How to Send an Outside Email to Facebook
By Alan Sembera
You can send email messages to Facebook members using practically any email program, even if you’re not a Facebook member yourself. Facebook assigns each of its members a unique email address that can be used to send and receive messages outside the Facebook community. If you don’t know someone's Facebook email address, you can find it easily it by visiting that person’s Facebook Timeline.
Step 1
Find out the recipient’s Facebook username, either by asking the user or visiting his or her Facebook profile. The username will be displayed at the end of the Facebook page’s URL in the browser address bar. For example, if the URL is "www.facebook.com/Jane.Smith", the username is “Jane.Smith”.
Step 2
Start a new email message in your regular email program.
Step 3
Address the email to “username@facebook.com”, where “username” is replaced by the person’s Facebook username. Using the previous example, Jane Smith’s Facebook email address would be "Jane.Smith@facebook.com".
Step 4
Add a subject and a message. The subject is optional, but the email must contain something in the message field or the other person won’t see it. You can also attach files to the email.
Step 5
Send the email. The other person usually will receive the message in his or her Facebook Inbox although in some cases the message may get filtered to the person's ”Other” folder.
References
Tips
- Facebook usernames are not case sensitive, and the periods are optional. The email addresses "Jane.Smith@facebook.com" and "janesmith@facebook.com" are the same for all practical purposes, and both will direct your messages to the same Facebook user.
- Always use the name in the URL when finding someone’s username using a Facebook Timeline. In many cases the name displayed at the top of the Timeline will differ from the name in the URL.
Writer Bio
Alan Sembera began writing for local newspapers in Texas and Louisiana. His professional career includes stints as a computer tech, information editor and income tax preparer. Sembera now writes full time about business and technology. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Texas A&M University.