Identification

How to Do a Reverse Image Search on Desktop and Mobile

Shahid Maqbool

By Shahid Maqbool
On Apr 29, 2024

How to Do a Reverse Image Search on Desktop and Mobile

What is a Reverse Image Search?

A reverse image search lets you search an image instead of using a text-based query in a search engine. It provides additional details of an image like its dimension, source, and related images.

Not only this, but a reverse image search will also show you the instances of the same image present in other locations on the internet.

Why use reverse image search?

There are several reasons for searching images online.

Suppose you want to purchase a piece of clothing that you have seen online. You only have an image sent by someone or you downloaded it yourself.

Since you don't know where to purchase this, you will use the feature of reverse image search. This will let you know the source of the image along with all the online platforms or even a physical store selling this item.

From there, you can explore more details or even items similar to your product. Besides that, there are plenty of reasons for an image search:

  • It lets you explore more details about an image, like its size, similar images, and other appearances online.

  • You may know the copyright status of the images.

  • It helps identify if other people are using your images.

  • Let you see the original source as you may need it to give attribution while using this image.

  • You can even build backlinks by searching for websites that have used your image but haven’t given you credit. You can manually reach out to them and ask for attribution.

One thing that is important to mention here is that sometimes you won't be able to search for an image while using this feature.

This usually happens when a website has not allowed indexing its images or due to inconsistencies in data centre synchronization. That means the images you search may be available to some users while unavailable to others.

How to do a reverse image search on a desktop

If you want to search for an image on a desktop, there are several methods you can use. Below are some common ones:

How to do a reverse image search on Google

With Google, it is quite easy and user-friendly to search for an image. You can do this on any browser.

Just go to google.com, and locate the camera icon.

reverse image search on Google

Click this icon and you will see two options:

  1. Upload a file: This lets you upload an image file that’s already been downloaded or is available on your computer.

  2. Paste image link: This option allows you to insert the URL of the image that you have found online.

2 options for a reverse image search on Google

Now, let's say you have a URL for an image. You will paste it into the link section like this.

Pasting the URL to do a reverse image search on Google

Now click the “Search” button. Google will take you to the Google Lens page. Here you can further explore more details about your image.

On the right side, you will see related images while on the left side, there is an option of “Find image source” - that will let you see where this image actually came from.

Results after doing a reverse image search on Google

Click on the “Find image source”. As you can see, the same image exists on multiple sites. From there you can get more information like image dimensions, similar images and websites where this image is used.

Find image source - reverse image search on Google

How to do a reverse image search on Bing

Besides Google, Microsft Bing also has its own reverse image search feature. This is called Visual search.

To use it, go to bing.com. Here in the search bar, you will see an icon for the camera. Clicking it will show you three options.

  1. Upload: This option allows you to upload the image and see the results for it. You can directly drag or browse more than one image.

  2. Paste: Using this option, you can simply put the URL of the image just like Google and then search for it.

  3. Take photo: This feature lets you take photos by using your desktop camera, or say your webcam for reverse image search.

reverse image search on Bing

You can choose any option for your reverse image search. Bing will show you the results or sources where this exact image exists. It will also show you related images.

Results after performing a reverse image search on Bing

How to do a reverse image search on Yandex

Yandex is another popular search engine. It also allows you to perform reverse image searches. 

Simply go to Yandex images. Here you will see the camera icon and after clicking it, you will see two options.

You can either drag and drop an image or simply paste the URL of any image to search for it. 

reverse image search on Yandex

Yandex will show you details about the image, similar images, and sites on which this image exists.

Results after performing a reverse image search on Yandex

How to do a reverse image search for online images

Google allows you to search for any image you see online using Google Lens. 

Suppose you are reading an article about “new living room design ideas”. You see something very impressive and want to get more ideas like that.

What you will do is right-click on that image. You will see an option “Search image with Google”. Once you click on that, you will see plenty of similar images. 

reverse image search for online images

One thing that I like the most about Google Lens is that it also allows you to search for a particular item within an image. You can move the selection box and it will show you the related images.

