How to See Someone’s Location on Facebook, Even Without Them Knowing

Usually, you can see someone’s location on Facebook if the person chooses to share their location through:

• Facebook location sharing feature;
• their profile, posts, reels, and stories;
• when they check in on Facebook;
• when they’ve provided their location on Marketplace.

Facebook’s privacy restrictions only allow people to see a user’s location if they have chosen to share it.

Therefore, seeing a person’s location without their consent is difficult. Still, there are exceptions. Some location trackers use certain tricks to see a person’s whereabouts on Facebook without them knowing.

In this article, we’ll review how location works on Facebook and how you can use it to discover a person’s whereabouts.

Does Facebook Track Location?

Facebook can track your location through the information you share in posts, reels, and stories.

Moreover, when you enable location services on your device, Facebook can receive your precise location information from the device’s GPS, IP address, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi connection.

Thus, the platform can tailor your experience to your geographical area so that you can see relevant posts, such as events happening nearby.

You can manage Facebook location settings by allowing or disallowing location services on your device. If you want to see someone’s location on Facebook, they have to turn on Facebook location permissions on their device. Otherwise, they can’t share their location, and you can’t see theirs.

To enable location services for Facebook on Android:

1. Go to Settings > Apps.
   
2. Scroll to Facebook and tap it to see the App info.
   
3. Tap on Permissions > Location.
4. Select Allow only while using the app.
   

To turn on location services on iOS:

1. Go to your device’s settings and click Privacy & Security.
   
2. Find Location Services and ensure it’s turned on.
   
3. Tap Facebook, then select While Using the App.
   

Check a Person’s Profile

A person’s Facebook profile can contain their general location, such as a city or town (native or where they are now), and where they have been. However, they have to share this information for you to see it on their profile.

Go to the person’s Facebook profile, and you may discover their city in the Details section. If not, tap See About Info. You will see their Places lived and Check-ins locations with data on when they were there.

Use Sharing Location on Messenger

You can see someone’s location on Facebook if they share it with you on Messenger, within your chat. This feature is only available on Android and iOS devices, not on computers.

When someone shares a location on Messenger, only the people in the chat will see it. The location can be live or the pin of a specific place, for example, for coordinating meetups or safety purposes.

To share a location on Messenger, the person needs to:

1. Open the Facebook Messenger app and click on the chat with a person to share location with.
2. Click on the + sign and tap Location.
   
3. Click Start Sharing Live Location for 60 minutes. A person can turn it off within 60 minutes.
   
4. To share a pinned location, click the pin button to search for the place, and click Send Location when done.
   

Check Geotags and Check-Ins on Facebook

A geotag tells you someone is at a specific place. Geotags can be set to be seen by anyone on or off Facebook when the Public option is chosen. However, you will not see their location on their posts if their geotag is set to friends (and you are not FB friends) or specific friends.

When someone geotags a post, their location is displayed at the top of the post or near the bottom of a photo.

A person can also share their location in a story. You will see the location as a sticker on the story like this.

If someone shares their location on a reel, you will see it under its description. Click More to see the tagged location.

Check-ins are made directly on the “What’s on your mind” space above the feed.

When someone checks in at a location, you will see a post with their name and the place where they checked in. For example, Loise Wangari is at Some Where Peaceful and the pin on a map.

How to Find Someone’s Location on Facebook Without Them Knowing

There are dedicated locators that allow you to find someone’s location on Facebook anonymously, even without installing an app on their device, like some online trackers may recommend.

For example, Detectico can be a great Facebook location tracker. The service creates a location tracking link that you send to a person in a Facebook chat. Once the person clicks the link, Detectico will obtain their location and show it on its online dashboard. The link can be masked, so the person won’t know you are tracking their location.

To use Detectico to find someone’s location on Facebook:

1. Visit the Detectico website and subscribe to create an account. You can try the service for one day for $0.89.
   
2. Access the dashboard and click Location by link.
3. Create a custom message and click Generate My Link. Remember to create a cheerful, funny, or cheesy message to make the other person click the link. For example, you can say, “I can’t believe this is you. OMG.”
   
4. Copy the link and send it to them on chat.
5. Once they click the link, you will see their location on Maps.
   

Detectico phone location tracking works on all devices worldwide. You can even send a message directly to a person’s phone number. The process works the same. When the person clicks the message, you will see their location on Google Maps.

Try Detectico

Conclusion

In most cases, to see someone’s location on Facebook, you need their consent. Facebook privacy restrictions allow users to choose whom to share their location with, including Facebook itself.

Sharing location on Messenger is best for family, friends, and loved ones. Still, many users decide to share their location on their profiles, posts, stories, and reels. They can also let others see where they are by checking into a place. All these options allow you to see someone’s location on Facebook.

On the other hand, you can use a location-tracking tool like Detectico to track someone’s live location, even if they didn’t share it.