Remove Images From Google

Written by the Removal Lab team.

Searched your own name and found a photo of you in Google Images that you never agreed to share? You can remove images from Google through one of several routes and Removal Lab can tell you for free which one fits your photo.

Google decides on its own policies. Site owners decide what stays on their sites. We work out which route can remove images from Google in your case, prepare the request and follow it through. The check is confidential. On qualifying cases there is no upfront payment. If an image does not qualify, we explain why and what else can help.

How to remove images from Google: the routes at a glance

When you want to remove images from Google, the path depends on what the image shows and where it is hosted. Choosing the right one first saves time.

Start with the site owner

The quickest way to remove images from Google is often to remove them from the site first. Google’s own advice is plain: to remove an image from Google search results, contact the owner of the site that contains it. Look for a Contact us link or an email address, usually on the homepage. If there is none, Google suggests a Whois search and looking under "Registrant Email" or "Administrative Contact". If the owner cannot be reached, contact the company that hosts the site.

For social media images, Google says to remove the image from the platform first. If you cannot get into the account that posted it, report it to the platform. Our pages on Instagram content removal and Facebook content removal cover that step. Once the image is gone at the source, Google says it will eventually drop or update it in its regular process. You can speed that up with the refresh tool below.

Find every copy before you ask

Is the photo on one site or ten? Google image removal goes faster when you know every place it sits. Google’s help page on explicit images suggests searching your name and running a reverse image search to find other sites that host the image. For each copy, save the page address, the image link and a screenshot. Search Console Help says the refresh tool needs a separate request for every page where the image appears, so a full list saves a second round.

A short message you can send the site owner

Google’s first advice is to contact the person who runs the site. Copy this template and fill in the brackets.

If you took the photo, say so, because copyright may give you a legal route. Keep a copy of what you send. Never offer money or make threats.

How to remove explicit images from Google

Google has a dedicated flow for explicit or intimate images of you. It covers real images shared without consent and fake, AI generated images that use your likeness. Google says it considers removal when the image shows you nude, in a sexual act or in an intimate state, you did not consent and you are not currently being paid to commercialise the content. To remove images from Google under this policy, follow Google’s steps:

1. Sign in to your Google Account.
2. On the Google Images results page, open the image. Select More at the top right, then Remove result.
3. At "Why would you like to remove this search result?", choose It shows a sexual image of me, then Get started.
4. Answer "Does the image show someone under 18?". Answer No to continue this flow. If the answer is yes, Google sends you to a separate child safety report.
5. Answer the prompts. If asked whether you would like to submit more images in the same request, you can add them.
6. On "Let us know the details", enter your full name. Then choose any ongoing protections: Duplicates and Future searches. Select Continue, then Done.

Google says ongoing protections let it remove future duplicate copies automatically and filter related images from similar searches. That makes it the strongest way to remove images from Google when copies keep spreading. You get an email when a decision is made. Approved requests show as "Approved" under Removal requests in Results about you.

Google’s help page also lists support organisations, including StopNCII.org, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative in the United States and the Revenge Porn Helpline in the UK. If you are worried about your physical safety, Google says to call the appropriate authorities.

How to remove images of minors from Google

This is the route for parents who want to remove images from Google that show their child. Google says that if you are under 18, it removes images of you at your request. A parent or relative can also start the request. The policy also covers someone who died before turning 18. Google may decline when an image is newsworthy or a matter of public interest.

The request must contain only image URLs. Google says web pages with both text and images are not eligible under this policy. The image must not come from a social media account or web page that the person requesting manages. Google says screenshots help it find the image and you can edit them so only the face shows. Never take or share screenshots of sexual content involving anyone under 18. Report that directly to Google instead.

When Google approves the request, the image stops appearing in Google Image Search and as thumbnails in Search features. Google says it cannot remove the image from the source website.

How to remove outdated images from Google

If you want to remove images from Google that a site has already taken down or replaced, use the Refresh outdated content tool. Google says it applies when a page or image no longer exists or is significantly different.

