Buzz
If you're trying to reach someone who has been out of contact for a long time, or a potential client whose email address is unknown, it can be quite a challenge. Luckily, there are several strategies you can use to track down that lost email address. Keep reading to discover each method.
Steps
Method One: Recover a Lost Email Address
Search your email folders. If you've previously contacted this person using their current email address, or via an old email account that's still active, try using the 'search' function in your email program or on your email provider's webpage to find the missing address.
- Run a search using the person's name or domain, if known. If their full name doesn't bring results, try searching with first name, last name, or even their nickname.
- Think about any email exchanges you may have had in the past with this person, and try searching using high-probability subject keywords. For example, if you worked together on a summer project, try searching for the keyword 'summer project.'
Ask directly or by phone. If you need to send something via email to someone you know but have lost their email address, don't be shy about making a call or sending a message to ask. If you see them regularly, you could even wait until you meet in person and ask directly.
- If you're trying to contact a potential client or business partner, you can call their company and speak with the receptionist. As long as the employee's email address isn't confidential, the receptionist typically has access to a list of addresses and can help you find the contact you're looking for.
Check business cards. When searching for an email address for work purposes, ask yourself if you might have the person's business card. If you do, take a careful look. Email addresses are usually printed on business cards.
- If the business card isn't where you typically keep them, try searching in your wallet, drawer, or any place a misplaced card could have ended up.
- If you can't find their card, at least try to find the card of someone from the same company. This often serves as a stepping stone to eventually tracking down the exact email address of the contact you need.
Contact family or mutual friends. If you have a good relationship with someone in their family or share mutual friends, reach out to them to ask for the lost email address.
- If you're connected with this third party via email or social media, you can send them a brief message asking if they know the missing email address or if they know anyone who might.
- If your relationship with the third party isn't strong enough to ask for their email address, things may be a bit trickier, but you can still ask when you meet them next time. Give a brief explanation of how you lost the email address and why you need it so that the person feels comfortable sharing it with you.
Use an old email address to find the new one. If the email address you have is from years ago and you're concerned that it may no longer be active, there are some online tools you can use to find the new address based on the old one.
- Be aware that these tools typically require registration before the new email address is linked to the old one. So, while these tools can be difficult to access, they’re worth trying.
- Some of the online tools include:
Method Two: Search on the Internet
Search for the person's name. If the person you're looking for has a relatively unique name, you can find it easily by using a search engine. Once you find relevant results, look for their contact details.
- For the best results, use "exact phrase" search by putting the name in quotation marks.
- You can search just the name with the hope of finding contact information, but adding modifiers like "email," "email address," "contact," "contact information," or "contact me" can help you find results that include the details you're looking for.
Try related queries. Searching just a name often doesn’t provide results. If you adjust the search by adding a location, company name, school name, or other personalized information, you’re more likely to find the right person and their email address.
- Try searching the full name in quotation marks for an exact match. Then add their hometown, company name, school, or any club they may belong to outside the quotes.
- If you can find a URL or domain of the website, company, school, or group they belong to, try adding that domain directly to your search query.
Check social media accounts. You can visit popular social media platforms and use their search functions to look up contact details. Alternatively, use the social media platform's name as a modifier when searching for that person’s name on the web.
- Try Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn, Instagram, or any other social network you can think of. Each platform typically has its own search bar you can use.
- You can also enter the person’s full name followed by the name of their social media account into a search engine. This might bring up the same results. Adding additional modifiers like their company name or location could make the results more specific and useful.
Try online directories. While there aren't many online directories that are publicly accessible, using one can still help you find the information you need.
- Popular online directories include:
Method Three: Guessing
Search for the workplace or school domain. If you know where the person works or studies, there’s a good chance you can find their professional or academic email address.
- Perform an internet search for the name of the school or company related to the person. Most universities and companies are easy to identify because they want traffic to their websites, but if the name is too common, you may need to include location keywords in your search.
- Once you find the website, try using @vinaphone.com as a guessed email suffix (replace vinaphone.com with the actual website address).
Try some of the most common domains. If you have no idea about the domain of the workplace or school, you can try popular free email domains.
- If you’re not sure where to start, try:
- Gmail (@gmail.com)
- Yahoo (@yahoo.com)
- Hotmail (@hotmail.com)
- Note that these domains are unlikely to give you the exact result for a workplace or school address, but if you’re desperate, they’re worth a shot.
Try combinations of names. While this isn’t a guaranteed method to find a personal email address, if you’re looking for any kind of “official” address, such as a workplace or school email, the username often includes components from the first name, last name, and possibly the middle name.
- If you can identify the naming pattern used for the email system at the company or school by looking at other email addresses on the website, you might be able to deduce the username. For example, if every username consists of the first initial and full last name, you could assume the email address for Nguyen Hung would be [email protected]
- Other possibilities include:
Warning
- While there are valid reasons for searching for someone’s email address, you should also know when to stop. For instance, if you're trying to find the email of an attractive acquaintance, classmate, or someone you clicked with at a bar, don’t spend too much time on it. If the email isn’t publicly available and you can’t get it from a mutual friend, you might be seen as a stalker and end up in a whole lot of trouble.
- Needless to say, stalking is a crime. If you use the information in this guide to stalk someone online, you could face criminal charges if you get caught.
What you will need
- Printed, faxed, or handwritten emails
- Class or workplace directory
- Business cards
