How to Find Nearby People on Instagram: 7 Methods

Do you want to find people nearby on Instagram to connect or network with? Are you looking to make new friends in a new city, find out if your partner is lying about where they are, or want to look out for your loved ones? Finding people nearby on Instagram can help in numerous ways; it can be great for locating people you want to add to your leads. It is also helpful in meeting new people in your proximity, finding out where your kid is hanging out without telling you, or even catching criminals with these clues.

However, searching for the correct method can be a challenge due to the lack of a direct process on Instagram and an overwhelming choice of workarounds. Therefore, I tested multiple methods and found the 7 most reliable tricks that can help locate nearby people on Instagram. You can now go through the contents of this article and select the most suitable one for your requirements.

Disclaimer: Guru99 does not support finding individuals nearby using Instagram for any malicious intent. This article is purely for educational purposes; user privacy must be respected at all times.

Method 1: Using Anonymous Instagram Viewer Apps

Using an anonymous Instagram viewer is best for guardians who want to monitor their kids without making them uncomfortable. People who are genuinely interested in someone but do not want to come off as creepy or legal teams digging for clues can also use this trick. On a side note, if you suspect your partner of cheating and assume that they could have been hiding their stories from you, then such apps could be your solution. However, be mindful of your local laws and respect user privacy while using them.

1) Peekviewer

Peekviewer is a popular anonymous story viewer. It helps you watch stories of both public and private accounts. You can also track videos, get detailed post information, and analyze plus track their activities. People who want to gather proof can also download the content. I monitored multiple accounts with it, which kept me updated about where each of my twins were, by just viewing their stories.

Here’s a step-by-step on how I use it:

Step 1) Go to https://peekviewer.com/, tap on Watch Now, select if you want to watch Open or Private account, and process by hitting Next.

Step 2) Type the username or add the profile’s URL, tap on Watch @———-, and start tracking.

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Method 2: Using Username Lookup sites

Username lookup sites can help you find out if a certain someone on Instagram that you are interested in lives nearby. These username look-up tools can uncover a person’s current and past addresses without notifying them. The only problem with these sites could be privacy breaches and potential inaccuracies. To avoid this, use them with caution by reading their privacy policy and cross-checking with similar tools.

1) Spokeo

Spokeo is a people look-up service with billions of records that can scan over 120 social networks. It has a unique username look-up service, which is perfect for finding an Instagram user’s location. Managing content on several platforms, I had to connect with IG influencers for a specific project. However, they didn’t have locations on their bios and mostly posted travel pictures. Therefore, to determine their address, I looked them up and found their current residency because I didn’t want to waste my pitch on individuals outside our target zone.

How to use Spokeo, step-by-step:

Step 1) Go to https://www.spokeo.com/, add the username, and tap on Search.

Step 2) Allow it to complete the search, then click on Unlock Full Result and view the address history.

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2) Social Catfish

Social Catfish is another reliable username lookup site that can offer complete address details. It has 200 billion records in its database that help verify identities, cross-check the background of a person, etc. I used it to verify a person I connected with at work when I moved newly to LA. She seemed genuine, but I decided to look her up anyway using her IG username and found her full accurate address. Hence, you can use it for any Instagram username; however, there’s a chance of incomplete details at times. Do cross-check with other sites to verify.

Here’s how I used Social Catfish step-by-step:

Step 1) Go to https://socialcatfish.com/, select the Username option, add the username you want to look up, and hit Search.

Step 2) Allow the tool to search the data; once the search is complete, it will ask for your email ID. Enter your email address and tap on View Full Report to get the details.

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Method 3: Using the Instagram Search Button

Using the Instagram search button is one of the most straightforward ways to find nearby people on IG. If you have newly moved to a city for work or higher studies and want to explore the crowd in your area, this could be a helpful start. I also found it quite useful for finding nearby individuals in specific cafes, breweries, clubhouses, etc.

Before we proceed, I’d like you to know that you will not be able to view posts from private accounts using this trick. The other issue is that the search results may include outdated information. For example, it might show temporary residents and people who have moved out of your city or hung out in a particular club months ago. Therefore, I also suggest following the local community, hangout spot pages, or influencers in your area to find mutual connections. These profiles are more likely to upload recent content and images.

Using Places Option

The first option is to use the places category in the search bar.

Here’s a step-by-step on how to do it:

Step 1) Go to Instagram’s search bar, type the name of a place, and go to the Places option. For example, Los Angeles, a specific restaurant or club, etc.

Step 2) This will give you locations to choose from; select the right variation of the place. You will now see numerous profiles that have tagged this place. There is also a map on the top to view stories and highlights of people that help search the area itself. You can also check the time or date to see when it was posted.

Using Tags Option

The tags category is also a good way to find nearby people.

