How to Find Someone’s New Instagram Username | 5 Quick Ways
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Lost touch with a friend or family member on Instagram? Maybe they’ve changed their username, making it tough to find them. But don’t worry, this article will guide you through some simple strategies to discover their new Instagram username. We’ll explore different methods like using clever search techniques, resorting to dedicated people search tools, and reverse image searches, to help increase your chances of finding them again on Instagram. Let’s dive in!
Brief guide
Method 1. Check for search engine caches
This method only works if you’ve searched for their username on a search engine before they changed it, and the change was fairly recent (so the cached version is still available).
Search engines like Google and Bing use saved copies of web pages, called caches, to enhance their performance. When you search for something, they save a snapshot of the relevant pages. Then, the next time you search for the same thing later, the search engine can show you the cached version, which loads much faster than fetching directly from the website again.
So if you’ve searched for the old Instagram username before, there’s a chance the search engine still has a cached copy. Checking that cache might give you some clues.
- Take Google as an example. Search for the old username along with “site:instagram.com”.
- Then Google might show cached results including comments or likes the person made.
- Check each result. If the comments are still visible, you might find their new username there. You can also click on the username to go to their profile page.
Even if the comments are gone, the cached search results will still show who the person was interacting with. You can check those people’s follower lists to find the new profile, and it’s easier if they have a smaller number of followers. Remember, you’ll need to be logged into your own Instagram account to view this information, and you won’t be able to see anything from private accounts.
What’s a private Instagram account, and how can I view it?
On Instagram, a private account means the owner controls who sees their posts, photos, and stories. Only approved followers can see their content; everyone else will only see the profile picture, username, and bio. Learn more about this from the official explanation of how private Instagram accounts work.
You can only view a private account if the owner approves your follow request. Ignore any online platforms claiming to let you view private accounts without permission – they’re scams designed to lure you into giving out your information or downloading unwanted apps. Another option is to look for their presence on other social media profiles, either manually or using a people search tool, and we’ll cover that later.
Method 2. Resort to a people search tool
People search tools work just like regular search engines, only they specialize in finding information about people. Just enter a name, username, or phone number, and they can return related details, including the person’s social media profiles. Even with very limited information, they can help you piece together a more complete picture of someone.
But what truly sets them apart is their access to a wide range of public data and advanced data matching techniques. They don’t just find data, they organize and make sense of them. Plus, they usually provide easy-to-understand reports, saving you much time and effort. We’ll show you how to use these tools effectively.
Step 1. Choose a reliable people search tool
We tested several popular people search tools, and BeenVerified kept outperforming others. It has access to a large amount of public data, including 120+ social media platforms, government records, website pages, and even some exclusive sources that might not be easy to get yourself. This likely explains why it delivered the most relevant results. Besides, it’s also one of the few that let you search by usernames, which is a challenging task given how decentralized usernames are across the internet.
Step 2. How to use BeenVerified
Based on what details you’ve got about the person, you may search by their real name, old username, phone number, or email address. And BeenVerified can help you find the linked social media accounts, including Instagram, and other contact information.
Simply go to the search page, enter the information you know, and hit the search button. Wait a few moments for the search to complete. Once the report is ready, you can register with your email address and select a subscription plan to view it.
Pro tips on how to make the most of your report
Sometimes, people search tools may not be able to find the new Instagram profile right away. This happens often because of incomplete information, the account not existing, or strict privacy settings. But don’t close the report yet, there are still some ways to get more out of it.
- Discover other possible usernames. You can go to the Email Address and the Social Media sections to check for any other usernames that the person might be using. That could be the one for their new Instagram or be used to conduct further searches.
- Explore their contact information. Any phone numbers or email addresses listed there could help you find their new Instagram account, for example, by syncing your contacts (how?).
- Try searching for the old Instagram username. If you know the old username, you can search for it on BeenVerified. This won’t directly give you their new Instagram account, but it can reveal much useful information like their identity, other social media profiles, usernames, and more.
Besides, people tend to use the same username or its variations across different social media platforms. So even if their old Instagram username is gone, they might still be using it elsewhere. Try checking other social media sites for that username, and you might find other profiles belonging to them and other ways to connect.
How to do social media cross-referencing?
Start by finding as many social media accounts as you can that use the same username, and their old Instagram username is a great place to begin. For that, we recommend you use Super Easy Username Search, a convenient social media finder to quickly find social media profiles with the username searched.
