How to do a reverse image search on phone and desktop

Key takeaways

• A reverse image search uses a picture as your search query instead of words.
• Google Lens works on desktop, Android and iPhone, from a file, a link or an image on a web page.
• Bing Visual Search shows pages that include the image, plus similar images.
• TinEye can sort matches by Oldest, which helps you find where a photo first appeared.
• To check a suspicious profile, run its photos through at least two tools and compare the names you find.

What a reverse image search does

A normal search starts with words. A reverse image search starts with a picture. You give the search engine a photo, and it looks for pages that use the same image, edited copies of it and pictures that look alike.

That makes it useful for a lot of everyday checks. You can find the original source of a photo, track down a bigger version or see where your own pictures have been reused. That last one matters if you post brand photos, since our guide to copyright rules explains what you can do when someone takes them.

It's also a quick way to check a profile. If a new follower's face shows up elsewhere under another name, something's off.

How to do a reverse image search on Google (desktop)

Google's search with an image works in most desktop browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge. According to Google's help page, results can include similar images and websites with the image or a similar one. Pick the method that matches where your image is.

Upload an image from your computer

1. Go to google.com.
2. Click the Search by image icon in the search bar.
3. Click Upload a file.
4. Select the image, then click Open or Choose.

Search with an image link

1. Go to the web page with the image.
2. Right-click the image and click Copy Image Address.
3. Go to google.com and click the Search by image icon.
4. Paste the link into the Paste image link field.
5. Click Search.

Your browser doesn't save these links in your history, but Google says it may store the URLs you search.

Search an image on a web page in Chrome

1. Open the page with the image in Chrome.
2. Right-click the image.
3. Click Search with Google Lens. The results open in a sidebar, so you don't lose the page you were on.

You can also drag an image file straight into the Google search box.

How to search by image on Android and iPhone

On a phone, you'll use Google Lens inside the latest Google app or the Chrome app. If you use Chrome, set Google as your default search engine first, or the Lens option won't appear for website images.

On Android

For an image on a website:

1. Open the Google app or Chrome and go to the page with the image.
2. Touch and hold the image.
3. Tap Search image with Google Lens.
4. Drag the corners of the selection box if you only want to search part of the image.
5. Scroll down to see the results.

For a photo or screenshot already on your phone:

1. Open the Google app or Chrome.
2. Tap the Google Lens icon in the search bar.
3. Pick an image under Screenshots, or point your camera at something and tap Search.
4. Drag the corners of the box around the part you care about.
5. Scroll to the bottom to find your results.

On iPhone and iPad

For an image on a website:

1. Open the Google app or the Chrome app and go to the page with the image.
2. Touch and hold the image.
3. In the Google app, tap the Search inside image icon. In Chrome, tap Search image with Google.
4. Scroll down to see related results.

For a photo or screenshot in your camera roll:

1. Open the Google app, the Chrome app or Safari.
2. Tap the Google Lens icon in the search bar.
3. Tap the Photo picker icon and select the photo.
4. Drag the corners of the box to select part of the image.
5. Scroll to the bottom to see the results.

On iPhone, only the Google app lets you add keywords to the search with Add to your search.

How to use Bing Visual Search

Bing makes a good second check. Microsoft's Bing support page describes these steps:

1. Go to Bing Images, or select the Images tab at the top of any Bing results page.
2. Select the camera icon in the search box.
3. On a computer, drag an image into the box, upload a file, paste an image or its URL, or take a photo with your webcam.
4. On a phone, take a photo or choose an image saved on your device.
5. Check the results: pages with the image and similar images.

Microsoft notes that Bing's AI can make mistakes, and that the photos you provide may be used to improve Bing's image processing. Keep private pictures out of it.

How to use TinEye

TinEye does one job: it finds where an image appears online. Its help center lists these ways to search:

1. Go to tineye.com.
2. Upload an image, paste one from your clipboard, or enter an image URL.
3. Or drag and drop the image onto the search page.
4. Choose how to sort the matches, then open the pages you want to check.

There's no TinEye app, but the website works in a phone browser. On a computer, the extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Opera lets you right-click any image and search it.

The sort options are where TinEye earns its place. According to TinEye's own guide, you can sort results like this:

• Best Match: the copies closest to your image. This is the default.
• Most Changed: the most edited versions first, so you can see how a photo was altered.
• Biggest Image: the highest-resolution copies first.
• Newest: the copies TinEye found most recently.
• Oldest: the earliest known copies, which is the one to use when you're checking where a photo came from.

Two limits are worth knowing. TinEye doesn't index social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, so a photo lifted from someone's profile may not show up. On the privacy side, TinEye says it never adds your uploaded images to its index and only stores them briefly to show your results.

How to spot fake profiles with a reverse image search

Catfish and scam accounts often use someone else's face. If they borrowed photos from a real person, those photos may already exist somewhere else online. Here's how we'd work the case, step by step.

1. Save the profile photo and two or three other pictures from the account. A long-press or right-click is enough, or take a screenshot and crop it.
2. Run each picture through Google Lens first, then through TinEye or Bing.
3. Look at the names on the matching pages. The same face under a different name, in another country or on a modeling or stock photo site is a red flag.
4. In TinEye, sort by Oldest. If the earliest copy is years older than the profile, the account probably didn't take the photo.
5. Search for parts of the image too, like a car, a room or a landmark in the background, since scammers sometimes crop or flip photos.
6. Save what you find before you reply, block or report.

A reverse image search won't clear an account on its own. No match can simply mean the photos come from a private profile or a site the tool hasn't crawled. Weigh it with other signs:

• A new account with very few posts but lots of followers. Accounts like this are often used to pad follower counts, which is worth knowing if you've looked at sites selling followers.
• Followers that appear in a sudden burst. Follower tracker apps show when new accounts arrive, so you can check the odd ones.
• Messages that quickly move to money, gift cards, crypto or a link you have to log in through.
• Offers of free followers or likes in exchange for your login. Our guide to free Instagram followers covers the safe ways to do it, and none of them need your password.

If the photos turn out to be stolen, report the account on the platform where you found it, and don't send money or personal details.

Other ways to use reverse image search

• Find who's using your photos: search your own product shots to see where they've been posted.
• Check a seller: run a listing's product photo through Lens to see if it was copied from another store.
• Get a better copy: TinEye's Biggest Image sort points you to the highest-resolution version of a picture.
• Check a viral image: sort by Oldest to see when and where it first appeared before you share it.

If you also want tools for research, analytics and content, our marketing tools hub collects the ones we've reviewed.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mistake: Searching the whole screenshot. Buttons, captions and app bars confuse the results. Crop to the photo before you search.
• Mistake: Trusting one tool. Each engine indexes different pages, and TinEye skips sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Use at least two before you decide.
• Mistake: Reading no results as proof. An empty results page only means that tool found nothing. The photo may still come from a private or unindexed page.
• Mistake: Uploading private photos. Bing may use photos you provide to improve its image processing. Search with pictures you'd be fine sharing.
• Mistake: Stopping at the first match. The first result isn't always the source. Sort by Oldest in TinEye.

Your next step

Case closed: a reverse image search takes a minute in Google Lens, Bing or TinEye, on your phone or your computer. Pick one suspicious profile you've wondered about this week and run its photos through two tools.

If fake followers keep turning up on your own account, it's worth building a real audience instead. Our Instagram growth hub covers the tools we've reviewed, and our tips to grow followers organically show how to do it without bots.

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