How to Find a Facebook ID (FBID) and Use It in OSINT Investigations
February 2026
A Facebook ID (FBID) is a numeric (numbers only) or alphanumeric (numbers and letters) ID that allows Facebook to sort and call the massive amount of data within the platform. Everything has a Facebook ID, which is why it is a necessity for anyone who wants to take their Facebook OSINT seriously. Unlike other platforms, the way that data and information are entered into a profile is unique. Facebook allows for user to enter names, locations, both past and present, education information, employment information, relatives, and many other personal details, all of which are connected by Facebook IDs (FBIDS). When you entered a current or former city or residence, you are connecting to the FBID for those specific cities. The same goes for any education or employment information you entered; you just created a link to those specific entities and their Facebook IDs (FBIDS).
Where Do Facebook IDs Exist?
The direct answer is that they exist everyone on Facebook. We won't cover every single way and Facebook IDs (FBIDS) are utilized, but it is crucial to understand that everything in the Facebook network has an FBID, all of them are unique, and even more important is that they never ever change. We briefly discuss this in our blog post Why Social Media Profile IDs Matter for OSINT Investigations. The fact that FBIDs never change is not only important from a research and investigative perspective, but it's also crucial to document this information from an evidentiary perspective. Below is a table of some ways in which FBIDs are used and what they represent. We will use a random public profile as an example. Feel free to take any blue-highlighted FBID, add it to https://www.facebook.com/, and be redirected to the specific piece of content. When we are using FBIDs we are no longer searching, we are querying data.
Object | Example | Link (FBID in blue) |
|---|---|---|
User Profile | Person’s account | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081896833928 |
Post | Timeline post | https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0gzuQeYdeEB615AhGNESz7grB175nBgmmEYSDMrgEuSEZ8Hhfftcewe8Xq1DQWXpKl |
Comment | Comment made on any content | https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0gzuQeYdeEB615AhGNESz7grB175nBgmmEYSDMrgEuSEZ8Hhfftcewe8Xq1DQWXpKl&id=100081896833928&comment_id=2038845449942367&reply_comment_id=536186122845499 |
Photo | Any uploaded image | https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=104947048911856 |
Album | Collection of photos | https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.104947232245171 |
Event | Facebook event | https://www.facebook.com/events/861414299195328 |
Group | Public or private group | https://www.facebook.com/groups/439954575236999/ |
Reel/Video | Media object | https://www.facebook.com/reel/860141476799412 |
Marketplace | Listing in Facebook marketplace | https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/707032501391968 |
How To Find Facebook IDs For Profiles & Pages
In general, Facebook IDs (FBIDS) are visible in the URL. The exception to that, however, is finding the FBID for a profile or page. Profiles and pages can have one of three display types in the URL.
- https://www.facebook.com/100081896833928
- https://www.facebook.com/john.doe
- https://www.facebook.com/johndoerules247365
If you encounter URLs that look like option 2 or 3, here is a step by step guide on how to locate the FBID profile or page.
- Right click and view page source
- For profiles search for "userID" and for page search for "page_id"
- Take the numerical number and add it to https://www.facebook.com/(insert number here)
How Can You Identify Facebook IDs?
Looking at some of the above examples, you can see variation and combinations of FBIDs. Let's take the URL for the post, which has a FBID of pfbid0gzuQeYdeEB615AhGNESz7grB175nBgmmEYSDMrgEuSEZ8Hhfftcewe8Xq1DQWXpKl. The post itself was from our test profile, and the example we used as a comment was not an original comment, it was a reply. When we look at that specific URL, we see not one, but four separate FBIDS disclosed in the URL.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0gzuQeYdeEB615AhGNESz7grB175nBgmmEYSDMrgEuSEZ8Hhfftcewe8Xq1DQWXpKl&id=100081896833928&comment_id=2038845449942367&reply_comment_id=536186122845499
- pfbid0gzuQeYdeEB615AhGNESz7grB175nBgmmEYSDMrgEuSEZ8Hhfftcewe8Xq1DQWXpKl - the FBID of the original post
- 100081896833928 - the FBID of the profile that made the original post
- 2038845449942367 - the FBID of the comment on the post
- 536186122845499 - the FBID of the reply that was made to the comment
The ability to understand that the URL is more than just a URL, and that there are very important pieces of evidence and data contained within, go a long way in understanding what you are looking at. Proper documentation of URLs is also extremely important, as, once again, none of these FBIDs will change or be associated with anything else other than these specific pieces of content.
Another example where this layered FBID approach exists is with photos, specifically photos in a photo album. Using the same profile, we have this URL to a photo - https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=104947048911856&set=a.104947232245171. We can see the FBID 104947048911856for the photo itself and FBID of 104947232245171 for the album in which the photo comes from.
Facebook Sub-Profiles (Marketplace & Groups)
A Facebook account does not operate as a single profile. Each account also has a Marketplace sub-profile that stores all commerce activity. This sub-profile can be accessed directly using the user’s FBID.
The structure is consistent:https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/profile/FBID
Using the test profile (FBID: 100081896833928), the Marketplace profile becomes:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/profile/100081896833928
This page reveals a consolidated view of every Marketplace listing created by the user, including listing status and pricing metadata. Instead of manually locating individual listings, investigators can immediately enumerate all commercial activity associated with the account. This significantly reduces discovery time and improves completeness of results.
