How To Find Friends' Birthdays On Facebook (iPhone, Android, And Computer)

Can't remember when a friend's birthday is? Maybe even a relative's birthday? Thanks to Facebook, finding these takes just a few seconds.

There are many things people use Facebook for, but one of the best (and most useful) features is being able to quickly find a friend's birthday. While Instagram isn't far behind, Facebook still stands tall as the largest social network by a long shot. It's been around for nearly two decades, has approximately 2.9 billion monthly active users, and regularly adds new features to keep folks interested. While Snapchat also lets you find friends' birthdays, it has a much smaller user base.

Facebook's most helpful tools remains one of the oldest — being able to see friends' birthdays. Not sure when your work colleague, college friend, or aunt has their birthday? If they're on Facebook, finding their birthday takes just a couple of seconds. From the Facebook desktop website, click 'Menu' (circle with six dots) on the right side of the screen. Click 'Events,' then click 'Birthdays' in the sidebar on the left. This reveals a list of friends' birthdays happening today, recent birthdays that just passed, and upcoming birthdays.

How To Find Friends' Birthdays On The iPhone & Android Apps

Alternatively, users can search for specific Facebook users and find their birthdays that way. Click the search bar at the top-left of the screen, search for a friend/family member, and click on their profile. From their profile page, click 'About,' click 'Contact and Basic Info,' and their birthday is shown right there.

That's how to find friends' birthdays on the Facebook desktop site, but what about the mobile app for smartphones? While the steps are different, it's just as easy to do. Open the Facebook app, tap the search button at the top-right of the screen, type 'birthdays,' and tap the 'Birthdays' option with a cake icon next to it. Similar to the Facebook desktop site, this shows birthdays happening today, recent ones, and friends' upcoming birthdays. This works exactly the same, whether someone's using an Android phone or iPhone.

There's one final thing to know, and that's how to manage notifications for friends' birthdays. Once again from the Facebook app, tap the 'Menu' icon on the bottom navigation bar. Scroll down the page, tap 'Settings & Privacy,' tap 'Settings,' tap 'Notifications' under the Preferences section, and tap 'Birthdays.' Here, Facebook allows users to enable/disable notifications for upcoming birthdays and belated birthdays. Users can also choose to get these notifications in the Facebook app, via email, and/or as an SMS text message.

Why You May Not See Some Birthdays On Facebook

Given that Facebook has been around for a couple of decades, a lot of its user base has been using the social media platform for a long time. At the time of signing up for a Facebook account, users can fill out their contact information such as their birthday and the place they live. However, Facebook also gives users the option to decide who gets to see their birthday.

In Facebook settings, you can adjust the privacy settings for both your birth date and birth year. This means that some friends might choose to display only their birth date, but Facebook won't tell you how old they are. Other friends might remove the option to see their birthday entirely. If they do this, you won't be able to see their birthday in Facebook's Birthdays list, and you won't find it on their profile either. So while Facebook is a handy tool for keeping track of birthdays, it isn't foolproof.

Source: Facebook