The issue of online security has become increasingly acute in recent years, resulting in the emergence of private profiles. In this way, users can protect themselves and their data from surveillance by intelligence agencies, as well as attackers. Along with this, questions began to appear more and more often in the minds of users, such as how to view a private profile on VK. This need is quite urgent, since interest in the forbidden is always many times higher than in publicly available information. However, everything is not so simple here, let's deal with everything one by one.
Using user ID
Each VK user is assigned a personal ID, which consists of a specific set of numbers. It usually appears in the address bar when opening a person's page.
If access to page data is closed, then you can use a certain trick. You need to open a browser and enter a link in the address bar, for example, https://vk.com/photos.php?id=***, where the asterisks are replaced with ID numbers. This will allow you to view the user's photos.
The links https://vk.com/notes.php?id=*** and https://vk.com/apps.php?id=*** will give you the opportunity to view the wall, as well as the person’s applications.
What is a hidden profile and what are the privacy settings?
If, when viewing someone else’s page, the message “This is a private profile” is displayed, it means that the owner has blocked his account from prying eyes. To do this, he used the privacy settings.
There are several levels of profile protection:
- Basic user data.
- All friends and subscribers.
- Friends who also have a hidden profile.
- Media files.
- Pictures, images, photographs.
- Photo where the user is tagged.
- Saved photos. The category is ambiguous. If there is nothing valuable in the folder, you can not block it, but simply delete all the images.
- Groups and important pages.
- Present.
- Finding the user in group photos.
- Content on the wall. It can also be erased.
- History of visits, deleted posts and other content.
By default, all information is hidden, but each block can be configured separately.
Special services
There are many services on the Internet that make working with VK easier.
Vkontakte.doguran.ru
A simple and easy-to-use service that is very popular among Russian-speaking users.
It intuitively creates all the necessary links to view information of interest on a closed page.
Working with the interface will be clear thanks to detailed tips.
Vk-view.ru
The service is not very different from that described above, however, it appeared a little earlier. To gain access to hidden information, you need to enter the ID address in a special line and click on the “Generate” button.
Then the service will automatically provide all the desired information. Its advantage is its wide functionality, which allows you not only to view, but also to download videos.
Ineffective and often illegal methods
Of course, all of the methods listed above are a violation of user privacy, but none of them are illegal. The latter, by the way, are also abundant.
Among them:
- Hacking of the page through hackers . The only question is the price, but if desired, any network pro can easily hack a VK profile, providing access to all user data without exception. Another thing is that such antics provide for criminal liability, which must be taken into account in advance.
- Access through additional services. The network is full of all kinds of utilities, like VK Spy, both paid and free. And everything would be fine, but their effectiveness often leaves much to be desired, but using such software is fraught with clicking on phishing links, or even getting a virus. Of course, you can use proven services like the one mentioned above, but this does not provide a 100% guarantee of security for the user’s device.
- Access via ID. It’s worth mentioning right away that this method no longer works, although previously it was really possible to get into almost any closed profile with its help. The changes came into force on 08.2018, so it makes no sense to try to bypass the restrictions in this way. Among other things, users were able to hide their ID by replacing numeric characters with alphabetic ones. But even if you have access to a real id, its use will not provide access to classified information, but will simply redirect the user using this address to the same closed profile.
To summarize, we repeat that there are both legal and illegal methods of opening access to a private profile, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. But which one to use and whether to use it at all is up to you to decide.
Contact the hackers
There are many advertisements in which people offer help with hacking someone else’s VK page. However, they often require upfront payment but offer no guarantee of success. Therefore, there is a high probability that the money will simply be wasted.
Confidentiality of information on the Internet is difficult to maintain, especially on social networks. People often follow the lives of friends or family through updates to their profile, new photos or notes. Closed accounts can also be viewed, even without their owner's knowledge.
How can I view a private profile on VKontakte?
There are few ways to view a private profile on VK in 2019. The social network has been around for more than 10 years and during this time many data privacy vulnerabilities have been fixed. After the introduction of hidden accounts in 2022, you cannot view photos or audio recordings without knowing the user’s unique identifier – id. This is an important feature, because previously id was most often used to analyze personal information in an account. As a result, the following methods remain relevant.
