When you see someone youve seen before..how do you act?

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LIke do you say hi or talk or acknowledge or whatever? Or just pretend like you don't know them?

Especially if they're with others?

I think it depends on how well you know them. If you've only met them one time and it was a while ago, you don't need to say anything. I you met them once and talked to them for a while just a few hours ago or if you have met them several times before, you might say hi to them, but it depends. Like if they are with friends in the middle of a conversation, you don't need to interrupt to sat 'Hi'.
Usually, unless I know the person really well, I will wait for them to say hi first, but that's just me; I am pretty reserved.
This is often an awkward situation for me. I look forward to reading other people's responses on this.

I try my best to get out of their sight, tiptoeing out of their very consciousness, if you know what I mean... on failing, I sometimes try to pick up the personal awkwardness and greet them or somesuch. I know, I hate people.

It depends on the situation.

If you walk past eachother, then a bob of acknowledgement or a slight smile is plenty. There's no need to stop up and chat, as both of you have things to do and places to be. It's alright to take a small detour to avoid someone, I find myself doing the same when I'm depressed, feel awful and my emotional health is at its worst.

If they're with others, and you don't feel like stopping and chatting away - don't draw attention to yourself. There's no need to intrude upon said person and his/her friends and start chatting, to so be gone in less than 10 seconds. On the other hand, if you want to socialize, then this is an ample opportunity to get acquintanced with new people.

There's many factors and a lot of variables to take into consideration, though. What is the best way to learn what to do? Go for it when an opportunity arise. Stumble in the dark and embarrass yourself. This is the ONLY way to learn social dynamics. You might get tips, advice and a 'direction' from RANDOM people on the net, but this is in no way a replacement for your social education.

Live life and weep. You'll learn over time.

Depends on the situation.

I generally try to be receptive and acknowledge them like "Hey!" with a look or body language. If they return the same to you then it's a welcome approach and can give them a verbal acknowledgement or initiate a conversation. If after a brief period of time it looks as if they are purposely not looking toward you or explicitly ignoring your presence then I generally just drop all interest until they feel that they want to approach me on their own accord.

If they see me, I will give a wave, smile, and say something like, "Hey, how have you been since the rollerball derby?" They look at me, smile and say, "Hey, great, I chipped a tooth."
I say, "Hey that's too bad, sorry that had to happen,"
They say, "Yeah, now I gotta pay 1000 in dental bills for a new cap."
I say, "Well, see ya later!"
They say, "ditto,"

and that's the end of the conversation.

It depends on whether or not I recognize them, and even if I do, it depends on if I can remember their name, too. I suffer from facial amnesia, so I usually have to have seen people a number of times before their names make a dent in my memory banks. Growing up, I didn't see much of my mother's side of the family because they lived in other states. I once attended a funeral for one of my adult maternal cousins. I extended my sympathies to the couple that I thought were his parents. They were a different aunt and uncle. Fortunately, they didn't realize my mistake because they had had care of him for a while when he was a child, so it wasn't really all that inappropriate. I did eventually find the right aunt and uncle to extend sympathies to.

When I am out shopping people occasionally come up to me who I have apparently met before, and greet me and start talking to me, and I'm racking my brain, thinking, "Who are these people?" It's very awkward when that happens. I do my best to be friendly though, while hoping that their side of the conversation provides clues as to their identity, and how I am supposed to know them.

For me it depends on how well I know them but a lot of the time I try to avoid them.

If I see someone I've seen before:

If I know them:
If they are within conversational speaking range:
If they are alone: I at least wave, and if I'm in an ok mood I might provide a mostly genuine smile and if I'm in a good mood I might actually say hi.
If they are not alone:
If they are not talking to someone: I at least wave, and if I'm in an ok mood I might provide a mostly genuine smile, ignoring the existence of their companions.
If they are talking to someone: I avoid acknowledging them unless they break their interaction to acknowledge me.
If they are not within conversational speaking range:
If I was planning on seeing them: I will proceed with my activity until within conversational speaking range.
If I was not planning on seeing them: I will divert my activity so as not to come within conversational speaking range.

If I have only just seen them before:
I act as though I've never seen them before.

I pretend I don't recognize them, and they usually do the same.
Or if I'm feeling particularly brave I say hi, before moving on to pretend to do something somewhere else.

"Hey! You! Yeah you! We met at Arby's a year ago! Remember me?"

That's usually what I do.

"Hey, I see you around here a lot" works.

It depends. If I know the person very well (those who know my weird ways), they approach me first, which I am very thankful because they still greet me even if I can only pay them with my notoriously cold smile. Sometimes if I see them first, I try to smile and greet them with 'hello'.

For other people who I meet everyday but are not really close, I just nod my head and try to disappear as politely as I can.