The test profile we are utilizing is also a member of a group, a common occurrence in Facebook. For every group someone is a member of, they have a sub-profile that is specific to that group. That means if someone is a member of five groups, they have five separate sub-profiles. In the FBID chart above, we identified a group, and our test profile is a member of the group. To locate the sub-profile, simply navigate to the member section, search for the person, and click their name. The URL should look just like this - https://www.facebook.com/groups/439954575236999/user/100081896833928, as it contains the FBID for the group itself (439954575236999) and the FBID of the profile that is a member (100081896833928). These sub-profiles for groups, much like the sub-profile for a marketplace, aggregate the data from the group for this specific user. Details about the person's group involvement, photos they posted, and posts they made to the group all become immediately available when utilizing this sub-profile.
Advanced Facebook Searching Using FBIDs
FBIDs also improve the reliability of Facebook searching. While Facebook’s general search is limited, profile-level search remains structured and predictable. By combining a profile FBID with search parameters, investigators can locate activity that does not appear on the visible timeline. Facebook encodes search filters using URL parameters (including Base64-encoded values), allowing results to be constrained by keywords and date ranges.
The basic profile search structure is:https://www.facebook.com/profile/FBID/search?q=KEYWORD
Using the test profile (FBID: 100081896833928) and the keyword Paul: https://www.facebook.com/profile/100081896833928/search?q=paul
This returns posts across multiple years. Investigators can refine results to isolate specific time periods or topics, making profile search an efficient method for identifying historical activity without manually reviewing the entire timeline.
Let's start by picking 2026 as our search year. When we do that, the URL changes pretty drastically. Selecting the year adds a filter that is really just Base64.
- https://www.facebook.com/profile/100081896833928/search?q=paul&filters=eyJycF9jcmVhdGlvbl90aW1lOjAiOiJ7XCJuYW1lXCI6XCJjcmVhdGlvbl90aW1lXCIsXCJhcmdzXCI6XCJ7XFxcInN0YXJ0X3llYXJcXFwiOlxcXCIyMDI2XFxcIixcXFwic3RhcnRfbW9udGhcXFwiOlxcXCIyMDI2LTFcXFwiLFxcXCJlbmRfeWVhclxcXCI6XFxcIjIwMjZcXFwiLFxcXCJlbmRfbW9udGhcXFwiOlxcXCIyMDI2LTEyXFxcIixcXFwic3RhcnRfZGF5XFxcIjpcXFwiMjAyNi0xLTFcXFwiLFxcXCJlbmRfZGF5XFxcIjpcXFwiMjAyNi0xMi0zMVxcXCJ9XCJ9In0%3D
When we go to a website to break that code down (in bold above), this is what data is behind the curtain.
- {"rp_creation_time:0":"{\"name\":\"creation_time\",\"args\":\"{\\\"start_year\\\":\\\"2026\\\",\\\"start_month\\\":\\\"2026-1\\\",\\\"end_year\\\":\\\"2026\\\",\\\"end_month\\\":\\\"2026-12\\\",\\\"start_day\\\":\\\"2026-1-1\\\",\\\"end_day\\\":\\\"2026-12-31\\\"}\"}"}
As you can see, we now understand what the filter is actually doing, and we can use that to our advantage. We can now modify the date to our liking, encode the new parameters, replace the filter code, and now have customized search results based on our defined date range. Let's say we wanted to search 2025 to present, our new data would look like this
- {"rp_creation_time:0":"{\"name\":\"creation_time\",\"args\":\"{\\\"start_year\\\":\\\"2025\\\",\\\"start_month\\\":\\\"2025-1\\\",\\\"end_year\\\":\\\"2026\\\",\\\"end_month\\\":\\\"2026-12\\\",\\\"start_day\\\":\\\"2025-1-1\\\",\\\"end_day\\\":\\\"2026-12-31\\\"}\"}"}
And the new encoded Base64 would look like this. Copy the below URL and see for yourself. You will see results for 2025 and 2026 only.
- https://www.facebook.com/profile/100081896833928/search?q=paul&filters=eyJycF9jcmVhdGlvbl90aW1lOjAiOiJ7XCJuYW1lXCI6XCJjcmVhdGlvbl90aW1lXCIsXCJhcmdzXCI6XCJ7XFxcInN0YXJ0X3llYXJcXFwiOlxcXCIyMDI1XFxcIixcXFwic3RhcnRfbW9udGhcXFwiOlxcXCIyMDI1LTFcXFwiLFxcXCJlbmRfeWVhclxcXCI6XFxcIjIwMjZcXFwiLFxcXCJlbmRfbW9udGhcXFwiOlxcXCIyMDI2LTEyXFxcIixcXFwic3RhcnRfZGF5XFxcIjpcXFwiMjAyNS0xLTFcXFwiLFxcXCJlbmRfZGF5XFxcIjpcXFwiMjAyNi0xMi0zMVxcXCJ9XCJ9In0%3D
TOOLS
At Social Hunter we can't stress enough that we believe that tradecraft comes first. That does not mean that we are against tools in any way, we use plenty of them here, however that does mean that we want to ensure that, to the best of our ability, you can do the same that that these tools do. Tools disappear, stop working, or go behind a paywall. Know how they work ensures your investigations can maintain their quality when (not if) that happens. Below are a few tools that can assist with performing the above.
- Find a profile, group of page ID - https://lookup-id.com/#
- Customize your search date range - https://www.sowsearch.info/
That concludes our guide on Facebook IDs and how they can be used to uncover deeper activity on the platform. This article is part of our ongoing education series, where we break down real investigative techniques used in SOCMINT and OSINT work. We hope it gave you practical insight into how small technical details can reveal much larger patterns. If there’s a topic or platform you’d like us to explore next, feel free to submit a request through our blog page.
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