1. Find the image at images.google.com and right click the thumbnail without opening it.
2. Select Copy link address. Google says to copy the link address, not the image address. It starts with a google.com/imgres address.
3. Select Request refresh, then New request, then Image.
4. Paste the link and select Submit.

Google says image requests must include both the URL of the image and the URL of the page that contained it. You need a separate request for every page where the image appears. Requests show as Pending, Approved, Denied, Expired or Cancelled. Google says a request expires 180 days after approval or when the URL no longer exists. The tool only updates Google’s results. It does not remove anything from the web and it is not for images you think are harmful but are still live.

Google image removal after the site deleted the photo

The photo is gone from the site. So why is the thumbnail still in Google Images? Google keeps its own copy until it refreshes the page. The Refresh outdated content tool asks it to look sooner. Search Console Help adds rules that trip people up.

• Something must have changed. Google says the tool will not remove a page or image that still exists and has not changed.
• Google may ask for words. If the page or image still exists at the address, Google asks for more information. If it asks for text, give one or two words that were in the search snippet but are no longer on the live page.
• Approval works in two ways. A page that is gone drops out of results. A page that only changed loses its snippet but can still appear until Google crawls it again.
• Still showing after approval? Check that the address in the results matches the one you sent exactly, including capital letters. If it does not, request a refresh for the other address.

Why Google denies a refresh request

Search Console Help lists these reasons. Each one points to a different next step.

Images of your ID, signature or contact details

Google’s personal information policy lists images of your signature or identity documents among the things it may remove, alongside contact details, government ID numbers and bank details. It also covers doxxing, where personal information appears with threats or calls for harassment. Our guide on how to remove personal information from Google walks through that form step by step.

You can ask Google to remove images from Google Search that show identity documents under this policy. If an image of a passport, licence or bank card is online, treat it as urgent. Ask the site to take it down, file with Google and tell your bank or the issuing office. For threats alongside the image, read our doxxing removal page.

Images on your own website

If you own the site, it is easier to remove images from Google, because Google gives you extra tools. In Search Console, the Removals tool’s Temporary Removals tab lets a verified owner select New Request and block a URL. Google says a successful request lasts only about six months and usually takes up to a day to process. To make it permanent, delete or update the content so the server returns a 404 or 410 status, put it behind a password or add a noindex tag. Google’s Removals tool page says not to use robots.txt as a blocking mechanism. Its separate guide for images does list robots.txt, as you will see below.

For a single image, Google says to find it in Google Images, right click it and copy the link, then check for other copies of the same image at other URLs.

How to remove an image from Google Images

Here is the short path to remove images from Google in each situation, with the extra details Google gives in its own help pages. Find yours, follow the steps and skip the rest.

You own the site

The fastest way to remove images from Google that sit on your own site is the Removals tool in Search Console. Google’s guide to removing images hosted on your site warns that the image may come back once that removal expires unless you also remove or block it. The same guide gives two lasting options.

• A robots.txt rule. Add a disallow rule for Google’s image crawler, Googlebot Image, naming the image file. Google says it drops the image the next time it crawls it. This takes longer than the Removals tool but also works with other search engines.
• A noindex rule in the image’s HTTP headers. Google must be allowed to crawl the image to read it, so do not combine it with a robots.txt block.

If your host or website builder lets you do neither, Google suggests deleting the images.

It is on someone else’s site

To remove images from Google that sit on someone else’s site, ask the site owner first, then the host. The steps are in the site owner section above. If you uploaded the photo to a Google product yourself, Google’s image removal page says to open your Album Archive, open the photo, select More, then Delete photo. If you do not see that option, select Manage in Google Photos.

It shows your personal information

To remove images from Google that show your ID or signature, use Google’s Start removal request form. If a result shows your phone number, home address or email, sign in, select the More icon next to the result, then Remove result, then It shows my personal info and I don’t want it there. Our guide on how to use Google Results about you shows how to track those requests and set alerts.

It is an explicit image of you

To remove images from Google that show you in a sexual or intimate way, open the image in Google Images, select More, then Remove result and choose It shows a sexual image of me. The full steps are in the explicit images section above. Ask for ongoing protections so Google can filter duplicates too.

