How To Find An Email Address By Phone Number (& Other Data Hacks)

You've got a hot lead's phone number, but no email. Sound familiar? For B2B sales teams racing against quotas, this data gap can mean the difference between hitting your pipeline goals and falling short. Every minute spent hunting for contact information is a minute not spent closing deals.

The good news? There are proven methods to bridge this gap — from simple Google searches to AI-powered databases that do the heavy lifting for you. We'll walk through each approach, starting with the quickest wins and building up to enterprise-grade solutions that can transform your entire prospecting workflow.

Try a simple Google search with their name and/or phone number

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one: using a search engine

To find a person's email address online, Google the name of the person or company associated with the phone number (using another search engine like Bing or Yahoo can work as well) and just see what comes up.

If they make their email address public, you should be able to easily find it.

You can also try a search in Google with their phone number, to see if any directory listings appear. This may be a good option if the person or company does not have a website or public profile, but has listed their phone number in a directory.

Use advanced Google search techniques

If a basic search doesn't cut it, it's time to get a little more specific. Using Google's search operators can help you zero in on the information you need. Think of them as secret handshakes with the search engine.

Try a few of these combinations:

• "[Name]" + "email"
• "[Name]" + "contact"
• site:companywebsite.com + "[Name]" + "email"
• site:linkedin.com + "[Company Name]" + "email"

These commands tell Google exactly where to look and what to look for, cutting through the noise and surfacing contact details that might be buried on a company site or social profile.

Use reverse phone lookup services

Reverse phone lookup services are designed for this exact problem. You enter a phone number, and the service scours public records and databases to find associated information, including names, addresses, and sometimes, email addresses. If there is a phone number listed for their office, try calling and asking for your prospect's email address.

Receptionists are usually more than willing to provide this information.

Look through your prospects' company websites

Many company websites lists their employee's contact information, including email addresses and phone numbers, in the About Us or Contact Us page.

If there is a phone number listed for their office, try calling and asking for your prospect's email address.

Receptionists are usually more than willing to provide this information.

Guess their email address based on known email formatting

If you have a correct email address from someone else at your prospect's company, you can try making an educated guess. All you need to know if your prospect's name.

Most businesses use a consistent email address formatting such as:

• [first initial] + [last name] @ [businessdomain.com]
• [first name] + [last name] @ [businessdomain.com]
• [first name].[lastname] @ [businessdomain.com]

While many services exist, they often pull from the same public data sources. They can be a good option for a one-off search, but for B2B prospecting, you'll want a more robust solution that provides verified, business-specific contact data.

Use email lookup tools and B2B databases

There are a few reasons why a data-driven sales rep might skip the extensive, one-off reverse phone look-up services and opt to use a B2B contact database.

• Data accuracy. B2B contact databases source, collect, verify, and update contact data against multiple sources on a regular basis. You can be sure the data you find in them is accurate and up-to-date. 
• Efficiency. B2B databases save time and effort by allowing you to quickly access a large volume of data without having to sift through numerous search results.
• Targeted data. B2B databases allow you to filter data based on specific criteria, such as industry, company size, location, or revenue. This targeted approach ensures that you are focusing your efforts on businesses that are more likely to be interested in your products or services.

With Apollo.io, you can search for contacts by name, email address, as well as phone number. All you have to do is enter the phone number into Apollo.io's search field and hit enter.

If a match is found, you can view their contact page and not only find their email address but their mobile phone number, work history, company website and info, social networks, revenue, and funding information; everything you need to conduct effective outreach at every stage in the funnel.

Reach out on social media

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to search for people by their cell phone number if they have set their accounts to public. Give your prospects a search and check out the bio or "about" section of their profile to see if you can find their email address or other contact info.

This is also a great time to get a little more context on your prospect, as well.

With knowledge of their professional history, upcoming events, and their topics of interest, you can personalize your outbound and quickly become a friendly face.
Pro tip: Not all the information you glean from social media profiles is worth sharing. Personalization like "Hey! I know where your kids go to school!" will have the reverse effect of what you're going for.