Add the user as a friend
It is enough for the user to accept the friend request. To do this, you can use a real account or take a workaround. Often people do not want to accept applications from an unclear profile. In this case, it is useful to know what interests a person has. For example, if he loves football (in his avatar in a sports uniform after a victorious match between amateur teams), then he should create a profile about the sport and apply from there. This will increase the likelihood of being accepted as a friend.
It is worth considering the differentiation of access levels. Becoming a friend does not always mean access to all information. For example, you may not be able to see friends on VK with a private profile. The user has the right to hide certain friends and no one except him will be able to see them. Similarly, he can hide audio recordings, videos, all or specific photo albums from his friends.
Through mutual friends
The simplest option for quarrels and similar shake-ups in your personal life. You don’t need to search too much for information on Google or Yandex on how to view the wall of a private profile in VK. All you have to do is ask a mutual friend to do it. The main thing is that the person from the hidden account will not know that someone he wants to forget about was interested in his life. Don't be shy. A mutual friend can be a valuable source of information. But it may also be subject to privacy restrictions. He may be on the list of non-essential friends who don't see personal photos or notes. It also makes sense to gain the trust of a mutual friend and contact him to gain access to the necessary information.
How to look if you know the ID
After August 2022, ID information does not allow you to view anything in a private profile. For a general understanding, you need to know that any account has a unique number in the system. The user can hide his ID. As a result, the address of its page will look like , not . If you go to the above addresses, the same VK page will open. The only benefit of knowing the ID is that it indicates the user's serial number. The larger the number in the ID, the later the account was registered. That is, the profile was created earlier than .
How to look without knowing the ID
Try other methods described in this article.
How to find out ID
Copy the address of the closed account page, go to , paste the address into the form and press Enter. After this, the unique account number in the system will be displayed in the ID line.
Services for viewing private profiles in VK
Anyone who begins to carefully search for how to view a photo of a private VK profile will come across tempting offers on the Internet. For example, you can use the following service: . There are other options, but they are united by the following nuances:
- It is rare that you will be able to find out the information you need. Most services use old vulnerabilities of the social network, and they are no longer relevant. Many websites are created just to attract search traffic. Their developers just receive money from advertising, since the service is “used” by about a thousand people every day. In reality, such a site is not able to find out anything about the desired profile.
- Data disclosure is often provided for a fee. However, you can run into scammers who are not going to look for anything. You need to understand that data about VK users is not officially sold, as it is illegal.
- There are cases when the service is used to infect a computer with viruses. Not everyone will understand exactly what rights are granted to a specific site or file that was downloaded. You need to be careful not to become a victim of attackers because of the desire to see hidden profile information.
Phishing sites
This is an effective method, although it is illegal. It provides the following:
- The victim receives a link that is very similar to a social network address. For example, this will be . She doesn't notice that it's the wrong address and goes to it.
- The “fake” website copies the original design of the social network. The main thing is that this does not require you to log into your account.
- The victim enters his username and password. They will instantly become known to the attacker. Now he can log into the private account.
This is the general scheme of how phishing sites work. They can disguise themselves as marketing research, messages about receiving a prize, or a notification about an attempted hacker attack on a social network account. In any case, this requires time, certain knowledge or money to pay for the work of burglars.
Hacker help
Stereotypes about hackers do not reflect reality. In the movies, a bespectacled programmer can hack something in 3 minutes of work. In reality, hacker assistance is most often one of the methods of social engineering. This is due to the following factors:
- Price issue. People's public data is well protected. The cost of hacking usually exceeds the value of the information obtained. It’s strange to spend 1,000,000 rubles to find out which restaurants a certain person visits.
- Difficulty of hacking a database. Finding vulnerabilities in a specific VKontakte data center is a task for a genius. If he manages to open the data of a closed account, it means that he beat a team of specialists. Computer geniuses don't usually do this kind of stuff. It's too trivial for them.
- Possibility of criminal prosecution. No one has canceled the risk and there are not many who want to get a real sentence. At best, you can run into a large fine.
Hacker assistance much more often consists in the fact that by hook or by crook a person gains physical access to a smartphone or computer. It is not so difficult to find a beautiful woman who will gain the trust of the right man in a couple of weeks. Then she just installs the desired program on her phone or personal computer. Elegant and relatively inexpensive. This is a general example that demonstrates that account hacks and data leaks are much more likely to occur due to social rather than technical reasons.
