We have made updates to our privacy policy. Please take a moment to read it in order to see how we collect, use, share and transfer your personal data.
Soulmates help
For tips getting started, vist our our dating advice page.
For help using Soulmates, please see frequently asked questions below. We hope this answers your query, but if not, you can contact us.
If you have a serious problem with another Soulmates user that we should know about urgently, please use our report abuse page.
General FAQs
About Soulmates
Soulmates is the dating website from The Guardian. Soulmates has brought together thousands of happy couples since launching in 2004.
How does Soulmates work?
Soulmates has thousands of members throughout the UK and beyond, of all ages, backgrounds and sexual orientation. You can browse profiles before joining. If you like what you see, you can join and create your own profile for free. To contact other people and use the full set of features of Soulmates you must purchase a subscription.
Soulmates and the Guardian
Rather than benefiting shareholders or a proprietor, Soulmates profits are reinvested into the Guardian Media Group to sustain journalism that is free from commercial or political interference and upholds the values of the Scott Trust
How does it work?
What do I get for free?
You can create a profile about yourself, with pictures and information about your interests, and you can search and browse for other Soulmates. You can tell us what you are looking for in your match, such as their age and location. You can read other users' profiles, and add them to a list of people you like.
What do I get when I subscribe?
As a subscriber you have access to the full gallery of pictures on Soulmates profiles, and all their profile information. You can run advanced searches. Most importantly, you can contact other Soulmates using our messaging service, at your computer or on your mobile phone. You also have options to filter and sort your search results to find people that match what you’re looking for.
How much does it cost?
You can choose a monthly subscription at £32 per month, or you get a discounted rate if you purchase a three month subscription for £64 or six month subscription for £96.
How can I pay?
You can pay using a credit or debit card. The secure payment will be processed by our payment provider. You will receive confirmation by email when your payment has been processed. Soulmates subscriptions will automatically renew and can be cancelled at any time on 'your account' page.
How do I join?
You can join by choosing a username, password and providing your email address, as well as telling us basic information about your gender and sexual preference.
My profile
How do I create my profile?
Just fill out the answers and write a bit about yourself, and what you’re looking for. The more you share, the more you're likely to be contacted by other Soulmates users. If you're stuck for words, try thinking about how you might start a conversation, and don't stress - you can edit your profile any time.
How does Soulmates verify profiles?
An experienced team of UK based moderators review all profiles and monitor the Soulmates service. Be assured that Guardian Soulmates does not create 'false profiles' for any purpose whatsoever, and has never done so, nor does the site enable 'mass' messaging from one person to thousands of others.
Will my information be shared with other dating services?
Guardian Soulmates does not share profiles with any other dating services. The only profiles on Guardian Soulmates are those of users who have registered with Soulmates.
What do I need to do to appear in search results?
Just us about yourself and what you’re looking for and tell us your location. You don’t have to include a photo, but it makes a huge difference to the amount of response you will get.
How do I upload a picture?
Follow the onscreen instructions to upload pictures from your computer or mobile. The customer service team will check your picture, and if there are any problems they'll be in touch.
What makes a good profile picture?
Your profile picture should be a true portrait of yourself - hiding behind a big hat, or with an arm around your ex does not make a good picture.
Can I add more photos of myself?
Yes. You can add up to nine more photos of yourself in your gallery.
Can I control who sees my photos?
Once you've joined, your profile picture will be shown on your profile page, on search results pages, and in ‘matches’ emails sent to other Soulmates. To reach more people, your photo can to appear on the Guardian website - you can choose not to appear on the Guardian by reviewing the settings on 'your account'.
Your gallery pictures will only be shown to Soulmates subscribers. You can choose to only allow people you like to view a gallery picture.
Why has my profile picture been rejected?
Common reasons for rejecting a profile photo include poor image quality, obscured face, image distortion, or a second person is in the picture.
Can I change my profile name?
If you want to change your profile name once you have set it up, you can do so on the 'your account' page.
Profile privacy
How is my postcode used and displayed?
Postcode entry is a mandatory requirement at registration. This information is used to provide you with the most relevant and local matches. If you wish to change your location, this can be done at anytime in your profile settings. Alternatively, if you wish to set a location outside of your location area for your ideal match, this can be done in your account settings under "Ideal Match". We will never reveal your full postcode to other Soulmates users. You have the choice of either displaying the city you live in (default) or the first half of your postcode (i.e. SW11). Your postcode will not be used for marketing or shared with third parties.
How will my location be displayed?
You will be asked to enter your postcode or town when editing your profile. The post code will not be visible on your profile and is only used to match you with other Soulmates users. You'll see options for the location on your profile, selecting whether you want to share your detail of your local area, or just your town, county or country.
What does the 'Hide' button do?
You can use the 'Hide' button to stop people appearing in 'Your matches' and your 'Find a soulmate' search results.
What if I want to hide my profile?
If you want to take a break from Soulmates you can hide your profile on the ‘your account’ page. This feature is so that you can maintain your Soulmates profile and return to it later if you wish. When hidden, all of your profile content and your messages stay saved.
Notification settings aren’t affected - you can send likes and messages and people will be notified as normal. Your subscription will continue throughout - you can easily make your profile visible again at any time and carry on using Soulmates.
Can someone I've hidden view my profile, 'like' me, and send messages?