Use the free Apollo.io Chrome Extension

Ultimately, the most impactful way to prospect on social media is to do it alongside a sales intelligence tool that brings the data to you. The Apollo Chrome Extension pulls business email addresses, mobile numbers, and other important data across LinkedIn, Gmail, Google Calendar, CRMs, and across the web. 

For example, from any contact or company LinkedIn profile page, Apollo will automatically pull up verified contact information as well as all the in-depth data points on them that live in Apollo's database.

One of the best things about it? It seamlessly unites your prospecting and engagement process by allowing you to add contacts directly into your personalized outbound Apollo sequences in one click. You can also add prospects to email lists, view any action items, and add notes.

Download the Apollo Chrome Extension for free.

Verify and validate your email addresses

Finding an email is only half the battle. Sending a message to a bad address can hurt your sender reputation and get your domain flagged as spam. That's why verification is a non-negotiable step.

But, remember, the information on these databases decay quickly and may not be up to date.

It's best to use a combination of tactics when searching for supplementary contact information. Email verification tools check if an address is active and can receive mail. The best B2B databases, like Apollo, have this functionality built-in, providing a confidence score for each email so you can prioritize the most reliable contacts and protect your deliverability.

Skip the hunt entirely with Apollo CRM Enrichment

One of the best ways to fill gaps in your CRM? Always-on data enrichment that prevents your CRM from decaying to begin with. When Built In synched Apollo to their Salesforce account, their contact data was automatically pushed and pulled between the two. All of their data gaps were filled and all their errors were corrected. 

"We have a large number of accounts in our Salesforce instance and Apollo started enriching it on a daily basis," said Mark Turner, VP of Revenue Operations at Built In.

That large number? 100k accounts. Effortlessly enriched. Every single day.

When you sync your CRM to Apollo, you'll have the option to turn on CRM enrichment

From here, it's as simple as clicking the checkboxes of the contacts you'd like to enrich (or selecting "Enrich All") and watching as Apollo fills your records with every update that's available in Apollo's 210M+ contact database.

While you're there, turn on auto-enrichment! (it's worth it—trust us...) Go to "Settings" > "Contact/Account Fields", choose the CRM fields you want Apollo to automatically enrich, and select "Auto Overwrite".
Apollo will take the reins from here.

Scale your contact discovery with Apollo's complete solution

Finding updated contact information, especially as you engage in lead generation and outreach, can be difficult. Apollo offers a comprehensive contact database with updated contact information from millions of sources, beyond helping you find an email address with a phone number.

You're able to search for contacts by name, email address, phone number, and more. Plus, Apollo's advanced search capabilities and segmentation features make it easy for sales reps to target their ideal customers. 

With Apollo, it's easy to find the contact information you need to reach out to potential prospects. 

Ready to stop the manual hunt and start closing more deals? Get Started with Apollo and see how complete, accurate data can transform your sales process.

Frequently asked questions about finding emails by phone number

Can you find someone's email address with their phone number?

Yes, it's possible using methods like reverse lookup tools, B2B databases like Apollo, Google searches, and checking social media profiles. However, success isn't guaranteed and depends on whether the information is publicly available or linked.

Is there a free email lookup?

Yes, you can perform free lookups using search engines and by manually checking company websites or social media. For more reliable and scalable results, a free Apollo account gives you access to a limited number of credits to find and verify emails from our extensive B2B database.

Is it legal to find email addresses using phone numbers?

Finding publicly available business contact information for B2B outreach is generally acceptable under regulations like CAN-SPAM. However, it's crucial to respect privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA and ensure your outreach is relevant and professional. Always consult your legal team for specific compliance advice.

How accurate are email addresses found through phone numbers?

Accuracy varies. Public directories can be outdated. The most reliable method is using a B2B data provider like Apollo, which continuously verifies its data to ensure high accuracy and deliverability for your outreach campaigns.

What should I do if I can't find an email address?

If traditional methods fail, try reaching out through social media, use Apollo's Chrome Extension on LinkedIn profiles, or leverage CRM enrichment tools to automatically fill data gaps. Sometimes a combination of methods works best, and B2B databases often have the most comprehensive coverage for business contacts.