Here’s a step-by-step demonstration:

Step 1) Just go to the search bar and type the name of the location. You can either go to the Tags option or directly use a hashtag such as #losangeles and select what you want from the options.

Step 2) You will then find posts and reels that used this tag in their posts.

Note: Use the Search Option and not the Meta AI Search for above method to work.

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Method 4: Checking Recent Stories and Posts

This method is best for people who you already follow on Instagram. It is also an easy trick to apply on open accounts. Checking their recent stories and posts can tell you where they live or where they are.

Just tap on their stories and watch them, or go to their recent posts and see what location they have tagged. You can also view location stickers in stories, if any, and check their highlights and tagged posts to investigate further.

However, they may not always reveal their location in their stories. In such cases, look for landmarks and weather. Go through their profile and find out if they have posted a location several times which looks familiar. In addition, check if the stories posted have the same time of the day as yours. For example, is it an evening in their location with the same sunset hue, etc? These might seem very trivial, but you’ll be surprised to know that it’s actually how I met my favorite blogger in LA because I was keen on networking and wanted to attend the Revolve festival happening in Palm Springs.

Method 5: Checking their Bio

A significant number of users on Instagram put their location on their bio, which is why I have found this method reliable most of the time. This is the quickest method that you can use by simply checking their bio.

Here are a few examples:

However, not everyone mentions their location in the bio, and some could be lying to maintain a facade on Instagram. Hence, check their posts, stories, or highlights for location clues. Additionally, cross-check with tagged locations in their posts or stories.

Method 6: Using Reverse Image Lookup

The reverse image lookup may not provide direct answers, but I won’t sell it short. This method is quite helpful in identifying locations or landmarks that the person could be standing next to or in front of in their posts.

Since they can scan specific elements of an image, I used them and found out that a guy my friend had a crush on lived just 3 blocks away from her. However, it can be a challenge as these tools tend to provide similar-looking images and overwhelm the user. To avoid this confusion, I suggest using their built-in cropping tool carefully to look up elements in the pictures and cross-check with other reverse image look-up sites.

1) Google Images

Google Images is incredibly helpful for reverse image look up. Its incomprehensible amount of data that gets updated multiple times in a day is what makes it reliable.

Here’s how I used it:

Step 1) Visit https://images.google.com/, upload or browse, or drag and drop the image you need to reverse search. Then crop the location if the reverse search immediately doesn’t show related results, as shown below.

Step 2) This will bring up the location information with similar images.

Link: https://images.google.com/

2) Bing Visual Search

Bing Visual Search is also a powerful reverse image look up tool that can help you find location details. I have used it several times to find aesthetic cafes when I travel using influencer images.

Here’s how you can use it:

Step 1) Go to https://www.bing.com/visualsearch , upload the image, or drag and drop the picture.

Step 2) The related images might not always be accurate, so tap on the visual search option and crop to find better results.

Link: https://www.bing.com/visualsearch

Method 7: Asking Mutual Friends

Asking mutual friends politely about an individual is also a helpful method for finding nearby people on Instagram. If you want to know about a certain someone, ask your mutual by sliding it in between conversations. You can also ask them if they know anyone on Instagram who lives nearby. It is not a very personal question; hence, you don’t have to worry about looking suspicious. However, if they seem uncomfortable with such inquiry anyway, respect their privacy and do not push it further.

How does Instagram recommend accounts based on location?

Did you know that you can find people nearby on Instagram based on the accounts that the IG shows in the “Suggested For You” section? Being a religious user of Instagram for nearly a decade, I noticed that it recommends accounts based on location by using a combination of factors. These factors include your usual activity within your geographic area, your device’s IP address, and location tags you engage with on posts. Instagram processes this information to show accounts that are relevant to your location or a place you usually post from. It also helps the app to feed you with personalized content, such as events, newly opened restaurants, influencers, etc., in your area on your timeline.

Therefore, do not ignore when you see profiles in “Suggested for you”, as these could be the accounts of people who reside in your locality.

FAQs

The accuracy of the “nearby feature” relies on various factors. Your location settings, how it was used, device IP address, and geotags are some of the information that could help IG determine whose profile to show you.

Yes, Instagram does not restrict you to your location. You can simply search for your desired places and view posts from other people who have mentioned that particular location even when you are nowhere near it.

Conclusion

Locating nearby people on Instagram can seem slightly knotty as there is no direct path for this method. The above techniques do help you find people nearby, but not all of them can provide real-time updates. However, from my experience, I’d say that using Instagram’s search bar, bio, stories, and posts, along with Peekviewer and reverse lookup tools, will definitely give you your answers. Overall, no matter which method you use, please be mindful of user privacy and follow the ethical and legal regulations.