You took the photo and someone copied it

To remove images from Google that copy your own photos, use copyright. Google’s Report Content for Legal Reasons page asks you to select Create a request, choose the Google product where the image appears and pick your reason. It wants the specific URL rather than the home page. It also wants a clear explanation of what infringes your rights. If the image shows up in more than one Google product, file a separate notice for each.

Google says it follows copyright notices under the DMCA. Its copyright removal FAQ says you must state, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorised to act for the copyright owner. Google shares copies of qualifying requests with Lumen, where website owners can review them. Our page on the Google legal removal request covers the form in more detail.

How to request image removal from Google: the exact form names

Google uses a different name for each route to remove images from Google. Use the wrong one and your request goes to the wrong place. Use the name in the first column to find the right one.

Track contact detail and explicit image requests under Removal requests in Results about you. Google lists the statuses as In progress, Approved, Denied or Undone. If a request is denied, the reason shows there and arrives by email. Refresh requests are checked in Search Console under Refresh outdated content. Our Refresh outdated content tool guide walks through that screen.

Remove a picture from Google search when the site will not

This is the hard case. You asked. The site said no or never replied. If you want to get images of you removed from Google anyway, work through these steps in order. Google can still act when the image breaks one of its own policies or the law, even if the site keeps it.

1. Check the policies first. Explicit images of you, images of a child, images of your ID or signature, doxxing content and images on sites that charge to remove them all have their own Google routes.
2. Try the host. Google suggests contacting the company that hosts the site when the owner cannot be reached. A Whois search shows who that is.
3. Use copyright if you took the photo. File through Report Content for Legal Reasons with the exact image and page URLs.
4. Keep the evidence. Save the page address, the image link from Google Images and screenshots before anything changes.
5. Ask for a second opinion. A specialist can check the image against every Google route. Our personal reputation removal service handles cases where images and text results sit together.

Be honest about the limits. Not every request to remove images from Google will succeed. Google says it may keep images that are newsworthy or a matter of public interest. When no policy applies, its help pages point you back to the site owner. Removing a result also does not delete the image from the page that hosts it.

What to have ready before you ask

Gather these details before you try to remove images from Google. Each route asks for something different.

Google image removal under European privacy law

Do you live in Europe? Then there may be one more route. Google’s Legal Help page on the right to be forgotten explains that European data protection law, now in Article 17 of the GDPR, lets people ask Google to delist results for searches on their name.

• Where to file: Google’s right to be forgotten web form on reportcontent.google.com.
• What to include: the specific URLs, how the content relates to you and why it should be delisted, the search query (usually your full name) and a contact email.
• How Google decides: reviewers weigh your privacy against the public interest. They look at your public role, the source, the age of the content and whether it covers sensitive data such as health or religion.
• The limits: delisting only covers searches on your name. Google applies it to its search versions for countries that use European data protection law.

It can help when a page with your photo shows up for your name and no other policy fits. For text results, see remove my name from Google.

What Google will not remove

You cannot remove images from Google just because you dislike them. Images that are newsworthy or a matter of public interest may stay, even under the minors policy. Images on your own social media are your job to delete at the source. The refresh tool will fail if nothing on the page has really changed. And no Google request deletes the original file from someone else’s server.

Booking photos are a special case with their own rules. See mugshot removal and our new page on court record removal.

How long it takes to remove images from Google

Google does not give one timeline. Refresh requests show as Pending while they are processed, which Google says can take a few days. Search Console temporary removals usually take up to a day. For personal information removals through Results about you, Google says approved removals may take a few hours to disappear. For explicit images, Google emails you when a decision is made but does not promise a date. We never promise one either.

What to do if Google says no

If a request to remove images from Google is refused, these steps still help.

• Read the reason. Google says denied personal information requests come with an email explaining why.
• Try the right route. A refused refresh request may be a personal information or explicit image case instead.
• Go back to the source. Contact the site owner or host. Once the image is gone there, the refresh tool usually becomes the answer.
• Use the law where it fits. Google’s legal help page covers copyright and other legal claims. It asks for the specific URL and a clear explanation.
• Check the whole page of results. Our Google search result removal and remove my name from Google pages cover the text results next to your images.

