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Formulas for
FA C E B O O K M A T R I X
Searching
Facebook
THIS IS A LIVING DOCUMENT AND IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING, CHECK BACK
OFTEN
Manually get a Facebook
ID Facebook Directory
Facebook changes the ways to get ID numbers in the
URL periodically, although they are often still visible in The everchanging set of Facebook directories can be
certain page URLs, such as profile photos. The best way used to find items that seem unsearchable by browsing
to consistently get an ID manually is via the source code. alphabetically.
Note that you do not have to be logged in to get the
FBID. • https://www.facebook.com/directory/places
(https://www.facebook.com/directory/places)
On the main page of any user profile, right click on • https://www.facebook.com/places
unused space. Use ctrl+U (command+option+U on OSX) (https://www.facebook.com/places)
or in the right click menu, choose “View Page Source”.
• https://www.facebook.com/directory/people
(https://www.facebook.com/directory/people)
*Search for: container_id for user IDs and
associated_page_id for Page IDs • https://www.facebook.com/directory/pages
(https://www.facebook.com/directory/pages)
Test it by typing facebook.com/ and adding the ID • https://www.facebook.com/directory/groups
number. If correct, it should get back to wherever you (https://www.facebook.com/directory/groups) (not
were, be it a page, group, or profile. working currently)
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/discover
Note that in some cases the group or user page ID will (https://www.facebook.com/groups/discover)
be in the original URL. For a "place”, it will always be in
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/work-
the URL.
position/
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/work-
To get the POSTID, follow the instructions as to get a
position/)
USERID, but on the post permanent link (accessed by the
date link) and look for post_id • https://www.facebook.com/directory/marketplace
(https://www.facebook.com/directory/marketplace)
There is a common source code bug on Facebook (and (not working)
Instagram). If your source code searches are not • https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/
highlighting correctly, you can’t copy and paste the ID# (https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/)
correctly. Click through to this video for a solution.
• https://www.facebook.com/directory/events/
(https://youtu.be/mBA_ca2a4MY)
(https://www.facebook.com/directory/events/) (not
working)
• https://www.facebook.com/events
(https://www.facebook.com/events)
• https://www.facebook.com/games/instantgames/
(https://www.facebook.com/games/instantgames/)
• and definitely more …
To find more potential lists like this, consider testing
/directory/ or /discover/ before or after keywords following facebook.com. Additionally, a
site:facebook.com/directory/ or site:facebook.com/*/discover search may find more options.
Searching using Facebook’s native search and
advanced techniques/tools
Currently, the best search techniques to use on Facebook vary depending on what you are searching. There are a
variety of search options.
NATIVE SEARCH
Facebook’s native search can be very effect and, in some cases, more effective than searching using third party tools
or convoluted techniques. For example, probably the most efficient way (currently) to search for photos a person has
been tagged in (even if they removed the tag) is to search for photos of a certain person. This is strangely dependent
on filters at times. In some cases, when adding a filter such as a location or a source, you can gain much more data.
We suggest mapping out the user’s page before attempting this search so that there are multiple ways to filter through
friends and locations.
Basic tips for using the native Facebook search:
• Choose the search result desire from the topical tabs on the top of the search result page, such as Posts, People,
Pages, etc
• Search filters change by topic, so take a look at any topics that may match your search for different options
• When using the filters, changing your search query in the search box will clear out the filters. If you want to keep
them, in most cases, changing the search query in the URL will work
○ https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/?q=holiday&epa=FILTERS&filters= (this link does not work
and is for example only)
○ https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/?q=christmas&epa=FILTERS&filters= (this link does not work
and is for example only)
• MORE COMING - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
FACEBOOK SEARCH TOOLS
A number of search tools are available to help navigate the Facebook search. They replicate the current search
capability with interfaces that guide searching which may, in some cases, seem easier to use. Additionally, they allow
for searching using the ID number, while the native Facebook search will only give a limited number of matching items.
For example, if you are trying to add a user named Mike Smith to the filters, you may not see the exact user you are
trying to add as one of those suggested by Facebook in the native search, but the following tools will allow the exact
ID to be used.
