A step-by-step guide using Google Lens, TinEye and Google's "About this image" to spot old, reused or misleading pictures.
By FactInfoLive · Published 2026-11-11 · Updated 2026-11-11
Why this works
A viral photo is often real but old, or real but from another place. Reverse image search starts with a picture instead of words and shows where else that picture appears online, which helps you find its earlier appearances and original context. It cannot prove a picture is true on its own, but it quickly catches many recycled images.
Step 1: Search with Google
On a phone, open the Google app or Chrome and tap the Google Lens icon in the search bar, then choose or take a photo. For an image on a web page, touch and hold it and choose the option to search the image with Google Lens. On a desktop computer in Chrome, right-click the image and choose the Google Lens search option. Google notes that in Chrome this option appears when Google is your default search engine.
Step 2: Cross-check with a second engine
Different engines index different pages. TinEye is a dedicated reverse image search engine focused on finding matches of the same image, and it is reported to be free for non-commercial use (check its help pages for current terms). Bing and Yandex also offer image search. If one tool finds nothing, try another before drawing any conclusion.
Step 3: Use "About this image"
Google says its "About this image" tool can show an image's history, including when it or similar images may have first been seen by Search, how other sites use and describe it (including news and fact-checking sites), and metadata where available. You can reach it from the three dots next to an image in Google Images results.
Step 4: Look for the earliest and the most reliable source
Open the results and compare dates, captions and credits. Look for the earliest appearance, and for results from news agencies or fact-checking organisations. If the same photo appears years earlier than the claim being made, the claim is probably misleading. Do not trust a screenshot timestamp by itself, because it is easy to fake.
Step 5: Check whether someone has already fact-checked it
Google's Fact Check Explorer lets you search for claims that independent fact-checking organisations have already reviewed, and Google has said it can now also help find fact checks about an image. The results come from fact-checking publishers, not from Google.
Step 6: Be honest about the limits
No result does not mean fake. A brand-new photo may have no earlier copies. Cropping, filters and mirroring can hide a match, so try cropping to a key detail. Reverse image search also says nothing about whether an image was edited or generated by AI, so combine it with other checks such as the place, the weather and independent reports.
A quick checklist
- Search the image in at least two engines.
- Find the earliest date it appears.
- Check who published it first and whether it has a credit.
- Search Fact Check Explorer for the claim.
- Look for independent reports of the same event.
Sources
Google blog, "4 ways to use Search to check facts, images and sources online" (2 Apr 2024): https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/google-search-fact-checking-resources/
Google blog, "Check the facts with these Google features": https://blog.google/products/news/fact-checking-tips/
Tactical Tech / Data Detox Kit, "Verify a Photo's Origins": https://datadetoxkit.org/en/misinformation/reversesearch/
Snopes, "A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches": https://www.snopes.com/articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/
TinEye: https://tineye.com