How to Search by Image on Phone and Computer (Every Method)

Searching by image means using a picture instead of words as your search query. You give a search engine a photo, a screenshot or an image link, and it shows you where that image appears online, what is in it, and pictures that look similar. It’s often called reverse image search, and it is one of the most useful skills you can have online, whether you’re checking if a profile photo is stolen, finding the original source of a viral picture, or identifying a plant in your garden.

The good news is that you don’t need special software. Google, Bing and TinEye all do it for free, and most phones have it built in. Below are the exact steps for every common device, followed by advice on getting better results and what each tool is actually good at.

Contents

1. Search by image on a computer
2. Search by image on Android
3. Search by image on iPhone and iPad
4. Google vs Bing vs TinEye vs Yandex
5. Ten practical reasons to search by image
6. How to get better results
7. Using image search to check if a photo is real
8. Privacy: what happens to the images you upload
9. FAQ

How to search by image on a computer

On Windows, Mac or Chromebook, the browser does all the work. Google gives you four ways in, described in its official help page.

Method 1: Upload a file

1. Go to google.com.
2. Click the camera icon in the search bar (labelled Search by image).
3. Choose Upload a file, select your image and click Open.

Method 2: Drag and drop

Open google.com, then drag an image file from your desktop or folder straight into the search box. Results load as soon as you let go.

Method 3: Paste an image link

1. On the website where the image is, right-click it and choose Copy image address.
2. On google.com, click the camera icon, paste the link into Paste image link, and click Search.

Method 4: Right-click in Chrome

In Google Chrome, right-click any picture on any web page and select Search with Google Lens. Results open in a side panel, so you never leave the page you’re on. You can also drag a box around just one part of the image to search only that object.

Using Bing instead? Go to Bing Images and click the camera icon. Microsoft’s Visual Search guide lets you drag in an image, browse for a file, paste an image or URL, or even take a photo with your webcam. In Microsoft Edge, right-clicking an image gives a similar visual search option.

How to search by image on Android

Circle to Search (newest and quickest)

On supported phones, including Pixel 6 and later and many recent Samsung Galaxy models, you can search anything on your screen without leaving the app you’re in:

1. Touch and hold the Home button or the navigation handle at the bottom of the screen.
2. Circle, highlight, scribble on or tap the image (or the part of it) you want to search.
3. Results appear in the lower half of the screen. Swipe up to see more, or swipe down to go back.

Google’s Circle to Search help page lists extra tricks, including translating text on screen. If you see “Screen search isn’t available,” check that Google is set as your digital assistant app and that the Google app is up to date.

Google app or Chrome (any Android phone)

1. Open the Google app or Chrome.
2. Tap the Lens icon in the search bar.
3. Point your camera at something and tap the shutter, or pick an existing photo or screenshot.
4. Drag the corners of the selection box around the part you care about, then scroll through the results.

To search an image you see on a website, touch and hold it in Chrome or the Google app, then tap Search image with Google Lens. In Chrome, Google needs to be your default search engine for this option to appear.

How to search by image on iPhone and iPad

Apple devices don’t have Google built into the system, but the Google app and Chrome fill the gap. The steps below follow Google’s iPhone and iPad instructions.

From your photo library

1. Open the Google app (or Chrome).
2. Tap the Lens icon in the search bar.
3. Choose a photo from your camera roll, or point the camera at an object and tap the search button.
4. Adjust the selection box. A smaller selection gives more specific results.

From a website

• Google app: touch and hold the image, then tap Search inside image.
• Chrome: touch and hold the image, then tap Search image with Google (Google must be your default search engine).
• Safari: there’s no direct option. Save the image to Photos first, or open google.com, search for the image, tap it and use the Lens icon.

iPhones also have Apple’s own Visual Look Up in the Photos app, which can identify plants, animals, landmarks and artwork. It’s handy for “what is this?” questions, but it doesn’t show you where else an image appears on the web, so it isn’t a replacement for a true reverse image search.

Google vs Bing vs TinEye vs Yandex: which should you use?

All of these tools are free, but they are built for slightly different jobs.

Tool	Best at	Less good at
Google Lens / Images	Identifying objects, products, text, places; huge index of pages	Showing a clean list of exact copies; results lean toward “similar” items
Bing Visual Search	Shopping matches, similar images, pages using the image	Smaller index than Google for some regions
TinEye	Finding exact and edited copies, and sorting by oldest to trace the original	Identifying what’s in a photo; it matches images, not objects
Yandex Images	Faces and places, especially in Eastern Europe and Russia	Privacy-conscious users may prefer to avoid it

A practical workflow: start with Google Lens to understand what the image is, then run it through TinEye to see where it has been. If both come up empty, try Bing. Different engines crawl different parts of the web, so a second opinion often finds what the first missed.

TinEye is worth knowing in a bit more detail. Its help page says it accepts JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF files up to 20 MB, and works best with images at least 300 pixels on one side. It also advises avoiding heavily watermarked copies, because the tool may match the watermark rather than the picture.

