No wonder you’re wondering if your partner is on Tinder! Studies have shown that 42% of Tinder users are committed to someone (30% are married, and 12% are in a relationship).
That being said, most of you are looking to find your partner, perhaps ex.
Before we begin, here’s the first thing you should know:
You cannot search for a random person on Tinder, since no search bar on the app allows you to search for a specific person on Tinder.
The only search you can make on Tinder is by searching your matches through your matches search bar.
Even though there’s no search bar on Tinder, as surprising as it seems, there’s a search bar over here that allows you to search for a person by name on Tinder.
You can search for anyone as long as you know their name, last name, and the city they live in.
The information has to be accurate: the name, and location(as accurate as possible). The age – if you don’t know exactly how old they are, you can give an assumption and write an approximate age.
Finding someone on Tinder without opening a Tinder account
You have to know that you can do a Tinder Search without registering
If creating a Tinder account would cause you trouble, or if it’d take too much of your time, then you’ve got options!
You can do a Tinder search by name through 4 simple methods, 3 of which are completely free, that you can use to find whoever is on Tinder without joining Tinder,
- Using Google to do your search
- Searching by username with URL
- Cheaterbuster.net
- A friend who uses Tinder
Let’s get into the details of each!
1. Using Google to do your search – Searching a Tinder profile by name
This is one of the two ways to find someone on Tinder for free. This one is not very accurate, but it is still worth trying. Here, are the steps:
- Google.com
- Type in the search bar: site:tinder.com [name/username]
- See what the results show you
We made a tool that would be easier for you to find someone's specific Tinder profile, just write down their name:
Using Google to search people on Tinder by name might not sound like the best idea, but you’d be surprised, trust me!
Now, I’ll give you an example so that you don’t search for the same thing as I wrote above, and get lost in Google search results of Tinder profiles.
I’ll open Google on my desktop and use the name James because it’s pretty basic (sorry to all the James’). What I’ll be typing on the Google search bar:
site:tinder.com james
Here are the results I got:

Keep in mind that you mustn’t search with a capital letter.
Now, I clicked one of the James’ I found, and here’s the profile I could see without having a Tinder account:

You can give it a try and find your James, Timothy, Laura, or any other name you’re looking for.
Keep in mind that in this case, you’re not trying to guess their username. You want to search them by name, by what you think they’d use as a Tinder name.
2. Search by username with URL – Searching someone on Tinder without registering
You can also find someone on Tinder by searching for their username through the URL.
Here’s how you search for someone on Tinder by username
- You just have to type a URL that looks like this: tinder.com/@username
That’s one of the easiest ways to search someone’s profile on Tinder.
You want to type their(the person you're looking for) username. To not leave room for confusion, I’ll show you an example,
I wrote tinder.com/@james, and it showed me this:

Now, something I do at times is add random numbers after the username. For example, tinder.com/@james32 showed me this:

You can guess what name they’d choose, and what nickname. Try out a nickname they’d use.
You have to do your best to guess their username. Their username could be related to their socials like Facebook or Instagram, so you want to guess as accurately as possible.
3. Cheaterbuster – Searching for someone on Tinder without registering

Cheaterbuster is the easiest way to search and find a Tinder profile.
What you have to do is be careful when searching since you have to be accurate and pay attention to the details because you’ll have to pay $9.99 for a search.
You put the information as accurately as possible and place the search, and you will be good to go. I tested it, I found my Tinder profile and my friends too.
The steps? Here:
- Go to cheaterbuster.net.
- Fill in the required information as accurately as possible
- Make the payment and get the results.
4. A friend who already uses Tinder can help you out
You can find someone on Tinder through this method as well, and the best part of it is that it’s free!
All it takes is for you to let your friend know of the person you’re looking for, and simply ask that friend to let you know when they stumble upon that person’s profile.
Now, they can screenshot the profile and send those screenshots to you, or they can share the link to that profile with you.
Searching for someone on Tinder | Pros | Cons |
Using Google to do your Tinder search | It’s free It is simple and easy | Might not be very accurate – you might not find the results you’re looking for |
A Tinder profile search by searching by username with URL | It’s free Immediate results | Might not be very accurate – you might not find the results you’re looking for |
Cheaterbuster | It’s highly accurate You can search for anyone in the world | Costs $9.99 per search |
Finding someone on Tinder: How to find someone on Tinder if you have an account?
If you happen to already have an account on Tinder or create one, then you might have an easier time searching for someone on the app itself.
The way to find someone on Tinder if you have an account is to set your preferences to “let Tinder know that you prefer exactly what the person is like”.
Setting your preferences: Finding someone on Tinder with a Tinder account
What you have to do is adjust your ‘search preferences’ on Tinder according to the person you’re looking for.
Here’s how you do that:
- Open Tinder,
- Go to settings,
- On Discovery Settings you’ll see the below:

– Using the Global feature
Allowing ‘global’ might be helpful only if they don’t live in the same country as you.
Otherwise, if the person you’re looking for lives near you, you want to turn off the ‘global’ switch.
– Adjusting ‘Maximum Distance’
It’s like searching by location – you set the miles depending on how close you think that person is in your area.
If they’re close to you then make a location preference up to that radius. Expand the distance if they live far from where you live.
– Taking a look at your ‘Show Me’
If they’re a man, you choose the options men. On the other hand, if they’re a woman, you choose the option woman.
If you think that they’d change their gender for you to not find them, set the option to ‘everyone’.
It’ll show you both men and women and other genders on Tinder under these categories[men and women].