Yes. The 'Hide' button only removes a profile from your search results. Soulmates you’ve hidden can still 'like' you, view your profile, send you a message, and appear in the 'Most popular', 'New on Guardian Soulmates' and 'Recently updated profiles' pages. If you want to prevent a person from sending you messages please use the 'Block' feature.
What's the difference between 'Hide' and 'Block'?
'Hide' prevents a Soulmate from appearing in your search results and matches. People who you've hidden can still ‘like’ you and send you messages. 'Block' will stop someone from appearing on all pages of the site, including search results, matches, 'Soulmates who like you' and 'Views'. Messages from a person that you have blocked will not be delivered to you.
Why can I not see the 'Hide' feature on certain pages of the site?
The hide button will only appear in the ‘Your matches’ and ‘Find a soulmate’ search results, and is not featured on other areas of the site, although you can use the ‘Hide’ button whilst viewing a person's full profile.
What happens if I do a username search for someone I've hidden?
The user will not be found as you have hidden them from all search results.
How can I see who I have hidden?
To view a list of those who you have hidden, please click on the ‘Soulmates I have hidden’ link located on the left hand side of the ‘Find a soulmate’ page.
How do I unhide a profile?
You can unhide people from the ‘Soulmates I have hidden list’ by clicking on the hide icon. Hovering your mouse over this section will turn the text from 'He's/She's hidden' to 'Unhide him/her'.
Searching
How do I search for someone?
Anyone can search by gender, age, location, and whether someone has a photo. If you’re logged in, we’ll try to show you people who might be a good match for you. You can change your search criteria from the search results page.
How do I narrow down my search results?
Subscribers can filter their search results. On the search results page, as well as ‘the basics’ (gender, age, location) you can apply filters on other categories. Your search results will update as you change these options.
How do I save searches?
Once you have performed a basic or advanced search on the ‘Find a soulmate’ page, a yellow bar will appear above your search results with a link to ‘Save this search’. Simply choose a name for your search and click ’Save’. You can save up to 10 searches.
What's the difference between 'Find a soulmate' and 'Your matches'?
We use the criteria you select in the 'Who you're looking for' page to create a list of compatible Soulmates in 'Your matches'. The list is based on two-way matching, taking into account the importance of each criteria to you and your match. You can choose the importance of each matching criteria by using the slider tool. The 'Find a soulmate' page allows you to search for other Soulmates and easily change your search criteria by age, location and keyword, and sort them by best match, age, last login and recently updated.
What is the slider tool on the 'Who you're looking for' page?
The slider tool let you tell us how important each criteria is to you when looking for a Soulmate. For instance, if you are looking for someone of a particular height, and this is very important to you, move the slider over to the right towards 'Essential'.
Contacting other users
What makes a good first message?
A first message needn't be very long. It's good to show that you've read their profile and you're interested in what they've said. You can see if they've read your message by looking at the message from your sent mail. You mustn't share contact details in a first message.
What if I have a problem with another Soulmates member?
If there are any problems with people you meet through Soulmates, please contact our customer services team with your username, their username, and a description of the problem. The team will investigate and take appropriate action.
Someone likes me... what do I do next?
'Like' them back, and we'll send them an email telling them you're interested in them too. Or you can send them a message and see what happens! Any member can 'like' someone but you need to subscribe before you can send messages.
Subscriptions and payment
Where are my subscription details?
To see your subscription details, go to Your subscription status. This will show the date and amount of your last and next payments.
Why would I have ongoing payments?
Like most dating services we will automatically take monthly payments. We do this so you keep your subscriber benefits from month to month.
How can I end my subscription?
Just go to Your subscription status and select Stop ongoing payments to stop any further payments being taken. On the date your next payment would have been due, your subscription will end and you will lose access to subscriber benefits and access to messages.
Account settings
Can I choose which emails to receive from Soulmates?
Yes. You can choose not to receive notifications of new messages, people you like, and certain special offer messages. Go to ‘your account’ page to see the options.
How do I change my email address?
Go to ‘Your account’ and choose ‘Change your email address.
We will send an email to this new address and ask you to click a link in this email to confirm the change.
How do I change my password?
Go to ‘Your account’ and choose ‘Change your password’. We will ask for your current password, then your new one.
What do I do if I’ve forgotten my password?
Go to ‘Your account’ and choose ‘Reset your password’. We will email you information on how to reset your password.
Other questions
Who can’t be a member of Soulmates?
We don’t allow under-18s to join. We don’t want people who are married and looking for an affair to join - we’re not that kind of site. We also don’t allow people with criminal convictions for violence or fraud to join.
Who can see my personal information?
Your private information (email address, date of birth, etc) won’t be shown to anyone.
Some of your profile - like your picture and username - can be viewed by visitors to Soulmates. Your full profile can be viewed by logged-in Soulmates subscribers. Our Privacy policy has the full detail on this.
How do I remove my profile from the site?
If you are not using your Soulmates profile for a while, you can choose to ‘hide’ your profile. You can delete your profile on the ‘your account’ page but please note that once deleted, we can't reinstate your profile.
I’ve met someone wonderful... how do I thank you?
We love hearing success stories, so please be sure to send yours to us via the contact form below. We love receiving holiday snaps, wedding pictures and baby photos, although unfortunately we can’t send the editor of the Guardian along to make a speech on your big day.
I have another question - who can I ask for help?
Our customer services team are happy to help. You can contact them by using the form below.