7 Easy Ways to Reverse Image Search on Instagram

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Find the original source of an Instagram photo in a few easy steps

Co-authored by Nicole Levine, MFA Reviewed by Candace Gasper

Last Updated: December 4, 2024 Fact Checked

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How to Get the Image

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Reverse Image Search Tools

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Do you think someone is using your Instagram pictures? Want to find the original source of an Instagram photo or see if the person DMing you is who they say they are? While you can't start a reverse image search directly from the Instagram app or website, you can capture a screenshot of the image, crop it, and upload it to a reverse image lookup site like Google Lens or TinEye. This wikiHow article will teach you how to perform a reverse image search on an Instagram photo on your computer, Android, iPhone, or iPad.

Quickly Reverse Image Search on Instagram

To reverse image search an Instagram picture, you will need to take a screenshot and upload it to a reverse image search tool like Google or TinEye. For best results, crop the screenshot so only the Instagram photo is in the image.

Section 1 of 2:

How to Get the Image

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1
Take a screenshot of the Instagram picture. As you may have noticed, when you control-click or long-press an Instagram image, you will not see an option to search for or download the photo. The workaround is to take a screenshot of the Instagram image, crop it, and upload it to a reverse image search tool.
- iPhone or iPad: If your iPhone or iPad has Face ID, press the side and Volume Up buttons at the same time quickly to take a screenshot. If you have Touch ID, press the side and Home buttons at the same time instead.
- Android: The steps vary by model, but you can usually take a screenshot on your Android by pressing the Power and Volume Up or Power and Volume Down buttons at the same time.^{[1]
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- Windows: Press Windows Key + Shift + S, then draw a box around the image. This saves the picture to the "Screenshots" folder in your "Pictures" folder by default.^{[2]
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- Mac: Press Command + Shift + 4, then draw a box around the image. By default, the screenshot is saved to your desktop.
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Crop the screenshot. If you used a PC or Mac to take a screenshot of just the picture, you can skip this step. On a phone or tablet, taking a screenshot also captures everything on the screen, not just the Instagram photo. For the best reverse image search results, you'll want to crop out everything that isn't the photo you're searching for.
- After taking the screenshot, you can tap the preview and use your phone or tablet's crop tool to select the part of the image you want to keep.
- Alternatively, open the Photos or Gallery app, select your screenshot, choose the Edit or pencil option, then crop the photo.
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Now that you have your own copy of the Instagram photo, you can easily search for it using any of these recommended Reverse Image Search Tools.

Section 2 of 2:

Reverse Image Search Tools

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1
Google Lens. This free tool is great for doing a reverse image search for any photo, including Instagram photos.
- On Android, iPhone, or iPad, open the Google app and tap the Google Lens icon (the camera). Select the image to instantly do a reverse-image search.^{[3]
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- To use this tool on a computer, go to https://images.google.com in your browser, click the camera icon in the search bar, and select the photo you screenshotted from Instagram. Click Search and Google will search that image and give you results of similar, if not the exact same, image!
- Once you see the results, you can click around to figure out where the picture originated from or where else it is posted.
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TinEye. Go to https://www.tineye.com in a browser on any device, click Upload, and select the Instagram picture to see where else that picture appears online.
- When you find a match, click it to see where that image appears.
A different search algorithm may produce different results, so use this if searching Google or TinEye doesn't work. The reverse image search process is almost identical to using Google; go to https://www.bing.com/images, click or tap the outlined camera icon, then upload the image.
This image source locator might succeed where the other search engines have failed. Since it sources images mainly from manga, anime, TV shows, and movies, you might get different results than other search engines, which produce mostly mainstream results. Go to https://saucenao.com in a web browser on any device to upload and search for your Instagram image.
This site boasts that it provides "better verification for stolen photos and videos." However, it is a paid service (though you can search for five images for free). To use Berify to find information about an Instagram photo, go to https://berify.com, and sign up for an account. Click or tap the search bar to select your picture.
Pixsy is an image protection service that is good for artists and photographers who want to protect their work. A free account allows you to monitor up to 500 images. If you need additional protection, the paid subscription tiers allow you to monitor more images and will assist you with takedown requests and protect your images from theft. Go to https://www.pixsy.com/ to sign up for an account.
Social Catfish is good if you want a more in-depth investigative report on a person and are willing to pay for it. This is the service you want to use to check and see if the person DMing you is who they say they are and weeding out potential scammers and catfish profiles on big social media sites like Instagram. Go to https://socialcatfish.com/reverse-image-search and do a reverse image search. You will need to pay to unlock the results.

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In 2018, Instagram closed its API to developers. It's pretty much impossible to get information from a private Instagram account.

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