Can You Find a Facebook User by IP Address?

Have you ever wondered how to find someone's IP address on Facebook - or if it's even possible? A Facebook user IP address trace may seem simple; after all, Facebook already has so much user data. However, the task is not as straightforward as it appears. In this article, find out if you can find a Facebook user by their IP address and learn how to find an IP address in general.

Can I trace a Facebook user by their IP address?

In short, no, you can't get the IP address of a Facebook user via their profile or other means through Facebook. You can find someone online for free using their Facebook handle, but doesn't matter how you try - you can't find a Facebook user's IP address by the cmd command prompt tool, you can't use a Facebook live location tracker to get someone’s IP, and you can't get it from their Facebook profile.

You'd need access to the Facebook server logs to do this; without legal interjection, Facebook will not provide access to those logs.

Theoretically, though, tracing a Facebook user by their IP is possible. You would need to establish a direct connection to the user outside of Facebook. There are several ways for you to get someone's IP address, but none of them have any connection to their Facebook account. Though you can locate Facebook users generally by their location, Facebook can't tell you their exact address - unless, of course, users share their location explicitly in a post - so trying to perform a Facebook user IP address trace becomes quite tricky.

Alternative methods for finding someone's IP address

Though you can't find an IP address through a Facebook search, there are other legitimate ways to find someone’s IP. Consider these alternative ways to find a user's IP address.

  • Through an email address trace. Tracing an email often produces a user’s IP, as you can find out where the email was originally sent from. Use the email header and the email header analyzer tool to inspect the message and determine its locational origins. From there, you can determine its IP address.
  • Through a chat program such as Facebook Messenger or Skype. Though this method isn’t always successful – in our tests, it ended up returning the IP address of Facebook instead of the IP address of the user – it’s theoretically possible to get someone’s IP address through chat programs. In an active chat session on a peer-to-peer, WebRTC-facilitated program, you can use the netstat command to ping the real-time connection and get an IP.
  • Through a website. If the user owns a website, you can ping the IP address of the website or perform a DNS lookup to get the IP of the site. This won’t get you the user’s exact IP, but it will potentially give you more information about them and their location.

Why trace someone's IP address?

IP addresses provide a decent amount of user information, so it makes sense that someone might want to trace another’s IP. Finding someone’s IP address lets you create a secure network connection, block or add them to a blacklist, and, in some cases, find their general physical location.

Can you find a Facebook user with their IP address?

But typically, when it comes to social media, people want the IP address of a Facebook user because that user is harassing them, and they want to trace the user. If this is the case, don’t try to get the user’s IP address; block them and report them to Facebook without responding.

If they threaten you, document the incidents and report them to Facebook, and, if necessary, get local law enforcement involved. Harassment situations, whether online or in real life, are serious and deserve to be treated as such. Attempting to get back at a user via social media platforms won't truly help. Instead, take the proper precautions and proper steps to report someone when they attempt to harass you.

Improve your own Facebook privacy

Whether you’re experiencing harassment or just want to find someone’s IP from Facebook, you may want to optimize your own Facebook privacy to protect yourself and avoid harassment. If you’re looking for a user’s IP address on Facebook, someone could be doing the same to you.

Users have more control over their Facebook accounts than they often realize; to maximize your Facebook privacy, consider limiting who sees your posts and removing your account from online searches. These simple steps go a long way. You can also learn how to spot and to avoid Facebook scams in order to keep yourself and your information even more protected.

In short, if you want to know how to find someone's IP address on Facebook - you can't. Though you may be able to trace an IP address to a Facebook user if you're an Internet service provider, a Facebook user IP address trace would require information Facebook can't give you. However, if you truly do want to know someone's IP address, try the methods listed above.

Frequently asked questions

Can you trace a Facebook account to find an IP address?

Though Facebook knows users' IP address based on device information, no, you as a fellow user can't trace a Facebook account to find someone's IP address.

Can you track an IP address from Facebook messenger?

Unlike tracing an IP from a Facebook account, yes, it's possible to track an IP address from Facebook messenger if you receive a message from someone through the platform. Using the tracert command, you may be able to ping the sender and determine their IP address.