– Adjusting the ‘Age Range’
Okay, now this is where you want to be careful.
If their age is 24, you can set the age range to 23-24, or 24-25, to find them easier, and not spend too much time swiping even 20-year-olds.
– Use Tinder Plus, or Tinder Gold to get the ‘Passport’ feature
It’s like searching by location – This is handy if they live abroad and you know where they live.
For instance, if they moved to Barcelona for a while, they get the ‘Passport’ feature and go to Barcelona with Tinder.
– Start swiping
After you set the preferences according to what they are like, where they live, and how old they are, it’s time to start swiping.
Swipe until you find them. Until Tinder runs out of people to show you. SWIIIIIPE!!
If you are unlucky to find someone on Tinder, You can look up a specific person on Hinge or do a profile search on Bumble.
How to find someone on Tinder by phone number? The third-party apps have an answer!
You can find a Tinder profile by phone number. However, just like searching for a name or an image, searching for someone on Tinder by phone number is not a default feature of Tinder.
This means that if you’ve got a person in your mind and their phone number as well, you won’t be able to find them on Tinder because there’s no search bar on Tinder for that.
Since you can’t look up a phone number on Tinder, you have to turn to third-party apps and sites that allow you to do so.
You can’t search for someone on Tinder by phone number, but you can do that by using third-party apps. Here are some of the methods:
- Using SocialCatfish’s phone number search bar;
- Using Spokeo Phone Search;
- Or using other third-party apps to find hidden social media profiles.
All you’ve got to know is their phone number and search it down here:
Once you search for the number here, you’ll be able to find out whether that person is on Tinder or not.
If you find their Tinder profile, don’t forget to share it through your email so that you can swipe on their profile. Or share it with a friend if they were the one looking for the person.
You can also check out other third-party apps or sites that give you that option.
Here you’ll find some extra options you can use. These are not made specifically for Tinder searches but they seemed to have worked for people:
What could work for you | What might not work for you | |
Social Catfish | It finds other general information too | You have to pay to get the information, which also might not be the one you’re looking for |
Radaris | You can search by phone number, name & last name, and address too | Works in America only |
SpokeoSearch | You can search by phone number, email, name, and address | Works in America only You have to pay for the information |
What should you do if you find your partner on Tinder?
- Check if they've been active or not.
You can tell if they've been active by looking for a green dot on their profile that shows they are recently active. You can also check if their location has changed or if they have added new pictures or songs to their profile.
- Take your time to think and calm down.
I understand that it can feel really overwhelming and make you very upset. It's completely normal to feel that way.
Take some deep breaths and try to accept the situation. Think calmly and logically so you can make a genuine decision about what you want to do next.
- Try to talk to them calmly and express your feelings without making them defensive.
If you decide to talk to your partner and address your concerns, try to approach the conversation calmly.
I know it's hard, especially in a situation like this, but if you start yelling or getting angry, they will likely become defensive, and it may escalate into an argument.
Take your time to think about it and decide if you really want to know the answers to your questions. I know it's difficult and you may feel let down.
Hang in there and remember that it's normal to have these strong emotions. Your body is reacting to a tough situation.
FAQ – Finding someone on Tinder
Can you find someone on Tinder again?
Unfortunately, you cannot find a person again on Tinder after unmatching. It doesn’t matter who unmatched who unless one of you opens a new account and starts fresh on the app.
Here’s what you can do about it:
- You can tell your friends to share the person’s profile with you if they happen to see it on the app or to search for that person on Tinder.
- You can search for them on third-party apps.
- You can open a new account if nothing else works.
How to find someone from Tinder on Instagram?
Yes, you can find someone's Instagram profile through their Tinder profile. You can't have access to a person’s Instagram username through their Tinder profile, but this is where the good news begins.
You can use Google Lens to look up their pictures. And if you’re lucky, they have their Instagram public, then you’ll be finding their Instagram in a blink of an eye.
This means you can see the Instagram pictures of those who link their Instagram with their Tinder profile.
Is the Tinder search bar gone?
No, it just moved; They’ve put it in a tricky place to find.

It is on the left upper corner of your screen. Once you find it, besides searching your matches, you can see your match count too, if you feel like you don’t know the number of it.
Can I search for someone on Tinder through email?
No, you cannot search for someone on Tinder through email. Though you can do this through third-party apps.
A Tinder user’s email isn’t accessible, hence searching for someone on Tinder through email isn’t possible.
Can you filter Tinder searches by race?
No, you cannot filter Tinder searches by race. The only options are distance, age, and gender.
However, if you prefer people of a certain country you can use a Tinder passport, which you can use if you’re subscribed to any of the premium subscriptions like Tinder Plus, or Tinder Gold.
She told me she isn’t using her Tinder account anymore. Now that I found her profile, how do I know if she’s been active or not?
One of the ways to know someone’s on Tinder is to see if they’re active.
You know they’ve been active if their location changes from time to time (expressed in the distance, e.g. kilometers, or miles) if they’ve changed their pictures, if the recently active status appears on their profile, and if they change their bio.
Best of luck,
Liam
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