Reverse face search: find other photos of the same face

What a reverse face search is

A reverse face search is a search where the query is a face rather than words. You upload a photo, the engine finds the face in it, turns that face into a set of numbers that describe its shape and features, and compares those numbers with faces it has already seen on public web pages. Pages whose faces are close enough come back as results, ranked by how close they are.

The important word is same. The engine is not looking for the same file, the same crop or the same lighting. It is looking for the same person, which is why one old photo can lead to a conference gallery from last year, a forum avatar, a news article and a profile you had forgotten about. It is also why the results sometimes include a stranger who merely looks like you; see the doppelgänger effect and how to read your results.

Reverse face search vs reverse image search

Google Lens, TinEye, Yandex and Bing are reverse image search engines. They are excellent at one job: finding where a particular picture, or an edited copy of it, has been published. They are poor at finding other pictures of the same person, because they compare whole images, not faces. A reverse face search does the opposite. The two are complementary, and for a stolen-photo problem you will often run both. The full explanation is on face search vs reverse image search.

How a search runs on FaceSearch

1. 1

   Add one clear photo

   Drop a JPEG, PNG or WEBP with one face in it on the search page. Front-facing, well lit and at least a few hundred pixels across works best. Photo metadata such as location is stripped before anything else happens.

2. 2

   FaceSearch scans the public web

   The face is compared with faces on publicly accessible pages. A normal search takes seconds. A deep search reaches further and takes longer; it needs an account and a deep search credit.

3. 3

   Review every match

   Results are ranked with the closest first. Each one shows the matched image and the page it came from. On the Free plan the top results are visible and the source links are locked; paid plans unlock every link.

4. 4

   Decide what to do

   Save the scan to your history, delete it, or follow a link to the source page. If a photo is somewhere it should not be, the takedown guide and removal guide cover the next steps.

What a result contains

• The matched image, as it appears on the source page, so you can see at a glance whether it is you.
• The source page, the public URL where that image was found. This is the part that makes a result useful: it tells you who published the photo and where to send a removal request.
• Rank order. Closer matches sit higher. A high rank is a strong lead, not proof; two unrelated people can look very alike to a computer.
• A saved scan in your history, if you are signed in, so you can come back to the result list without searching again.

What people use it for

• Find where your own photos are usedEvent galleries, reposts, old profiles, stock misuse and scraped copies you never agreed to.
• Check a dating profile photoSee whether the face on a profile appears elsewhere under a different name before you invest more time or money.
• Deal with a fake accountCollect every copy of your photos before you report an impersonator to the platform.
• Protect your work as a creatorA weekly self-search is the simplest way to catch reposted content early.

Free and paid

Your first search is free and needs no account. A free account adds two more credits and shows the top results with source links locked. The Starter plan is $5 a week for five normal searches and three deep searches with every link unlocked, which makes it the cheapest paid way into face search we know of. Monthly plans add daily credits, deep search top-ups and, on Business, help with take-down requests. The free face search page spells out exactly what each level shows.

Is a reverse face search legal?

Searching for your own face is lawful everywhere we operate, and it is the use FaceSearch is built for. Searching for someone else's face is lawful in most places for ordinary purposes such as checking the person you are talking to, but biometric and data-protection laws differ by country and some uses, such as employment or tenant screening, are restricted. The legal guide covers the US, EU, UK and India. Our own rules are on the acceptable use page.