• Sowsearch (https://www.sowsearch.info)
• IntelX (https://intelx.io/tools?tab=facebook)
• WhoPostedWhat (https://whopostedwhat.com/)
• Graph.tips (https://graph.tips/beta/)
• OSINTCombine (https://www.osintcombine.com/facebook-search-tools)
Usage tips:
• Double check your results. We have seen some false results come through. This is true of any tool though.
• Maybe sure you clicked to add the filters in most of these tools. This can be previewed near or below the link to
conduct the search
JSON TO BASE6 4 TRANSL ATION
Instructions from Nemec: https://gist.github.com/nemec/2ba8afa589032f20e2d6509512381114
(https://gist.github.com/nemec/2ba8afa589032f20e2d6509512381114)
Our (hopefully) easy to read primer: https://plessas.net/blog/2019/8/14/facebook-searching
(https://plessas.net/blog/2019/8/14/facebook-searching)
OSINTCurious: Part 1 (https://osintcurio.us/2019/08/22/the-new-facebook-graph-search-part-1/) and Part 2
(https://osintcurio.us/2019/08/22/the-new-facebook-graph-search-part-2/)
Facebook uses ID numbers for everything in the system. If the string includes an ID number, a placeholder such as
(PLACEID), (PAGEID), or (USERID) will be present in the below matrix and should be replaced with an ID number.
Variables below are noted in bold.
Disclaimers:
• These searches can be blocked by making full use of Facebook privacy options.
• Facebook is constantly changing so some of these that worked yesterday may not work today and yet might still
work tomorrow.
• This page is best viewed on, and the URLs are best used on laptops/desktops
Use the following JSON strings in a JSON to Base64 translation tool. Copy the output, start a Facebook search with
the appropriate filters (posts, people, photos, pages, etc) and select another subfilter to get the URL set up. Delete the
content after “filters=” and replace with your generated BASE64 code.
Translation tools:
• https://www.base64encode.org/ (https://www.base64encode.org/)
• https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef (https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef/#recipe=To_Base64('A-Za-z0-
9%2B/%3D'))
If you want to find… Use this JSON string
People who have indicated
they live in a certain place on {"city":"{\"name\":\"users_location\",\"args\":\"PLACEID\"}"}
Facebook
People who have identified
that they attend(ed) a certain {"school":"{\"name\":\"users_school\",\"args\":\"PAGEID\"}"}
educational facility
People who have identified
that they work for a certain {"employer":"{\"name\":\"users_employer\",\"args\":\"PAGEID\"}"}
employer on Facebook
A list of the user's friends
(ready to be combined with
other filters). Results will {"friends":"
have open friendslists only. {\"name\":\"users_friends_of_people\",\"args\":\"USERID\"}"}
Results page will not have an
indication of filter used.
Posts, videos, or photos
(choose via search tab) from {"rp_group":"{\"name\":\"group_posts\",\"args\":\"GROUPID\"}"}
a group
Posts, videos, or photos
(choose via search tab) a {"rp_author":"{\"name\":\"author\",\"args\":\"PAGEID\"}"}
user or page has posted
Posts, videos, or photos
(choose via search tab) {"rp_location":"{\"name\":\"location\",\"args\":\"PLACEID\"}"}
tagged to a location
Recent {"rp_chrono_sort":"{\"name\":\"chronosort\",\"args\":\"\"}"}
{"rp_creation_time":"{\"name\":\"creation_time\",\"args\":\"
Posts, videos, or photos {\\\"start_year\\\":\\\"2019\\\",\\\"start_month\\\":\\\"2019-
(choose via search tab) on 8\\\",\\\"end_year\\\":\\\"2019\\\",\\\"end_month\\\":\\\"2019-
an exact date 9\\\",\\\"start_day\\\":\\\"2019-1-10\\\",\\\"end_day\\\":\\\"2019-09-
01\\\"}\"}"}
Facebook Live {"videos_source":"{\"name\":\"videos_live\",\"args\":\"\"}"}
Verified Pages {"verified":"{\"name\":\"pages_verified\",\"args\":\"\"}"}
Combination search (note the
one set of outer braces are
surrounding the whole query
and there is a comma in
between parts of the query
where the outer braces from {"school":"
individual searches met): {\"name\":\"users_school\",\"args\":\"PAGEID\"}","employer":"
People who have identified {\"name\":\"users_employer\",\"args\":\"PAGEID\"}"}
that they attend(ed) a certain
educational facility and who
have identified that they
work(ed) for a certain
employer on Facebook
UNIQUE GRAPH URLS
The following URL works only on your own account, however you do not have to be friends with the second user. This
will show friends in common, posts and photos in common, and any other linking data, such as hometowns, schools,
etc.