Web archives
Google and Yandex store indexed web pages in a cache. This means that all users can see what a specific page looked like a couple of weeks ago. To do this, you need to enter the address of the profile that recently became hidden in the Yandex or Google search bar, then press Enter. The search engine will display the desired page in the results. In Google and Yandex, you need to left-click on the down arrow next to the received address and select “Saved copy”. The cache page will open. This will be a “cast” at a certain point in time. Perhaps the account has not yet been hidden and the user will find the required information. But there are nuances:
- Popular pages are cached. Finding a saved copy of a famous person’s account is not difficult, unlike the profile of an ordinary user.
- The pages indexed by the search bot get into the cache. If a user has indicated in their profile settings that their page cannot be found in public search, then there will be no saved copy.
- Page cache stores a fixed amount of time.
Method 2 – Mutual friends
The method is close to the first, but as I said above, there are no alternatives. If you know (you really know, because there is no way to look) that one of your close friends is friends with a person with a private profile, you can simply “borrow” his account. VK accounts do not provide access to a bank account, but with the right approach they will easily give you. In extreme cases, they will forward the information, but your reputation may suffer.
Method 1 – Add as a friend (BEST METHOD)
Yes, if a person’s profile is correctly and completely closed, and he hasn’t made a mistake anywhere, there is no other way to fully get to know his page. The only option is to send him a friend request and hope it is accepted.
Shy people, social phobes and other charmers - if you don’t want to send a request on your own, it’s quite possible to create a fake account or even buy it (it costs a penny on the market). But you won’t worry about your anonymity at all, and if you fill out your profile correctly, you may well end up on your friends list. I hope you are very smart, so I won’t dwell on this method any more. Those interested google towards the basics of social engineering.
But if the user was completely confused, he could block visibility even for friends. But is there anything important there for you then?
Law: the more friends a private profile has, the higher the likelihood of getting there.
A little bad way, but effective - if you know someone from this person’s friends list, create a fake for him and send a friend request. A very effective list to end up going to a closed page, because. People are more willing to add people they know as friends, and if the person doesn’t communicate with him yet, then he won’t check.
How to view using other social networks
Is it possible to view a private Instagram profile using other social networks? In most cases, users enable synchronization of accounts from several social networks. So, if we are talking about Instagram, then it is customary to link it with a Facebook account.
If the Instagram account description contains a link to another social network, then by clicking on it, you can see all the photos and videos. They often duplicate content from Instagram. The advantages of this method are the following:
- You don’t have to spend a lot of time and effort registering a second account and other manipulations.
- You will be able to see almost all published materials.
- The link will be followed within a few seconds.
However, this method is not as effective as the previous ones. If the profiles are linked, then it will work and you will be able to get into a private Instagram account to see hidden posts.
What loopholes exist
By enabling the private account function, the user receives additional publicity settings. A person can hide not all information, but only some sections. This means that even in a classified profile it is possible to find some information about the owner.
From the photos of a classified account, the user’s avatar will always be available for viewing, but in a reduced form. It is unlikely that you will be able to view the albums, since most people hide them first. Among other data, feed, friends and notes are usually hidden. But groups, videos, music and games are often left open.
Useful information about the owner can be found in the “About” section. At a minimum, you will find the person's date of birth there. But often there you can find out the user’s place of birth, city of residence, list of hobbies, and even see the user’s subscribers.
So when you come across a classified page, the first thing to do is look through its entire menu to see what information is available to you.
Some users even leave the option to subscribe to them. Follow the person and turn on notifications for new posts. You won’t be able to get to the page this way, but you will see all the user’s latest posts in your news feed.
Is it possible to bypass restrictions?
The Instagram administration made sure that materials posted in a hidden profile were inaccessible to those whom the user did not approve. You won't be able to open it from a computer or phone. This also applies to third-party software products. There are, for example, services and applications that allow video from a social network. But they also cannot show publications from a page whose owner has decided to restrict access to strangers.
If you find a program for viewing a closed profile “without registration, SMS and absolutely anonymously,” then I do not recommend installing it and testing it. Most likely, the developers of this software want to hack your page, get money and not complete the task, or reward you with a virus in order to steal data from your computer. Be careful, assess the risks and do not participate in dubious scams.