Let's say in the above image, you want to search for that indoor plant on the table. You will narrow down the Google Lens selection box and it will show you results related to that indoor palm plant.

This is how it looks:

Google Lens for reverse image search

How to do a reverse image search using third-party websites

Besides major search engines, some third-party websites also offer reverse image search options, i.e. Reversee, TinEye, CamFind, etc.

The most popular one is TinEye. Its functionality is the same as Google. You can upload an image or enter its URL and it will show you the results where this image is used.

reverse image search using TinEye

The best thing about this tool is you can narrow down the results by using its “Sort” and “Filter” options. TinEye also has Chrome, Edge, Opera and Firefox extensions. Its free version is limited, while the paid version allows you more features.

Sort and Filter options: reverse image search using TinEye

How to do a reverse image search using the Chrome extension

Another way of performing a reverse image search is using a Chrome extension. Two of the most popular Chrome extensions are RevEye Reverse Image Search and Search by Image.

RevEye Reverse Image Search

RevEye Reverse Image Search Chrome Extension

Just install the extension and click “Add to Chrome”. Once you have successfully installed and pinned the extension, you can easily perform a reverse image search by right-clicking on any image.

Using RevEye Reverse Image Search Chrome Extension

Click any option that suits you and it will take you to that specific search engine image search page.

Search by Image

Search by Image Chrome Extension

This is another user-friendly Google Chrome extension. Install and add to Chrome. Right-click on any image and it will show you the options like this.

Here you can see there are several major search engines. You can choose them one by one or all at once for your reverse image search.

Using Search by Image Chrome Extension

How to do a reverse image search on a mobile

Not everyone has access to desktop computers. With increased mobile usage, the importance of reverse image search can't be ignored for mobile users. Here is how you can perform it on both Android and iOS devices.

Reverse image search on Android

Now with Google Lens, it has become so much easier to reverse search an image. You can do this in three different ways.

  1. Simply open the Chrome app or Google app on your phone. You will see a camera icon. Just click on it. Here you can either upload an image from your gallery or take a photo using your camera for a reverse image search.

Reverse image search on Android method 1
  1. When you search for an image on Google, you will find a camera icon at the bottom left side. Clicking it will open the Google Lens panel where you can search for exact or related images.

Reverse image search on Android method 2
  1. While visiting a website, you will find plenty of images. If you want to reverse search an image, you will touch and hold it. Click the option “Search image with Google Lens”. Scroll and you will find related images below.

Reverse image search on Android method 3

Reverse image search on iPhone

You can perform a reverse image search using an iPhone in the following ways:

For stored images

The method involves using the image that you want to search from your stored images. Just locate the image, and click the share button at the bottom. 

Reverse image search on iPhone - step 1

It will show you an option “Search with Google Lens”.

Reverse image search on iPhone - step 2

Click this option and it will open the Google Lens panel with related images and sources.

Reverse image search on iPhone - step 3

Using Google Chrome

The process to do a reverse image search here is the same as for Android users. Once you open Google Chrome, you will see a camera icon in the search bar.

Clicking it will show you two options - either to upload an existing image or take a photo.

Reverse image search on iPhone using Google Chrome

For web images

For any image available online, simply long-press the image. You will see an option of “Search with Google Lens”.

Reverse image search on iPhone for web images -  step 1

Click it and you will have an option “View results”. 

Reverse image search on iPhone for web images - step 2

Here you go. You can now have the related images and websites on which they exist. 

Note: Right now, the iOS version of Safari does not have a built-in “Search by image” option. You need to go to images.google.com and then the rest of the steps are the same.

Final thoughts

There are several reasons for performing a reverse image search. This feature is available on most of the major search engines.

You can perform it on almost all the devices using any browser. It also does not matter whether you are using a PC or Mac. Just upload your image or paste its URL and you will have tons of data related to this image.

So next time you want to upload an image or find out if your image is being used by someone else, perform a reverse image search.

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