Instagram is one of the most used social networks, with more than 1.000 billion monthly active users. It is not surprising that many people use this platform to stay in touch with friends, family and acquaintances. Due to its massiveness, it can be coherent to find anyone there. What's more, what happens if you meet someone in person and you want to find their Instagram profile, but you don't remember their username? Or maybe you saw someone's photo and would like to know more about them. In these cases, searching for someone on Instagram with just their profile photo may seem like an impossible task. But it's not like that.
There are some tricks that will allow you track a person's Instagram profile using only their photo profile or any photograph they have published. Take note because in this post we will explain 3 effective ways to achieve it.
Use Google Reverse Image Search
One of the easiest ways to find someone's profile on Instagram with just a photo is by using Google reverse image search.
This is a method that will help you if you don't remember the username, but you have a screenshot or downloaded that person's profile photo.
To use it, pay attention to these steps:
- Opens Google images. Click the camera icon next to the search field.
- Select “Upload an Image” and choose the photo you want to track from your computer or mobile device.
- Google will analyze the image and show you web pages where that profile photo or similar is published.
- Check the results, hopefully the the profile of Instagram what you were looking for or a page that takes you to it.
- You can also try adding «Instagram» or the person's name as keywords in Google search to better filter the results.
If the profile photo is unique and is not published elsewhere on the Internet, the chances of finding the profile with this tool alone are reduced. But it is undoubtedly a first step that can save you a lot of time.
Use reverse image search applications
Applications specialized in reverse image search are also an option that can work. They analyze your photos and search the Internet for exact and very similar matches.
Some of the most popular apps for this are:
- Reverse- Available for iOS and Android. Its use is simple, you just have to upload the photo and start the search.
- Reverse Image Search: application for iOS and Android that has a database of more than 3.000 billion indexed images from the web.
- Search by Image: free app for Android that supports search in various engines such as Google, Bing and Yandex.
The process is very similar in all these applications:
- Download the app and open it.
- Choose or take a photo to scan from your gallery.
- The app will search for matches and show you the results.
- Check if any of the results are the Instagram profile you are looking for.
These types of applications are usually more precise and faster than doing it directly from the browser. That's why it's worth trying them if the first option didn't work.
Use image search engines like TinEye
Image search engines allow you to upload any photo and search the web for exact and similar matches. One of the best is TinEye, which has one of the largest indexed archives on the Internet. The process is the following:
- Go to the page of TinEye and click “Upload image”
- Select the photo you want to search from your computer or mobile device.
- TinEye will analyze the image and look for identical and similar matches.
- The search engine will show you the results it finds. Check carefully.
- With a little luck, a direct link to the Instagram profile of the person you are looking for will appear.
- TinEye also has the option to search by URL, if you already have the public address of your Instagram profile photo. You just insert it and get the same advanced search results.
A disadvantage of image search engines is that they usually take longer than applications to analyze and return results. But its comprehensiveness can help you find very good matches.
Additional Tips to Improve Your Search
There are some extra tips that can improve your chances of success when searching for someone's profile on Instagram with just a photo:
- Use profile photos or selfies, are the images most likely to appear only on that person's profile.
- Try several photos, the more images you use, the more options you will have to find your account.
- Search various services, don't just settle for Google, also try specialized applications and search engines. Try all the ones we mention in this post.
- Add search filters such as "Instagram", the name of the person, usernames, etc.
- If you have his full name, look him up in the Instagram user directory in case he has a public profile.
- Search other social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or TikTok, the person can have the same linked photos.
- Don't give up after the first try, sometimes you need to try different methods, keywords and variations to achieve it.