Ten practical reasons to search by image

1. Spot fake profiles. Romance and investment scammers often use stolen photos. If a profile picture appears under different names elsewhere, that’s a red flag.
2. Check viral images. Old photos are regularly recycled as “breaking news.” Reverse search often reveals the true date and context.
3. Find the original creator. Credit photographers and artists properly, or find a licensed version you can use.
4. Track your own work. Bloggers and photographers can see who is reusing their images without permission.
5. Identify plants, animals and objects. Lens is excellent at naming flowers, dog breeds, insects and landmarks.
6. Shop for something you saw. Photograph a lamp, shoes or a jacket and find where to buy it, or something similar.
7. Get a higher-resolution version. Results often include larger copies of the same image.
8. Translate text in photos. Signs, menus and labels can be translated straight from the camera.
9. Verify sellers. If a marketplace listing uses photos lifted from a manufacturer’s site or another listing, be careful.
10. Solve homework and research questions. Lens can recognise maths problems, diagrams and book covers, though you should always check the answer yourself.

How to get better results

• Use the largest, clearest version you have. Tiny thumbnails produce weak matches.
• Crop to the subject. If you’re trying to identify a chair in a busy room, crop to the chair.
• Remove obvious edits. Heavy filters, borders, stickers and text overlays confuse matching tools.
• Add words. In Google, you can add text to an image search (“Add to your search”) to narrow it, such as “price” or “who made this.”
• Try a screenshot. If you can’t download an image (for example, from an app), a screenshot cropped tightly around it usually works.
• Sort by date on TinEye. Choosing “oldest” is the quickest way to estimate where an image first appeared.
• Use more than one engine. No single tool has indexed the whole web.

Large photos can be awkward to move between devices before you search them. If you need to send a full-resolution original from your phone to your laptop, a file transfer service such as WeTransfer or one of its alternatives keeps the quality intact, unlike most messaging apps, which compress images.

Using image search to check if a photo is real

With AI image generators and photo editing tools everywhere, “is this picture real?” is now one of the most common reasons people search by image. A reverse search can’t give you a guaranteed yes or no, but it can give you strong evidence. Work through these checks:

1. Find the earliest copy. Search the image on TinEye and sort by oldest, then on Google. If a “new” photo was online years ago, it’s being recycled.
2. Read the context where it first appeared. A photographer’s portfolio, a news agency or an official account is a better sign than an anonymous repost.
3. Use Google’s image information. In Google results, the “About this image” option can show when Google first saw an image and where else it has appeared. Google also adds information to some images made with its own AI tools.
4. Compare versions. If you find several copies, look for differences. An extra person, missing logo or changed sign often shows exactly what was edited.
5. Look closely at the image itself. Warped text, mismatched shadows, odd hands and backgrounds that melt into each other are common signs of generated images, although newer tools make fewer of these mistakes.

If none of these checks leads anywhere, treat the image as unverified rather than fake. Absence of evidence isn’t proof either way, and it’s fine to say you don’t know before sharing something.

Privacy: what happens to the images you upload

When you search by image, you are sending that image to a company’s servers. A few points to keep in mind:

• Google says your browser doesn’t save searched image URLs in its history, but Google may store them to improve its services.
• Microsoft states that images you provide to Bing Visual Search may be used to improve its image processing.
• Don’t upload sensitive images such as ID documents, bank cards, medical paperwork or private photos of other people.
• Searching for a stranger’s face to find out who they are raises serious privacy and ethical issues, and some face-search sites operate in legal grey areas. Use these tools to check suspicious accounts, not to track people.

If a scammer has used your photos, report the account to the platform where it appears. Most social networks have an impersonation report option. The same advice applies on platforms like TikTok, where fake accounts sometimes pose as creators to promote “free TikTok Coins” scams.

Frequently asked questions

Is reverse image search free?

Yes. Google Lens, Bing Visual Search, TinEye’s standard search and Yandex are free for personal use. TinEye sells paid API access for businesses that need to search at scale.

Can I search by image without uploading anything?

Yes. Use an image URL on desktop, or long-press an image on a web page in Chrome or the Google app. Circle to Search on Android works directly on whatever is on your screen.

Why doesn’t Google show exact matches anymore?

Google Lens focuses on identifying what’s in a picture. To see pages that contain the same image, scroll the results for matching pages, or use TinEye, which is built for exact-match searching.

Can I search by image on WhatsApp or Instagram?

Not directly inside those apps. Save the image or take a screenshot, then search it with Google Lens, or use Circle to Search on supported Android phones while the image is on screen.

Does reverse image search work on screenshots from videos?

Often, yes. A clear frame from a film, news clip or video can lead you to the source. Pause on a sharp frame and crop away player controls before searching.

Sources

• Google Search Help: Search with an image on Google
• Android Help: Search your screen with Circle to Search
• Microsoft Support: Using Bing Visual Search
• TinEye: What kinds of images can I search?