Android Guide
How to Reverse Image Search on Android
You do not need an app for this. Your phone already has a reverse image search built in, in at least four places.
Here is where each one lives, which to reach for, and the one thing none of them will do: tell you who a stranger in a photo is.
Photo of a person? Skip to face searchBy the Facial Recognition TeamPublished
The quick answer
To reverse image search on Android, long-press the home button or navigation handle and circle the image. That is Circle to Search. No Circle to Search? Open the Google app, tap the Lens icon and pick the photo from your gallery. In Chrome, long-press any image and tap Search image with Google Lens. Use TinEye for exact copies, and a face search when you need to know who a person is.
Which Android Image Search Method to Use
Start with what you want to know, not with the app. The question picks the tool.
| What you want | Best method | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Search anything on your screen, in any app | Circle to Search | Long-press the home button or navigation handle |
| Search a photo or screenshot you saved | Google Lens | Lens icon in the Google app's search bar |
| Search a photo while you are looking at it | Google Photos | Lens button under the photo |
| Search an image on a website | Chrome | Long-press the image |
| Find exact copies, or the oldest one | TinEye | tineye.com in your browser |
| Find out who a person is | Face search | The search box on this page |
Not sure which kind of search you need at all? Our guide to image search techniques explains what each one is good at.
Way 1 of 6
Circle to Search: Reverse Image Search Anything on Your Screen
This is the fastest way, and most people have never used it. It works over any app. A photo in a chat, a frame of a paused video, a picture in your feed. You never have to save anything.
- With the image on screen, long-press the home button or, if you use gesture navigation, the navigation handle at the bottom.
- The screen tints and a search bar appears. Circle, tap or scribble over the part you want to search.
- Swipe up on the results panel to see matching images and the pages they come from.
Circle to Search is on many recent Pixel and Galaxy phones, and a growing list from other makers. If the long-press does nothing, look for a Circle to Search toggle in your navigation settings. On a Galaxy, that is Settings, Display, Navigation bar. Updating the Google app helps too.
Behind the scenes it is a Google search, so it is good at objects, products, places and text. Faces are a different story. More on that below.
Way 2 of 6
Google Reverse Image Search on Android with Lens
Lens is the right tool when the photo is already saved on your phone. It comes with the Google app, which almost every Android phone has installed.
Search a Photo or Screenshot from Your Gallery
- Open the Google app.
- Tap the Lens icon (the camera) in the search bar.
- Pick the photo from the strip at the bottom. Screenshots have their own folder.
- Drag the corners of the box around the part you care about, then scroll the results.
Search with Your Camera
Tap the same Lens icon, point the camera at the thing in front of you and tap the shutter. Handy for a poster, a plant or a product in a shop.
Get Better Results from a Screenshot
Screenshots carry clutter: the clock, the battery, the app's buttons, a caption. Crop all of it away before you search. The tighter the crop, the better the match.
We cover the tricky cases, such as stories, videos and apps that block screenshots, in our guide to reverse image searching a screenshot.
One thing Lens will not do
Lens is not built to tell you who someone is. Google says Lens does not use biometric facial recognition, although it may show results for notable public figures. If your photo is of a person, skip to face search.
Way 3 of 6
Reverse Image Search from Google Photos or Your Gallery
Already looking at the photo? Then you are one tap away.
- Open the photo in Google Photos.
- Tap the Lens button under it.
- Adjust the box if Lens picked the wrong part of the photo.
Other gallery apps vary. Some show a Lens icon of their own, and some offer Google Lens in the Share menu. If yours has neither, Circle to Search over the open photo does the same job.
One mix-up worth avoiding: the search bar inside Samsung Gallery or Google Photos looks through your own pictures, not the web. Typing "beach" finds your beach photos. It will not tell you where a photo came from.
Way 4 of 6
Search an Image from a Website in Chrome
Found the picture on a web page? You do not need to save it first.
- In Chrome, touch and hold the image.
- Tap Search image with Google Lens.
- Results open in a panel without leaving the page.
Option missing? Chrome only offers it when Google is your default search engine. Open Chrome's menu, then Settings, then Search engine, and choose Google. The Google app does the same long-press trick on images in its own results.
Way 5 of 6
Reverse Image Search on Android with TinEye, Bing or Yandex
Every method above searches Google. When Google comes back empty, a different index often finds what it missed. All three work in Chrome, with nothing to install.
- TinEye finds exact and edited copies of one image, and can sort them by Oldest. That is how you trace a photo back towards where it first appeared. Open tineye.com and upload the photo.
- Bing Visual Search is a free second opinion. On bing.com/images, tap the camera icon in the search box and choose the photo.
- Yandex Images is a Russian search engine, so it can surface pages from Russian-language sites the others miss. On yandex.com/images, tap the image search icon and upload the photo.
Our TinEye alternatives guide compares these engines in more depth.
