites claim you can see who looks at your profile by searching for buddy_id in your profile.^{[2]
X
Research source} While this does show the names and IDs of some friends, it hasn't been confirmed that these people are visiting your profile. Still, it's worth a try!
2
Sign into Facebook using Chrome, Edge, or Safari on a computer. You will need to enter your phone number or email associated with your account along with your password.
3
Click your name to open your profile. This will be at the upper right hand side of the toolbar at the top of your profile.
4
Right-click (or Control + click) the page and select View page source or Show Page Source. This will open the page source menu.
5
Bring up the search bar by pressing Control + F on a PC or Command + F on a Mac. In the search bar, type buddy_id in the search bar at the top of your browser.
6
Find the users ID. Next to each instance of buddy_id in the results, you'll see a user ID number and a person's name. The names on this list might be the people who view your profile most.

Section 5 of 6:

What About the People at the Top of My Friends List?

Your top friends are the people you interact with most on Facebook. This means you chat with, like, and reply to each other's posts most often—not that they click on your profile. Although there's no way to find out if your top friends actually go to your profile, it's likely that they do—you do communicate with them often, after all!
- It's also possible that some of your most frequent viewers are people you rarely interact with at all! Unfortunately, there's no way to know for sure.

Section 6 of 6:

Are There Apps That Can Show Who Viewed My Profile?

No app or browser extension can see who views your profile. This feature isn't built in to Facebook, so none of the apps that claim they can show you this information actually work.^{[3]
X
Research source} You can still get an idea of who looks at your profile, but definitely not by installing an app or browser extension.
- Apps that claim to show you who viewed your profile are usually designed to steal your information and possibly attack other users! Don't install any apps or browser extensions like this, even if they look legitimate.^{[4]
  X
  Research source}

Community Q&A

Question

How do I know if someone is using my Facebook account?

R2_d2000

Top Answerer

If you see posts on your account that you didn't make, or if you get alerts from Facebook. If you even suspect that your account has been hacked, then you should immediately change your password, and you might want to consider enabling two step verification.
Question

Can I add friends if I am not logged in to Facebook?

R2_d2000

Top Answerer

No, you have to be logged in to Facebook in order to add friends to your account.
Question

If someone pops up on Facebook as "someone you might know," does that mean the person has recently viewed my profile?

Community Answer

No. Facebook asks for your phone number to create an account. They can tell if your phone number has been used to contact any other registered phone number with a Facebook account. That's where the "someone you might know" recommendations come from.