LinuxCommandLibrary

sherlock

Find usernames across social networks

TLDR

Search for a specific username on social networks saving the results to a file

$ sherlock [username] --output [path/to/file]
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Search for specific usernames on social networks saving the results into a directory
$ sherlock [username1 username2 ...] --folderoutput [path/to/directory]
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Search for a specific username on social networks using the Tor network
$ sherlock --tor [username]
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Make requests over Tor with a new Tor circuit after each request
$ sherlock --unique-tor [username]
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Search for a specific username on social networks using a proxy
$ sherlock [username] --proxy [proxy_url]
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Search for a specific username on social networks and open results in the default web browser
$ sherlock [username] --browse
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Display help
$ sherlock --help
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SYNOPSIS

sherlock username [options]

PARAMETERS

username
    The username to search for on social media platforms.

--version
    Show program's version number and exit.

--verbose
    Display all messages.

--quiet
    Disable printing to console.

--local
    Force using only the local data.

--update
    Update the list of checked sites from remote source.

--timeout
    Time in seconds to wait for response.

--print-all
    Output all sites for the username.

--no-color
    Don't use color in output.

--browse
    Open first founded profile in browser.

--json
    Save found usernames to a JSON file.

--csv
    Save found usernames to a CSV file.

--site
    Limit sites to check to just the specified site.

--proxy
    Make requests over a proxy. ex: socks5://127.0.0.1:1080

--tor
    Make requests over Tor. Requires Tor to be running.

--unique-tor
    Make requests over new Tor circuit after each request.

--help
    Show help message and exit.

DESCRIPTION

Sherlock is a command-line tool written in Python used to hunt for usernames across various social media platforms. Given a username as input, it queries hundreds of social media sites to determine if that username is registered on any of them.

Sherlock is useful for OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) investigations, brand protection, and generally checking the availability of a desired username across the web. The tool provides detailed reports about accounts that the username is associated with, including direct links to the profiles when available. Sherlock is valuable for anyone seeking to understand the online presence of a specific username.

CAVEATS

The accuracy of the results depends on the completeness and correctness of the data source used by Sherlock. Social media sites may change their policies or structures, which can affect Sherlock's ability to locate usernames. Some sites may block Sherlock's requests, so using proxy servers or Tor is sometime neccesary.

RATE LIMITING

Many social media platforms implement rate limiting to prevent abuse. Sherlock may encounter rate limits, resulting in incomplete or delayed results. Using proxy servers or Tor can help mitigate rate limiting issues.

HISTORY

Sherlock was developed as an open-source project to automate the process of username enumeration across multiple social networks. It quickly gained popularity within the OSINT community due to its ease of use and extensive coverage of social media platforms. It is continously updated with new sites and improved detection methods to remain effective against evolving platform structures.

SEE ALSO

whois(1), dig(1), nslookup(1)

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