Once you’ve found several matching profiles, start gathering information. Look at their posts across different platforms to find details like their name, location, work history, and who they’re connected to. This can help you confirm whether the profiles likely belong to the same person, and get you closer to their more recent online presence.
Method 3. Conduct in-app searches
If you know some of their personal information beforehand, there are some clever search tricks to help you find their new Instagram directly inside Instagram.
1. Search for their name and variations
If you know the person’s real name, try searching for it on Instagram. Lots of people include their real name (the profile name) in their bio, and this tends to be more consistent than a username, as Instagram limits profile name changes to twice within 14 days to reduce confusion and scams. As long as they still kept the same profile name, you’ll find their new Instagram despite the username changes.
By the way, their new username might be a variation of their old one – maybe with added numbers, underscores, or a slightly different spelling. Try searching for similar usernames, experimenting with different spellings and added numbers. This is a good strategy if you know their original username.
2. Make use of mutual connections
Do you share any mutual friends with the person you’re looking for? They might have disappeared from your follower list, but they could still be following or followed by your mutual friends. Check those friends’ followers and following lists. If they’re public, you might see their new username there.
3. Think about their comments, DMs, hashtags, and posts
If they’ve made comments on your posts or sent you DMs (direct messages), check your posts or your chat history to find their new profile. Or, if you remember any hashtags they used before, search for those on Instagram. Their posts using the hashtags might appear in the search results, revealing their new username.
You can also try searching for their old posts. But since Instagram doesn’t have a direct post search, use Google or another search engine and put the text you remember in quotes, along with the operator site:instagram.com. For example, “we’re having fun at [place]” site:instagram.com. This will find any Instagram posts with that exact phrase, potentially leading to their new page.
Method 4. Try a reverse image lookup
Instagram is a visual platform, and people prefer posting images and videos over text-heavy content. This means you can search for them by looking at their previous posts. If you’ve saved any of the images they’ve shared before, you can run them through reverse image lookup tools like Google Images. These services will find websites using those images, and you might find their new Instagram account among the results.
For a more social media-focused search, you can try Social Catfish. It’s also a reverse image lookup tool that specializes in scanning popular social networks, so it may uncover their latest Instagram presence.
As a last resort, you could check if the Wayback Machine has any cached snapshots of their old Instagram page. Just enter the URL with their previous username (like Instagram.com/old-username/) and see if there are any archived versions. If so, you may be able to extract images from there and run a reverse lookup.
However, note that the Wayback Machine is more likely to have archived pages for well-known people or those with many followers, as their profiles are more frequently accessed and indexed.
Method 5. Sync your contacts
Another way to discover someone’s new Instagram username is by syncing your phone’s contacts. When you enable this feature, Instagram will have access to your contact list and suggest friends based on the people in your phonebook. But first, you’ll need to have their personal information like phone numbers or email addresses stored in your phone. To turn on contact sync, follow these steps:
- Go to your profile page, click on the hamburger icon in the top right corner, and select Account Center.
- Under Your information and permissions, choose Upload contacts, select your Instagram account, and set the button to ON.
- Instagram will then gradually suggest friends on the Discover People section on your profile page, and you can check if the person’s new account appears there.
As you can see, this method has a few setbacks. First, Instagram’s friend suggestions don’t directly link phone numbers to profiles, so you might need to spot the person from several possible matches. Also, if the person has strict privacy settings, their account won’t show up at all. And if their account is registered under a different phone number than the one you have, it might not show up. For a more comprehensive search, a people search tool like BeenVerified might be better.
Final thoughts
It’s possible that you’ve tried everything but still had no luck. In our experience, Instagram’s friend suggestion feature is heavily based on connections. So as long as you have a friend “who has a friend with the person you’re looking for”, their profile will eventually pop up. Often, the best approach is to try a combination of the methods we’ve covered: using any details you know about them, searching for the old username, trying reverse image lookups, and so on.
Of course, always respect their privacy and use these methods responsibly and lawfully. We’d love to hear if you have any other clever tricks up your sleeve for looking for someone’s new Instagram profile. Share your tips in the comments below!
There’s no guarantee you’ll find the information you’re looking for with the tools discussed in this article. They all source their information from publicly available data sources, such as county, state and federal courts, government departments, and police records, and those sources may contain incorrect or incomplete data. It’s illegal to use these tools to make decisions about employment, admission, consumer credit, insurance, tenant screening, or any other purpose that would require FCRA compliance. Read the Fair Credit Reporting Act to learn more....
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