For example, a reverse image search revealed that a photo of Mike Tyson apparently wearing an anti-vaccine T-shirt had been doctored the T-shirt actually worn by the boxer in fact displayed a photo of Mike Tyson himself. The results will tell you what other contexts the photo has appeared in. Drag the cursor over the image to select it as in a screenshot. Option 4: If you're using Chrome, right-click on the image and select Search Images with Google Lens.

Copy the URL and then paste into the Google Images search field. Option 3: Right-click on the image and select Open image in another window. But the website, which fact-checks news stories, rumors and memes that fly around the internet, can't investigate everything. When someone posts an image with a news story that just doesn't sound right to you, you could try to look it up on Snopes. You can check if anyone is reusing your profile photos on TikTok or Tinder or stealing snaps of your crafts from Pinterest and claiming your creations as their own.įinally, you might want to win an argument.

If you have photos you don't want repurposed by strangers, it might also make sense to run them through a reverse image search now and then.

Buying something from a stranger on the internet? Reverse image search the picture of the item to see if it's been posted by other people. Going on a first date? Run the person's Tinder profile picture through a reverse image search to see if the photo is associated with anyone else. You can use a reverse image search to spot fraud and scams.

Graphic by Pixabay illustration by CNET Why you might want to run a reverse image search A quick drag-and-drop can help you separate fact from fiction.

Google reverse search