If the image comes from a video, our YouTube video removal page covers the source. Every time you remove images from Google, check again a week later for copies at new addresses.

How Removal Lab works

1. Send the link. WhatsApp, email or the two field form. Two minutes, no long questionnaire.
2. Free policy check. A specialist reads it against the platform rules and tells you honestly whether it qualifies.
3. We build and file the case. The right policy, the right channel, the evidence attached. We handle the appeal too.
4. Pay only when it is gone. No upfront payment on qualifying cases. If the platform says no, you owe nothing.

What we will never do

• Promise a removal. The platform decides, not us.
• Post fake reviews or pay anyone to delete a review.
• Pressure, threaten or try to identify a reviewer.
• Charge an upfront fee on a case that does not qualify.

Frequently asked questions

Can Google delete an image from the internet?

No. Google can remove an image from its search results, but it says the image stays on the website hosting it until the site owner removes it.

How do I remove explicit images of me from Google?

Open the image in Google Images, select More then Remove result and choose It shows a sexual image of me. Follow the prompts and choose ongoing protections if you want Google to filter duplicates and future searches.

Can I remove a photo of my child from Google?

Google says it removes images of people under 18 at their request. A parent or relative can also start the request. Google may decline if the image is newsworthy or a matter of public interest.

The website deleted my photo but Google still shows it. What now?

Use Google’s Refresh outdated content tool. It is the way to remove images from Google once the site has deleted them. For an image, Google needs both the image URL and the URL of the page that contained it.

How long does it take to remove images from Google?

Google does not publish one timeline. It says refresh requests can take a few days to process and approved personal information removals may take a few hours to disappear.

What does it cost to remove images from Google with Removal Lab?

The check is free and confidential. On qualifying cases there is no upfront payment and you pay only when the image is removed. See pricing.

How do I request image removal from Google?

To remove images from Google, pick the form that matches the image. Remove result in Google Images covers explicit images of you, Start removal request covers images of children, ID and doxxing content, Request refresh covers images already deleted from the site and Create a request in Google Legal Help covers copyright.

Can I remove a picture from Google search if the website will not delete it?

Sometimes. Google can remove an image from its results when it breaks one of its policies, such as explicit images of you, images of a child or images of your ID. If no policy or legal claim applies, Google points you back to the site owner.

Why does Google still show my photo after the website deleted it?

Google keeps its own copy until it refreshes the page. You can ask it to refresh sooner with the Refresh outdated content tool, using the image link and the page address.

Why was my Google image removal request denied?

For refresh requests, Search Console Help lists reasons such as Content still on page, Duplicate request and Incorrect URL format. Content still on page means the image is still live, so the site owner has to remove it first.

Can I use the right to be forgotten to remove an image from Google?

If European data protection law applies to you, Google’s right to be forgotten form lets you ask it to delist URLs that appear for searches on your name. Google weighs your privacy against the public interest.

Where can I check the status of my image removal request?

Refresh requests show in the Refresh outdated content tool as Pending, Approved, Denied, Expired or Cancelled. Contact detail and explicit image requests show under Removal requests in Results about you.

Sources: Google Search Help: Remove an image from Google, Google Search Help: Remove personal sexual images, Google Search Help: Help removing explicit or intimate personal images, Google Search Help: Remove non explicit images of minors, Google Search Help: Refresh outdated content, Search Console Help: Refresh Outdated Content tool, Search Console Help: Removals tool, Google Search Help: Remove my private info, Google Search Help: Request personal content removal, Google Legal Help: Report content for legal reasons, Google Search Help: Results about you, Search Console Help: Block content from Google Search, Google Search Central: Remove images hosted on your site from search results, Google Transparency Report: Search removals due to copyright FAQs, Search Console Help: Denials for refresh outdated content requests and Google Legal Help: Right to be forgotten overview. Removal Lab does not work for Google. Every decision is made by the platform.