sherlock

Search for a username and save results to file

$ sherlock [username] --output [path/to/file]

$ sherlock [username1] [username2] --folderoutput [path/to/directory]

$ sherlock --tor [username]

$ sherlock --unique-tor [username]

$ sherlock [username] --proxy [proxy_url]

$ sherlock [username] --browse

$ sherlock [username] --site github --site twitter

sherlock [OPTIONS] username [username...]

Sherlock is an OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) tool that searches for usernames across 400+ social networks and websites simultaneously. It helps locate online presence and connected accounts by querying each platform's user lookup functionality.
Results are saved to text files named after each searched username. The tool supports various output formats including CSV and Excel for further analysis. Network routing through Tor or proxies provides anonymity during searches.

--output, -o file

Save results to specified file

Save results for multiple users to directory

Output results in CSV format

Output results in Excel format

Limit search to specific site(s) (can be repeated)

Route requests through Tor network

Use new Tor circuit for each request

Route through specified proxy (e.g., socks5://127.0.0.1:1080)

Request timeout in seconds (default: 60)

Show all results including sites where username not found

Show only sites where username was found

Open found URLs in default browser

Include NSFW sites in search

Load custom site data from JSON file

Show extra debugging output

Display version information

Rate limiting by target sites may cause false negatives. Some sites require authentication or have regional restrictions. Results should be verified manually as username availability does not confirm identity. Excessive use may trigger IP blocks from target platforms. Tor routing significantly increases search time.

Sherlock was created by Siddharth Dushantha and first released in 2019. The project quickly gained popularity in the security and OSINT community for its ease of use and extensive site coverage. Named after the famous detective, it is maintained as an open-source project on GitHub with active community contributions adding new site support.

tor(1), curl(1), wget(1)