Match.com Matching
By Corbin HartwickUpdated on March 16, 2022
Tech Life Unity independently reviews everything we recommend. When you buy something after clicking on a link to another website, we may earn a commission. Learn More
Now that you’ve created your profile, how does Match use it — and how can you use it — to find people whom you’d be interested in hooking up with? As the question implies, there are certain people whom Match.com will bring to you, and others whom you will need to get out there on the website and find on your own.
Daily Matches
The most common way of getting matches on Match.com is to let the website automatically do it for you, based on comparisons between your profile and the profiles of others. How you rate and interact with the profiles you see can also affect who you get matched with.
This feature is known as “Daily Matches”, because 24 hours after you rate all of the new matches you’ve received from Match, you get a fresh new set. So you’ll always have new people to look at and decide if you’d like to see where things go with them!
1. Go to www.match.com and log in (if you haven’t already). On your main screen, click Daily Matches in the menu on the left, or move your mouse cursor over Matches in the menu across the top and click Daily Matches.
![Daily Matches button](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/e65d827f77e1f85f257fe9d1dbc37a8a5bc2a339-633x418.png?w=633&h=418&auto=format)
(P.S. The number beside “Daily Matches” tells you how many new matches you still have to rate before you get a new set.)
2. You will be taken to your “Daily Matches” page. Let’s have a look at it. The red numbers in the screenshot below highlight core features; the corresponding captions below will explain each of them.
![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/9c8267c7e5df56289d99f3912e12346f1f1126c9-768x467.png?w=768&h=467&auto=format)
1. New Matches – This shows you how many new matches you haven’t rated since yesterday. Click on the left and right arrows here to scroll through your matches, or click a person’s picture to make them appear in the window to the right. A checkmark will appear on the pictures of people whom you’ve shown interest in, while an “X” will appear on the pictures of people whom you’ve said you’re not interested in.
2. They’re Interested – Click here to see the profiles of people who have shown interest in you as a match. Note that you must have a paid subscription in order to use this feature.
3. You’re Interested – Click here to see the profiles of people whom you have told Match you’re interested in.
3. Match Me – This allows you to manually search for and match people with you. See the “Manual Matching” section below.
4. Current Match’s Profile Picture – The photo that the match you currently have selected has chosen as their profile picture (if they have one). Click the “thumbs-up” symbol here to tell them that you like their picture, or click anywhere else on the picture to see their additional photos (if they have any).
5. Current Match’s Basic Info – This shows you some basic information about the match you currently have selected, including height, body type, ethnicity, religion, tobacco/alcohol habits, etc. You may need to click View More when the About tab is highlighted to see a few more things.
6. Current Match’s Detailed Info / Photos – This will show you one of two things, depending on whether the About or Photos tab is highlighted. You can click either of them to switch between the two.
If the About tab is highlighted, this will show you some advanced information about the match you currently have selected. This includes:
– Their user name, age, and location
– A few ways in which you and them are alike
– A brief in-their-own-words description of themselves
– What they are interested in
– What they are looking for in a match
Some of these may be hidden unless you click the View More tab.
If the Photos tab is highlighted, you can scroll through the photos of the match you currently have selected, and see the captions that the person has provide for those photos. You can click the “thumbs-up” symbol in the corner of any of the photos to tell your match that you like those photos.
7. Interest Rating – The numbers at the far right show you where this match is in terms of the total number of new matches that you haven’t rated yet. Click the checkmark here to tell Match that you’re interested in this match; this will move this match’s profile to the You’re Interested tab in the menu on the left, and send that person a notification that you’re interested in them. Or, click the “X” here to tell Match that you’re not interested in this match.
You can also click Email Him/Her Now to immediately send this match an introductory email; this button will also appear after you’ve told Match that you are or are not interested in them. (Note that you must have a paid subscription in order to email any of your matches; our How Much does Match.com Cost article will help you choose your subscription.)
Manual Matches
If your Daily Matches don’t produce anyone whom you’re especially fond of, you can also manually match yourself with certain people whom you find while searching the website.
1. Move your mouse cursor over Search in the menu across the top, and pick one of the search options.
![Search for matches menu option](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/11b434bc17d82cde7b1895705cbc8a7f647e9fbb-825x231.png?w=825&h=231&auto=format)
2. If you find someone who looks interesting, click either their user name/photo or Quick View to view either their full or condensed profile, respectively.
![Select a match](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/65334eda22009f4dfc5b27c4197b61ee0d95ae30-948x624.png?w=948&h=624&auto=format)
3. If you meet enough of the person’s match criteria (and the ones that you don’t match aren’t “deal breakers”), you can click Match Me with Him/Her to add that person to your Daily Matches, and add yourself to their Daily Matches.
![Match Me button](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/26f2f0d8e479846e122c6dc1512fcc48993c2bca-902x426.png?w=902&h=426&auto=format)
Though you can use this feature without a paid subscription, be aware that it costs money every time you use it, so use it sparingly!
Synapse Matches
“Synapse” is the computer program that Match uses to match you with potential dates on the website, based not only what is in each other’s profile, but how each of you uses the website. You can also use it directly to find new matches.
1. In the menu across the top of the screen, move your mouse cursor over Matches, and click Synapse.
![Synapse button](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/5aa1226a9d7ee946562a5ab27d0051871bdf3c13-828x224.png?w=828&h=224&auto=format)
2. In the new screen, you will see some of the people whom Synapse has matched you with based on the preferences you indicated in your profile, whom you’ve interacted with (in some way), and how you’ve chosen to interact or match yourself with others.
![Synapse matches](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/8d16a09d3619db40629c6c45f58a6be605643a3d-960x350.png?w=960&h=350&auto=format)
3. You can also use Synapse directly to find new matches by using the criteria from previous matches. If you move your mouse cursor over a previous match’s picture, you will see a small amount of information about them, along with an Add Below button. Clicking this button will add that person’s profile as a set of search criteria to help Synapse find you new matches. Their picture will be highlighted with a check mark when you do this.
![Add Below button](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/112a02645c7fafd234ade7348317c75afba56ce2-967x353.png?w=967&h=353&auto=format)
4. Matches you have added as new match search criteria will appear in the bottom-left corner, as shown here. You can select up to three previous matches to use as search criteria for new matches. If you change your mind and don’t want to use a certain person’s profile as a set of search criteria, click the “X” in the top-right corner of their picture.
![Choose your favorite profiles to get better matches](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/1a409cecee3b9da70bc6f3897c14e177b15b286a-940x245.png?w=940&h=245&auto=format)
5. When you’ve picked the people that you want to use as search criteria, click Match Me, and see who you find!
![Match Me button](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ki8bqxrw/production/a095186dd7fe33648b13c5d281bc4c3acd73f69e-940x245.png?w=940&h=245&auto=format)
Those are some of the general ways that you can find matches! If you need some help narrowing down your choices, head over to our next tutorial about searching on Match