facebook.com/friendship/USERID/USERID
The following URL will find mutual friends who have public friendslists as long as one of the users searched has a public
friendslist (note: appears to have been changed to only work with the user’s own account at the moment)
facebook.com/browse/mutual_friends/?uid=USERID&node=USERID
The following URL will find mutual friends who are fans of a business/fan page
https://www.facebook.com/browse/friended_fans_of/?page_id=PAGEID
The following URL will find pages liked by a person
https://www.facebook.com/browse/fanned_pages/?id=USERID
The following URL will find pages liked by a page
https://www.facebook.com/browse/fanned_pages/?id=PAGEID
The following URL will show people who have shared a specific post
https://mbasic.facebook.com/browse/shares?id=POSTID
Searching a user’s profile for a topic - may bring back content from other accessible places in Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/profile/<USERID>/search/?q=<question>
Reviewing a user’s timeline by year (click “timeline” and scroll down)
https://mbasic.facebook.com/<USERID or USERNAME>
Viewing via the mobile interface (great for accessing video download capability)
https://mbasic.facebook.com/<VIDEOID>
View someone’s current and past marketplace listings (sort to all listings). Tip from Ritu Gill at ForensicOSINT
(https://ForensicOSINT.com)
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/profile/<USERID>
USEFUL GOOGLE SEARCHES
site:facebook.com inurl:safetycheck inurl:(identifyingkeyword) (https://www.google.com/search?
q=site%3Afacebook.com%20inurl%3Asafetycheck%20inurl%3Ahurricane) This search will find the safety check-in
page for major events in which Facebook has given users the ability to mark themselves as in the area but safe
site:facebook.com inurl:(first name) inurl:(last name) (https://www.google.com/search?
q=site%3Afacebook.com%20inurl%3Amike%20inurl%3Ajones) This search allows the ability to search for a user that
may have changed their display name on Facebook but may have left the auto-generated username in place.
site:facebook.com/places/Things-to-do-in (city name) (https://www.google.com/search?
q=site%3Afacebook.com%2Fplaces%2FThings-to-do-in%20austin) This search will find the auto-generated page for
any municipality that Facebook user's have identified in their profiles. This will have a PLACEID that can be used in
searches.
site:facebook.com/pages/(non-city place name) region -inurl:region (https://www.google.com/search?
q=site%3Afacebook.com%2Fpages%2Fmexico%20region%20-inurl%3Aregion) This search may find the non-city
places, like states or countries, that will also have PLACEID to use in searches.
site:facebook.com "medium geo area" (non-city place name) (https://www.google.com/search?
q=site%3Afacebook.com%20%22medium%20geo%20area%22%20orange%20county) This search will find the non-
city places that are smaller than states or countries, such as counties, that will also have PLACEID to use in searches.
WHEN EVERY THING CHANGES…
I intend to keep this up as much as possible, but when things change, check out the following links for resources on
how to update your searches:
• OSINTCurious crew: https://osintcurio.us/ (https://osintcurio.us/)
• Nemec - https://gist.github.com/nemec/ (https://gist.github.com/nemec/)
• Sowdust - https://github.com/sowdust (https://github.com/sowdust)
• Boolean Strings Blog - https://booleanstrings.com/ (https://booleanstrings.com/)
Let us help you
navigate the
languages and
technologies of
the internet.
home (/home) | about (/about) | online training (/online- Plessas Experts Network (PEN) is a
training) (/clients)| news (/blog) | events (/events) | policies disabled veteran, woman owned
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investigations. PEN clients include
(202) 684-8101 |
[email protected] multi-national corporations, small
13800 Coppermine Road, Herndon, VA 20171 businesses, federal, state and local
law enforcement agencies, and
international law enforcement
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