So, you have discovered an Instagram profile whose content you love, or you are hoping to slide into someone’s DMS, but you can’t for the life of you remember the name of the profile. All you have to go on is a couple of images.
Let’s take a look at how to do a reverse Instagram image search, so that you can hunt down those profiles you’ve been trying to find but can’t remember the names of.
How to Do a Reverse Instagram Image Search
Generally speaking, there would be two scenarios where you would need to do an Instagram image search.
The first is when you are trying to find someone through a photo, and you can’t remember their username. The second is when you are trying to detect plagiarism.
Perhaps you are hoping to reconnect with a childhood friend, and you’ve got their photo. This can easily help you find their profile and reconnect.
Additionally, you might be a photographer and you want to protect your photos on Instagram.
You can use a reverse Instagram image search to find out whether your photos are being used on other people’s Instagram profiles without your permission.
Whichever reason you need it for, doing an image search is easier than you think.
Let’s take a look.
Through Google
The first way to do an Instagram reverse image search is through Google.
- Upload the photo onto your Mac, PC, or smartphone.
- Go to ‘Google pictures’.
- Select the ‘search by image’ which is the camera icon.
- Upload your photo, or enter the URL.
- Select ‘search’.
Google will search for photos that are similar to yours and provide you with a complete database of what’s out there.
Your job now is to find a photo with a link to a specific Instagram profile. If you were trying to detect plagiarism, you will be able to see all the locations where your photo is being used.
One of the biggest advantages to this method is that Google searches for similar photos.
This means that your search results will be a lot broader and increases the chances of finding the Instagram profile you’re looking for.
Social Catfish
Social Catfish is a great service to make the most of if you are trying to find someone.
The service analyzes the image resolution, size, and location.
This means that the search is really precise. The downside to it is that it can be slow, and it is relatively expensive.
- Visit the Social Catfish homepage.
- Select ‘image’ in the center of the page.
- Upload your image and select ‘search’.
TinEye
This relatively well-established service can help you with a reverse image search, and the best part is that it’s free and quite fast.
- Visit the TinEye homepage.
- Select the arrow to upload your photo, or paste in the URL.
The search will begin automatically, and you should get your results withing just a couple of seconds.
Other Ways to Find a Person on Instagram
Let’s take a look at a few other ways that you can search for someone on Instagram.
- Search Through Hashtags: If you recall seeing a particular hashtag on the person’s profile, then simply enter this hashtag in the search bar of Instagram, and you might be able to find them this way. You can use our hashtag generator here at Task Ant as well to find similar hashtags to the one that you are searching with.
- Search Through a Location: If you know where the person is approximately located in the world, it’s going to be relatively easy to find them through their geotags. Simply enter a location in the Instagram search bar and select ‘places’ for a convenient search.
How to Protect Your Images from Plagiarism
One of the best ways to protect your images from plagiarism is to watermark your photos.
This way, somebody will be able to copy and paste it, but it will have the watermark over it, so other people will know that it is not original.
Secondly, you can also make your account private, so the only people who are following you can see your feed.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it – everything you need to know about doing a reverse image search for Instagram, so that you can find the people that you are looking for and protect your images from being plagiarized.
Instagram is a big place, which means that if you produce high-quality content on a regular basis, you are highly likely to find people who will want to copy it.
It’s also nice to know that through just one image, you can reconnect with people from your past, and find those Instagram profiles that you thought were lost forever.
