Reverse Image Search to Find Your Face Online

Maybe someone told you they saw your photo somewhere it should not be. Maybe you just have a bad feeling and want to know for sure. Either way, you want to find where your face shows up online, and you want to do it without making things worse. That instinct is right. This guide walks you through how to look, what the free and paid tools actually do, and where your uploaded photo goes when you use them.

Take a breath first. Looking is not the same as fixing, and you do not have to solve everything today. We will start with finding, then move to what you can do about anything you find.

How reverse image and face search actually work

There are two different things people call "searching for your face," and it helps to know which one you are doing.

Reverse image search takes a specific photo you already have and looks for copies or near-copies of that exact image across the web. If someone reposted your profile picture or lifted a photo from your social media, this is the tool that finds it. Google Images, Bing Visual Search, TinEye, and Yandex all do this for free.

Face search is different. Instead of matching one image, it tries to find other photos of the same person, even ones you have never seen. This is what services like PimEyes and FaceCheck do. It is more powerful and, for that reason, it raises bigger privacy questions.

Both approaches usually require one thing: you upload a photo. That is where you need to slow down and pay attention.

The privacy tradeoff most people miss

When you upload your face to a search tool, you are handing a company a clear photo of you and, often, permission to store it. Read that sentence again. To find out where your face is exposed, many tools ask you to expose it a little more.

This is not paranoia. Ask yourself a few plain questions before you upload anywhere:

• Where does my photo go? Is it processed and deleted, or stored on their servers?
• Can I delete it later? Look for an opt-out or data deletion option, and check whether it actually removes your face from their index.
• Who else can search me? Some face search sites let anyone with a photo of you run the same search. Removing yourself from their index matters as much as finding results.

Free tools are not automatically safer here. A free reverse image search still receives your uploaded photo. Paid tools are not automatically worse. What matters is the data handling, not the price. If you want a closer look at how one popular face search service handles this, we wrote a plain comparison in our breakdown of PimEyes and the alternatives.

A safer way to search, step by step

You can do a thorough sweep without spreading your photo any further than you have to. Here is a sensible order.

1. Start with what you already own. Pick a clear, recent photo of your face that you control. A plain selfie works well.
2. Run a reverse image search first. Use Google Images, Bing, TinEye, and Yandex. Upload your photo, then read through the matches. Each engine crawls different corners of the web, so trying more than one is worth it.
3. Search your name and handles too. Put your name in quotes, add your city or job, and check the image results. Old accounts and reposts often surface this way.
4. Only then consider a dedicated face search. If you still think intimate or impersonating content is out there, a face search can find matches a plain image search misses. Before you upload, confirm the tool's deletion and opt-out policy.
5. Write down what you find. Save the links, not the images. A short list of URLs is all you need to act, and it keeps you from re-downloading anything harmful.

That last point is important. To remove content, no one needs the picture. The link alone is enough.

How LinksGone finds appearances without your photo leaving your device

We built our search around one idea: you should not have to give away your face to protect it. When you use an optional face match in LinksGone, the comparison runs on your own device. Your original photo is not uploaded to us and is not stored on our servers. The math that checks whether two faces match happens locally, and only the results come back.

To be clear about what we are and are not: LinksGone is a free do-it-yourself takedown tool. We give you a reverse-image search, legal-notice templates, and a step-by-step guide. The only machine learning anywhere is that optional on-device face match. We are not an "AI service" scanning the internet for you, and we will never pretend to be. The honest version is more useful: you find the links, and we hand you the right way to get each one removed.

Found something? Here is how to take it down

What you do next depends entirely on what you found. Using the wrong process wastes time, so match the situation to the right path.

Intimate images or deepfake nudes

If the content is sexual, or an AI-generated "fake nude" of you, this is not a copyright problem, so do not file a DMCA notice. Use the platform's privacy or non-consensual intimate imagery form. Adults can also create a case at StopNCII.org, which helps participating platforms block the image by its digital fingerprint. In the US, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a federal law signed in May 2025, requires covered platforms to remove this kind of content within 48 hours of a valid request from the person depicted. Our guide on how to remove a deepfake of yourself walks through it step by step.

Fake accounts or someone impersonating you

If a photo is being used to impersonate you, on a fake profile or a cloned account, use the platform's impersonation or identity form. This is a right-of-publicity issue, not copyright.

A photo you took yourself

If someone reposted a selfie or a photo you personally shot, you own the copyright, so a DMCA takedown is the correct tool for that one.

Mugshots, your address, or exposed contact info

Removal here varies by site, and we will be straight with you: some mugshot sites and data brokers require a per-site opt-out, one at a time. Google's "Results about you" tool can suppress search results that expose your contact information or personal details. We can help you prepare the right request, but no tool can force every site to comply, so be wary of anyone promising a clean wipe.

Threats to leak, or someone demanding money

If someone is threatening to share intimate images unless you pay, do not pay and do not keep negotiating. This is not your fault. Preserve evidence by saving links, not images. In the US, report it to the FBI at ic3.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI, and use StopNCII.org. If anyone in the images is under 18, this is child sexual abuse material: report it to NCMEC's CyberTipline and to law enforcement rather than a normal takedown form.

You can start whenever you are ready

Finding where your face appears online is the hard first step, and you have a plan for it now. When you are ready to act on what you found, the takedown itself is free, for every link and every platform, with no card required. You file each notice in your own name and stay in control the whole way. If you want to understand the process before you begin, you can read through how takedowns work at your own pace. There is no rush, and there is no wrong time to look after yourself.