How to Search For an AOL Email Address

For a good portion of the 1990's, America Online ruled the Internet. They had the most subscribers and the most email addresses of any Internet service provider. Today, AOL is still one of the top dogs, but people may be surprised to learn that it is quite difficult to look up an AOL address that you might have lost or forgotten. AOL doesn't offer a list of users that you can page through to discover the address you need. You still have a handful of options available to you, however, so not all hope is lost.

One of the biggest attractions to this day of using AOL is having access to AOL Instant Messenger. Although AIM is now free to use, even if you don't subscribe to AOL, many people with AOL accounts still use it on a regular basis. You can download and install AIM in mere minutes and then search their user base for the email address and person you need to contact. You can also add that person as a friend and then get their address from them when they come online to talk.

If you know part of the email address but not all of it, you can use AOL's search engine on their homepage to search for the entire address. Be aware that every search engine online uses different techniques to gather information from websites, so if you come up empty on AOL's website, you can try Google or one of the other major search engines. You may be surprised that on your fourth try, you actually find something.

The best way, however, to search an AOL email address is to use a targeted reverse email search service online. Until AOL installs a responsive and intuitive email address locator on their website, people are going to have to be creative about the ways they search online for lost email addresses. If you don't find what you are looking for right away, you may not find it, and you could waste valuable time in the process. Your best bet is to perform a reverse email search online.

Lindsay has been writing about web applications for 4 years and is tracking the latest trends in web development. You can check out her latest project at http://www.reverseemaildetective.com