Kik (or Kik Messenger) is a downloadable mobile messaging app. While part of its appeal is that it is free on iOS and Android phones or systems, its main draw is that it can be used “anonymously.” While some users delight in this seeming secrecy, it’s easier to do a Kik search than you’d expect.

Who Uses Kik?

A big chunk of Kik’s messaging use comes directly from teenagers, who make up 40% of the app’s fan base. Even Kik’s origins were youthful, as it was founded in 2009 by a group of students at a Canadian university. While the app has received negative press and feedback after being shown in conjunction with child exploitation, abuse, rampant nudity, and other crimes, it continues to be popular. It has amassed over 300 million registered users. There are also times where people meet each other via a dating app such as Tinder, Bumble, or Hinge, and decide to continue chatting on Kik. 

A little secret is that even though the site prides itself on being able to be registered anonymously and without your phone number, users still log in using their email address, which is attached to cookies and other data they transmit. The moral of the story, even if a site or app claims complete privacy, it is difficult to exist on the web in a purely anonymous way.

Now, follow these six ways to search for a Kik profile:

1. Kik Search Using Their Phone Apps

Let’s assume that most of you are Kik users and looking for a spouse, significant other, friend, crush, or minor child on the app. While we will explain how to search through the application in a particular way, there is a chance your results might be time-consuming or unsuccessful.

A great place to begin, if you have (legal) access to that individual’s phone (as in the case of parent and child or spouses), is to type the name “Kik” into the phone’s “search” to see if they have downloaded the app. This is more helpful than merely scrolling through their apps, as some individuals hide more private or personal apps on harder-to-find windows or screens.

2. Kik Email Search

When you register for Kik, you will be shown a screen where you can enter your name, username (which is how you’ll be known when using the app), email, password, and birthday. While the legality of the following is up to each reader to investigate and not recommended, one smart trick is to enter the email of the person you’re looking for and see if the app lets you proceed. If it doesn’t, then the chances are that an individual may already be a registered Kik user!

Use Social Catfish’s reverse email search:

3. Kik Username Search

The app can be searched through usernames. To find whom you’re looking for, think of any username(s) the individual frequently uses. If you’re unsure or merely want absolute confirmation of all possibilities, you can incorporate sites like Social Catfish to do the grunt work for you.

By using a reverse search engine with a specialized algorithm, you will be given an up-to-date list of common usernames for the person you’re looking for. After being provided with this, search Kik for both their new and old (as sometimes usernames are already taken) usernames.

Use Social Catfish’s reverse username search:

Reminder: It is possible someone else on the app happened to use the same name. For example, if you are searching for JOHNDOE and find a match, don’t automatically assume you’ve discovered the exact person you’re in search of.

4. Kik Phone Number Search

While Kik is ‘anonymous’ messaging when users interact through username alone, it can also be (optionally!) linked to phone contacts, similar to apps like Snapchat, etc. If the person you’re looking for has linked their phone number to their account and you have them in your smartphone’s phone contact list (add their name number if you haven’t already), then you’re in luck! Each of you will receive a Kik message stating that you’re a phone contact match!

Use Social Catfish’s reverse phone search:

Reminder: The person you’re looking for may have already blocked you so, not seeing your match doesn’t always mean they do not use the app.

5. Social Media Username Search

People sometimes list their Kik information on social media accounts. After you’ve compiled a list of someone’s social media account pages through Social Catfish’s reverse search, you can then scan them (along with personal web pages or blogs) to find out if they have listed their Kik username or code.

Kik can be difficult, though not impossible, to find someone on. It also depends if the person wants to be seen. Trust your intuition and follow up with broader web-based searches, if needed!

6. Kik Group Search

Once you join a Kik group, your username is visible to that group’s members. If you know that the person you’re looking for is in a specific Kik group, joining the same group can give you access to the usernames of each member.

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