Instagram search by image. How to find someone’s profile with a picture?

There is no Instagram reverse image search, so you have to open Google or Microsoft Bing. You will almost never find a direct link to a profile in the social network. But you’ll find a name or a username from different websites. Then you can try to find someone’s profile on Instagram using the names.

Google reverse search helps to find profiles by photo regardless of the country. That’s why we recommend you start looking for the person’s info with it. 

You can’t upload a photo through a browser. To search Instagram by image, use an official Google app.

In the Google Lens app on iOS or Android: 
— Choose Search with your camera and take a photo (1).
OR
—  Upload a picture from Camera roll (2).

From the gallery:

Bing is good for searching with a picture on English versions of sites. If you are sure a user runs a social page in English, try it. It increases chances, because the search results differ from Google’s reverse search.

Reverse image search in Microsoft Bing is available both on a computer and a smartphone. 

On iOS and Android, you can search a name and username with a picture made from camera or uploaded from Camera roll.

People often use the same account data in all social media. Use a name or username you see under photos in the search or on the websites to find a user on Instagram.

Type the names in Google or Bing search boxes and add "Instagram". If the profile is public and run actively, you’ll find it. If the profile is private, and the user is not so active in social media, the likelihood they’ll be in the search results is much less.

Search the profile in both engines — they often show different pages. And one may find the page when another can’t.

If you didn’t succeed with the search engines, search a user right in Instagram.

Type the name and username you’ve found in the Instagram search. Choose Top or Accounts tab. You will see a list of users who used these names to fill the name and username boxes in their profile settings.

If you see a long list, you have to spend a lot of time scrolling. However, you know what the person looks like and don’t have to check every profile. Go to those with a familiar face on profile photo. We also recommend checking Instagram profiles with pictures. But if the person used some photoshop actions on their Instagram profile picture, it could be impossible to find, so keep that in mind.

Type a username from another social network in the search box. It is also a users’ ID, and that’s why it is unique. You’ll find a page with this username in no time. But be aware, someone else may use it in Instagram. You'll know it by photos in the profile. 

It’s not that easy to find a user who is not active in social media. If methods above didn’t help, use hashtags and location to search Instagram by image. You can also look for a profile among followers in accounts. 

Search for a user on a tag’s explore page. They may have added tags in their posts, or they may have been tagged on a photo with a tag. Also pay attention to the caption under a post, there may be a username you are looking for. And check comments section, the user might be there. 

Search for a user with low-frequency tags. They have fewer posts on their pages, which means you don’t have to scroll for long. 

Consider what’s pictured on the photo you’ve got.

If what you see is a person playing the guitar, use the instrument’s series or model as a hashtag. It is low-frequency, and if there is a picture with the user on the tag’s explore page, you’ll find it quickly. 

You don’t want to perform Instagram search by image using high-frequency tags like "guitar" or "music". You won’t find on their explore page even a popular person. 

A gym’s name may appear in the photo of an athlete. Use it as a low-frequency hashtag to find a profile. And don’t use high-frequency tags of sports brands or exercises, they won’t help to find anyone.

Look for students by education-related tags. Every student belongs to a club or society in their universities, which have their own tags. For example, type #crimsonems in the search box. The tag’s page has few posts, if there is a post with the person you need, you’ll quickly find it. 

You should also try searching by the name of a university or college, or a major. The one you are looking for may be tagged on a group photo.

Search for an adult by a tag of a company. It may be a shop’s name, a salon or bank they work in. 

You can search for them by the activity — event planning, maintenance, insurance service. Maybe the person on the photo is a prominent specialist in their field? Then, it won't be difficult to find them.

If a photo you’ve got shows a group of friends, think back whether they called themselves somehow. It may be a good hashtag to find a person, as there won’t be many pictures.

You can go to a profile of someone in the picture and search for an unusual hashtag under a post. Probably it’ll be the hashtag of their company.

Users can tag a place when posting. If you recognize a place in a photo, open the relevant location page. Probably you’ll see more photos with the person you are looking for. Maybe even those they posted themselves. 

You won’t see a person’s photo or video on a hashtag page if:

You may find a user among the followers of thematic public profiles or mutual acquaintances. Follow the principle of searching by IG hashtags above.

Look for a musician among the followers of a musical instruments brand, local nightclubs or a famous singer profile. Look for a sportsman on a page of a gym or Olympic champions. 

Students, especially if they are in clothes with a university logo, search in accounts of the educational institute. Adults can be found among the followers of a company's profile. 

Go to an account and search for a familiar face among the profile pictures. Type a name or username on the search box at the top if you know them. 

The apps give you the results of Google image search. Their only advantage is convenient interface. But if you are used to searching with a mobile app, use Google Lens to find Instagram by image. 

Online services for searching a profile with a picture provide the same reverse image search results. Their advantage is offering pictures and sites form several searching engines. For example, Reverse image search and Duplichecker collect data from Google, Bing, Yandex, Baidu.

There are no instruments which have proved to search Instagram by image in 100% cases. Using a search engine, you may find a name and username from an actively used public account. You have to look for users who are not so active on the Internet among followers of others’ accounts.

There is more to searching for an IG profile. If Instagram search by image wasn't helpful, you can try other ways to find a person on Instagram. If they haven't helped too, probably the person hasn’t signed up on the social network.

If the Instagram search by image was successful, but the account you found is private, you probably want to read how to watch the content of a private profile.