How do you find an old phone number and update your contacts if they are out of date?
Have you ever wanted to find an old phone number for a business or an individual? If you don’t still have the number written down anywhere and you’re trying to get in contact with somebody you used to know, you might be interested in doing this, but not sure how to do it.
You can find old phone numbers using things like online directories and phone books. You can also use social media sites and public records searches, reverse phone lookup tools, and similar apps. There are lots of clever methods, so you don’t have to just give up if you’ve lost a number you meant to keep.
With that in mind, let’s start figuring out how you can find old numbers!
Online Directories And Phone Books
Online directories and phone books will often have old phone numbers stored. One of the first things you should do is check to see whether you have an old phone book in your home – especially if you think you’re likely to. A phone book will often have lots of old business numbers and the numbers of private individuals listed in it, so it’s a great starting point.
To look somebody up in a phone book, you need to find the individual’s name and number listed within the book. Most books are organized alphabetically, or categorized by business (if appropriate).
If the number isn’t there, you’ll have to try an online directory or an online phone book. There are lots of these, and they offer a quick and easy solution for finding somebody’s phone number.
Some of them will also let you enter an old number and find the name associated with it, which we’ll cover in more detail later.
Some great options for finding phone numbers online include:
- AnyWho
- 50States
- 411
- Consolidated Communications
For most of these, you can simply enter the name of the person you are trying to get a number for, although some ask for more information (such as city and state) to increase the chances of you getting relevant, up-to-date information on the person you’re looking for.
Of course, it’s important to remember that whenever you look this sort of thing up online, you may come across inaccuracies, or you may struggle to get the information you want. There’s no guarantee that what you’ll find will be up-to-date and correct.
On the whole, phone books and online directories offer you one of the best options for finding old phone numbers, but they aren’t the only resources out there. If none of these are giving you the information you want, though, you might be wondering what’s next.
Social Media And Networking Sites
Another option to try involves using social media or networking sites to look up phone numbers and get more information. This can be trickier, but it’s an avenue that’s still worth exploring.
There are many ways to find phone numbers using social media sites, although it’s not usually as straightforward as using a phone directory. If you know the name of the person or business you are looking for, most sites will let you search by name – and then you can check if a phone number is listed for that person or business.
Some of the sites you can use in this way include:
Put in the name of the individual you are trying to find, and see if anything comes up. They may have a number available next to their name.
These sites also generally allow people to make themselves searchable by phone numbers. If a person has chosen to do this, entering the number into the search should bring up their profile, even if the profile doesn’t publicly display the phone number (this is the case on Twitter).
Note that not all of these sites will show you phone numbers, depending on the user’s settings and the site’s structure. However, it’s still worth trying!
Public Records Searches
Another option for finding old phone numbers is to search through public records. These are open for anyone to access, and they are generally easy to search through, so this can be a great way to get an old number you’ve lost.
Some options include:
- Staterecords.org
- Peoplepublicrecords.org
- Ussearch.com
- Backgroundchecks.org
Most of these sources will let you simply search for a person using their name and state. Note that you will generally need to know the state, as this helps to narrow down who you are looking for (since there are likely to be many people with that name in the United States).
Note that for most of these sites, you will need to sign up to the site to get access to the records that they hold. However, this is usually straightforward and doesn’t cost anything. You just need to enter your name and email address, and then verify your account, and you should gain access to the information you’re looking for.
Of course, not every site will have access to identical databases, so it’s worth trying more than one if you don’t get the information you need from the first one you access. One may have more comprehensive information than the others.
You could also try slight variations of the name you are looking for to see if they are entered in a different way. Use full names where you can, since this is what people are most likely to appear as in public records data.
Reverse Phone Lookup Tools
Reverse phone lookup tools may also help you to identify old numbers. There are lots of popular reverse phone lookup tools, including:
- CocoLookup
- BeenVerified
- Spokeo
- AnyWho
- Number Tracker Pro
In most cases, all you need to do to make use of these tools is open the site and enter the number you want to look up into the search. It will then search through its databases, and give you information about who called, including their name, and sometimes other information (such as an address).
There’s no guarantee that the information is completely accurate, but this is a great way to find out who’s calling you, or who owns an old number in your address book that you can’t figure out. You will get their name, the name of their carrier, their address, and sometimes even their relationship status. Of course, Number Tracker Pro won’t always have all of this information, but it often has a lot.
You can search anonymously, and one of the best things about this service is that it has a deep search feature that will give you a list of all the other phone numbers associated with the individual you’re searching for.
That means that if you’ve got an old number that’s no longer of any use, but is still associated with that person, you may be able to get their current number just by looking up the old one. This is ideal if you’ve lost touch with somebody and you need to get back into contact, but you don’t know how.
A lot of people find this a particularly useful tool and use it to reconnect with old friends or get the current number of a business that they used to deal with. It’s super quick and easy and can be one of the fastest ways to get more information about an old number.
If you only have a current number, you may be able to use the same method to get an old number, provided it’s in the database. There’s no guarantee that this will work, but it’s worth a try if you’re struggling!
Additionally, this app works worldwide, with all types of phones and networks. It makes use of public listings, white papers, databases, portals, and more, meaning it has a lot of information at its disposal and it is likely to be able to get you what you need. The most extensive information tends to be associated with US numbers, but it does work internationally.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are lots of ways you can find old phone numbers, with social media searches, online directories (or even old phone books), public records, and phone lookup tools offering a number of resources to tap into. If you struggle to find the contact on one of these tools, try some of the others.
Even if you do find the information, it can be a good idea to use multiple resources, as this can help to increase the accuracy of the information you get.
However, you should be a little cautious about searching for personal information, and remember to be aware that there is no guarantee of accuracy. Although these resources use as many different sources as possible to increase the accuracy of the information they show, it’s still possible to come across misinformation.
Always attempt to verify what you find if you can, and you should soon have access to the contacts you have lost – even if it’s a long time since you got in touch with them! Sign up for our reverse phone lookup app today.