Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Using general techniques
• Method 2 of 2: Using Whitepages
• Tips
• Warnings

This wikiHow teaches you how to find out location information for a phone number. You can't find out the exact location of a phone from the number alone, and even tracing a phone while on a call requires sophisticated means that are not so readily available, and illegal when it comes to other people's data. However, you can use a few techniques and databases to find the recorded location of the phone number, which can help you identify where the owner of the phone may be calling from. If you want to track the location of your own phone, you can find it from your phone's GPS if it is still turned on.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Using general techniques

1. Understand that you cannot track the exact location of a phone. You cannot use the methods used by police and other government agencies to track a cell phone yourself, because they request information from cellular providers with a court order.
   • Avoid any third-party apps or services that claim to track phone numbers as it is impossible to find out the exact location of a phone. At best, these services won't work and at worst, they will scam you or steal your information.
2. Check your phone's caller ID. Most modern smartphones and digital handsets have a built-in caller ID that lets you know in which city the phone number is registered. If your phone shows a city and state (or region) for an incoming call, you immediately know where the person's phone number is registered.
3. Search for the phone's area code. The three digits in brackets in an area code of the Netherlands refer to the region in which the number is registered.
   • The easiest way to find the area code for a region is to type the area code followed by "region" in a search engine (such as Google).
4. Find the song on social media. Although this doesn't always work, you can find specific people by searching for a phone number on social media. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow users to post their current location so you may be able to see the person's updated location even if their phone number location is out of date.
   • Most social media services keep your phone number private by default, so the person in question will likely have to make their phone number public for this to work.
5. Try to call the number. If nothing works, you can always call the phone number and politely ask the person for information. If the call is from an average person or small business, explain that they called you and you don't know who they are. In some cases they accidentally called you.
   • If the phone number is a business, you may need to navigate through an automated process before you can talk to a real person. With automatic selection menus, the company is often immediately named, so you should at least be able to find out who called you.
   • If you don't know the phone number because the number is private, you can unmask the number and then call back from a friend's phone to see if the caller answers.

Method 2 of 2: Using Whitepages

1. Know what information you can find on Whitepages. While you can see a limited amount of free information on Whitepages, you can usually find the registered location of a phone number and a spam score.
   • The information you can see on Whitepages may be limited, but it's a good place to start your investigation if you want to find out the identity of an unknown caller.
   • You may not be able to find information about the phone number you are entering, and the information that is there may be out of date.
2. Open Whitepages. Go to https://www.whitepages.com/ in your computer's web browser ".
   • Whitepages is a partially free online database with the ability to look up telephone numbers.
3. Click on the tab SEARCH PHONE NUMBER. This is at the top of the page.
4. Enter a phone number. Type the phone number you want to search for in the search bar at the center of the page, then press ↵ Enter.
5. Check the available information. Depending on the phone number you usually see:
   • A spam score (i.e. "Low" for personal numbers)
   • The first letter of the phone's owner's first and last name
   • The registered location of the phone number (city and province)
   • The provider of the phone number

Tips

• Whitepages often have premium information (for example addresses) for telephone numbers. You can pay for more information.

Warnings

• If you are trying to find out the location of a number because of a crime, contact the police.