If all of them find nothing, that tells you something too. Here is what to do when reverse image search is not working.
Way 6 of 6
How to Search for a Person by Photo on Android
Here is the catch. Every method above can tell you what is in a photo. None of them is built to tell you who.
Point Circle to Search at a stranger's face and you mostly get lookalikes, stock photos and shopping results for their jacket. That is a deliberate choice on Google's part, not a bug you can work around.
We looked at exactly what Google will and will not do with a face in our guide to Google face search.
A face search works differently. It compares the face itself with more than a billion publicly indexed faces and returns up to 100 matches, each linked to the page where it was found.
Search a Face from Your Android Phone
- Save the photo, or screenshot it and crop to the face.
- Pick a photo where one face is clear and well lit.
- Upload it in the search box below, straight from your gallery.
- Open the pages behind your matches and check them yourself.
Search a face from your gallery
Upload your photo
Your photo is never published or shared, and is deleted within 24 hours.
By searching you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
It runs in Chrome, so there is nothing to install. Prefer an app? Our face recognition app for Android runs the same search, and you can get it on Google Play. Both are free to start, and searches need a subscription. Your photo is deleted within 24 hours and never added to the index.
Where the photo came from shapes what you will find. A screenshot from someone's feed is the starting point for finding an Instagram account by photo. A frame from a video works for a TikTok search by image. And a profile picture you could not trace with Lens is where a Facebook profile search by image picks up.
Matched someone from a dating app? A photo taken from a dating profile works fine, because the search looks for the face on public social media, not inside the app. Our guide to dating app reverse image search shows what to do with the result. Treat every match as a lead, not proof. Unrelated people can look alike.
What People Found with a Face Search
What Happens to the Photo You Upload
Every method on this page sends your photo to someone's servers. Worth knowing whose, before you search a picture of a friend or a private chat.
- Circle to Search, Google Lens and Google Photos handle the image under Google's privacy policy. Lens searches can also be saved to your Google account's activity, where you can review and delete them.
- TinEye, Bing and Yandex each have their own policies. Read them before uploading anything sensitive.
- Facial Recognition deletes any photo you upload within 24 hours. It is never indexed, published or shared.
Screenshots of chats often show names, numbers and messages along with the picture. Crop to the image before you search, and you share less.
Search a Face from Your Android Phone
Lens tells you what is in the photo. A face search shows where that face, or a similar one, appears online. Every match links to its page.
Search a faceAndroid Reverse Image Search FAQ
How do I reverse image search on my Android phone?
The quickest way is Circle to Search: long-press the home button or navigation handle and circle the image. You can also open the Google app, tap the Lens icon and choose a photo from your gallery, or long-press an image in Chrome and tap Search image with Google Lens.
How do I reverse image search on a Samsung phone?
Most recent Galaxy phones have Circle to Search: long-press the home button or navigation handle and circle the image. If nothing happens, turn it on under Settings, Display, Navigation bar. The Google app and Chrome methods work on any Galaxy too.
Which phones have Circle to Search?
Many recent Pixel and Galaxy phones, plus a growing list from other makers. Support depends on your model, Android version and region. If the long-press does nothing, check your navigation settings for a Circle to Search toggle and update the Google app.
How do I reverse image search a photo from my gallery?
Open the Google app, tap the Lens icon in the search bar and pick the photo. If it is in Google Photos, open it and tap the Lens button under it instead.
Why is Search image with Google Lens missing in Chrome?
Chrome only offers it when Google is your default search engine. Open Chrome's menu, then Settings, then Search engine, and choose Google. Update Chrome if the option still does not appear.
Can I reverse image search a screenshot on Android?
Yes. Take the screenshot, then open the Google app, tap the Lens icon and pick it from your screenshots. Crop away status bars and buttons first. Circle to Search skips the screenshot entirely, because it searches whatever is on your screen.
Can Google Lens identify a person?
Not a private person. Google says Lens does not use biometric facial recognition, although it may show results for notable public figures. For a photo of someone you do not know, a face search is the tool built for the job.
Is reverse image search free on Android?
Circle to Search, Google Lens, Google Photos, Chrome, TinEye, Bing and Yandex are all free. Face search is not, because indexing faces at scale is expensive. The Facial Recognition app is free to download, and searches need a subscription.
Why does reverse image search find nothing?
The photo may never have been posted publicly, may sit on a site search engines cannot see, or may be cropped, mirrored or filtered enough to break the match. Try a second engine, use the largest copy you have, and if it is a person, search the face rather than the file.
Is there a Facial Recognition app for Android?
Yes. Facial Recognition is on Google Play. It is free to download and searches need a subscription. The same face search also runs in your browser on this page.
Related guides: how to reverse image search on iPhone, for the other phone in your house, and our pick of the best face recognition apps.
Face search results are leads, not proof of identity. Do not use face search to harass anyone.