How to Find a Facebook Group ID
Published
Find any Facebook Group ID from its URL, recover it when the group uses a custom alias, and learn how a Group ID differs from a profile UID or a Page ID.
A Facebook Group ID is the numeric identifier in the group's URL. Open the group and look at the address bar: in facebook.com/groups/1234567890123456/, the digits are the Group ID. If the URL shows a custom name instead, such as facebook.com/groups/photography-club/, the numeric ID is still there but hidden behind the vanity alias, and you need one extra step to surface it.
What is a Facebook Group ID?
Every object on Facebook, whether a person, a Page, a group, a post, or a photo, is a node with a unique numeric identifier. For a group, that number is assigned at creation and never changes. Renaming the group, changing its privacy from public to private, swapping the cover photo, or setting a custom URL all leave the ID untouched.
That permanence is the reason the ID matters more than the name. A group's display name can be edited at any time and its vanity URL can be changed or taken by another group if released, so neither is a dependable reference. The numeric ID is the only identifier you can store in a database, hard-code in a script, or quote in a support ticket with confidence that it will still point at the same group next year.
Group IDs are typically long, commonly fifteen or sixteen digits for groups created in recent years, and they are globally unique across Facebook rather than unique only among groups. You cannot tell from the number alone whether an ID belongs to a group, a profile, or a Page, which is a point that trips up developers and which the detailed comparison of Facebook ID vs Page ID vs Group ID addresses properly.
How do you find a Group ID from the URL?
Most of the time the ID is sitting in plain view, and the job is just knowing where to look.
- Open the group in a desktop browser rather than the mobile app, since the app does not expose a URL bar.
- Read the address. The pattern is
facebook.com/groups/<identifier>/. - If that identifier is all digits, you have the Group ID. Copy it.
- Ignore anything after a question mark. Parameters such as
?ref=or tracking fragments are not part of the ID.
On a phone, tap the three-dot menu in the group and choose the option to copy or share the link, then paste it somewhere you can read it. The pasted link follows the same pattern.
What if the group uses a custom URL?
Groups can set a vanity alias, which replaces the digits with readable text. The numeric ID still exists; it is just not displayed. Three reliable ways to recover it:
Check a post link. Open any post in the group and look at its URL. Post permalinks generally include the numeric group ID in the path, in a form such as facebook.com/groups/1234567890123456/posts/9876543210/, even when the group's own address uses an alias. This is the quickest method and needs no tools.
Read the page source. With the group open, view the page source and search for groupID or group_id. The numeric value appears in the embedded data Facebook ships with the page. It is a little fiddly but entirely reliable, and it works on public groups without any login.
Use a lookup tool. Paste the group URL into our Facebook UID Finder, which resolves public Facebook URLs, including group links, to their numeric identifiers without requiring you to log in or install anything.
One caveat on private and hidden groups: if you cannot see the group's content, you generally cannot resolve its ID either, since the page that carries the identifier is not served to you. Join the group, or ask a member for the link from their view.
How is a Group ID different from a UID or Page ID?
All three are numeric node identifiers in the same ID space, which is precisely why they are easy to mix up. The differences are in what they represent and what you can do with them.
| Identifier | Represents | Typical URL pattern | Common use |
|---|---|---|---|
| User ID (UID) | A person's profile | facebook.com/profile.php?id=<id> | Referring to an individual account |
| Page ID | A business or public figure Page | facebook.com/<alias> or /<id> | Ads, insights, Page management APIs |
| Group ID | A group container | facebook.com/groups/<id>/ | Group feed and membership endpoints |
The practical distinction is ownership and access. A Page is administered by people and designed for public reach, so a Page ID unlocks a comparatively rich set of API capabilities for whoever administers it. A group is a shared space with members, and access to its data is governed by membership and by whether the group's admins have installed an app, which is a stricter model. A UID identifies a person, and almost nothing about that person is available through the API without their explicit authorization.
A frequent mistake is passing a Group ID to an endpoint expecting a Page ID, or vice versa, which produces confusing errors rather than a clear "wrong type" message. If a call fails inexplicably, confirm the object type before debugging the request. The same applies across platforms, where each has its own scheme, as our overview of social media user IDs and the article on TikTok user ID vs sec_uid both illustrate.
What does the Graph API need a Group ID for?
The Group ID is the node you address when working with a group programmatically. A request takes the shape GET /{group-id} for the group's own fields, with edges beneath it for things like the feed, members, or albums, following the structure described in Meta's Graph API overview.
What you can actually retrieve is a different question from what the URL pattern suggests, and this is where expectations need managing. Group data access has been progressively tightened by Meta, and current access generally depends on the group's admins installing and authorizing your app, on relevant permissions, and on App Review. Reading an arbitrary public group's posts without the group's involvement is not something the API is designed to allow.
Because these requirements change between API versions, check the current Groups API reference and the changelog rather than relying on any tutorial, including this one, for permission specifics. The stable part is the concept: the Group ID identifies the node, and permissions decide what that node will tell you.
Automated collection of group content outside the API, through scraping or unofficial endpoints, breaches Meta's terms, so it is not a route we recommend or document. If the API does not grant the access you want, the answer is to work with the group's administrators or reconsider the project.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Facebook Group ID ever change?
No. The Group ID is assigned when the group is created and persists for its lifetime. Renaming the group, changing its privacy, or setting a custom URL does not affect it, which is exactly why it is the right identifier to store.
How many digits does a Group ID have?
It varies with when the group was created, and newer groups commonly have fifteen or sixteen digits. Length is not a reliable way to identify the object type, since user and Page IDs occupy the same numeric space, so do not infer type from digit count.
Can I find the ID of a private group?
Generally only if you can see the group. Private and hidden groups do not serve their page to non-members, so there is nothing to read the ID from. Members can retrieve it from a post URL or the page source as usual.
Why does my group URL show a name instead of numbers?
The admins set a custom vanity URL, which displays in place of the digits. The numeric ID is unchanged underneath. Open any post in the group, or check the page source for groupID, to see it.
Can I get a list of a group's members from the ID?
Not by default. Member data sits behind permissions that typically require the group's admins to authorize your app, plus App Review. The ID alone grants nothing, and scraping the member list outside the API violates Meta's terms.
Is finding a Group ID against Facebook's rules?
No. The ID is part of a URL the platform serves to you, and reading it is ordinary use. What the rules restrict is automated bulk collection and unauthorized access to data, not noting the identifier of a group you can already see.
Does the ID work for a group's posts and photos too?
Posts and photos have their own identifiers, usually expressed relative to the group. A post permalink commonly contains both the group ID and the post ID, which is what makes post URLs a convenient way to recover a group's number.
For the broader picture of how these identifiers relate, start with what a Facebook UID is, then the Graph API user IDs guide if you are building something. Other platforms are covered on the blog, including YouTube channel IDs.
