Reverse image search, also called image search, is searching the web using an image. Everyone knows the principle of searching with keywords on Google, but it is also possible to reach information on the Internet by starting from a photo or any image.
Want to learn more about a place you photographed or a beautiful landscape? Or a character whose name you do not know? Search engines can help you find much more than you can imagine. Google is your friend to search for any information accessible on the web with a set of words. But what most people don’t know is that the search engine also reverse image search.
What is reverse image search?
Also called search by picture, allows you to find information about an image or search the Internet for its source by adding it to a search engine. It also lets you find similar images on the web if you’re looking for the same type of images.
For example, if you are looking for the name of one of the beautiful landscape wallpapers in Windows 10 or Windows 11, all you have to do is take a screenshot and then upload the image to Google Images. If the place has a specific ID, the search engine will display it while providing you with more images.
How to reverse image search on Google?
With Google Images, you can reverse image search on PC by clicking the camera icon inside the search bar:
- Meet pictures.google.fr from your browser
- click the icon camera on the right, inside the search bar
- Here you have two options: Enter the URL of the image if you found it on a website (paste image url) then click the button Search by image. Or download the image locally from your hard drive by going to the tab import an image.
Once the image is populated, Google will search for it on the web. If available, the search engine will present the sites on which it is published. Otherwise, it will try to display similar images. If the image contains an identifiable place or a known personality/character, you will also be able to see their name.
How to do a reverse image search on Google from a smartphone?
Unable to access Google Image from smartphone browser. When image.google.com is entered, the icon that allows you to search for images is not available. But there is a trick to get around this restriction. Simply view the page in the PC version. To do this :
- go pictures.google.com From the mobile version of Chrome
- Tap the three vertical dots in the top right
- then press computer version To enable PC view
- The camera-shaped icon is now displayed. Follow the instructions presented in the previous section to perform a reverse image search.
How to Do a Reverse Image Search with Google Lens?
you definitely know Google Lens, Google’s image recognition app. Here is our file to understand how it works. It offers other possibilities to search by image on both smartphone and PC. With the advent of Google Lens, reverse image search has gone even further. Image recognition powered by artificial intelligence expands possibilities, especially on smartphones.
So you can get the name of an animal or an identifiable object captured in the photo. On Android, as on the iPhone, Google Lens can be accessed from the Google app.
- Open the Google app.
- Tap the camera icon to the right of the search bar.
- You can upload an image from Gallery to get information about identifiable objects, or hold the object in the camera lens for real-time recognition.
The Google Lens feature is also available in Chrome. Right click on a picture on PC or long press on smartphone (iPhone, Android), then select the option Search the image with Google Lens.