How to Remove Photos of Yourself From Google Search

When a photo of you shows up on Google, the photo isn't actually on Google. It's on some other website, and Google is pointing to it. That distinction decides which removal route works for you.

Google has several tools for this, each for a different situation. This guide goes through all of them, so you can pick the right one instead of filling in forms that get rejected.

First, work out which situation you're in

• The photo has already been removed from the website, but Google still shows it. This is the easiest case: go to Route 1.
• The photo is still online and it's explicit, shows a child, exposes personal information, or is part of harassment. Google may remove it under its personal content policies: go to Route 2.
• The photo is still online, you're in the EU, and the result is outdated, irrelevant or no longer in the public interest. You can ask for it to be delisted under the right to be forgotten: go to Route 3.
• None of these apply. Google usually won't remove a lawful photo just because you don't like it. You'll need to get it removed at the source first (see the end of this guide), then use Route 1.

Route 1: The photo is gone from the site but still on Google

Google doesn't recheck every page instantly, so deleted photos can linger in results for a while. Its Refresh Outdated Content tool fixes that:

1. For a page, copy the URL of the result that's out of date.
2. For an image, find it in Google Images, then copy its image address.
3. Submit it through Google's Refresh Outdated Content tool. You can follow the progress in the same tool.

This only works when the content has actually changed or been removed. It refreshes Google's copy; it isn't a way to remove something that's still live.

Route 2: Google's personal content removal policies

Google will consider removing results that are still live if they fall into specific categories.

Explicit or intimate images shared without consent

Google removes results showing you nude, in a sexual act or in an intimate state when they were shared without your consent. This includes fake images such as deepfakes, and results that wrongly link your name to pornography. You need the page links and screenshots. If this is your situation, read our full guide to removing intimate images shared without consent, which also covers StopNCII and getting images off the platforms themselves.

Images of people under 18

Anyone under 18, or a parent, guardian or other representative, can ask Google to remove non-explicit images of them from its image results. The image must come from a site you don't control (not your own social media account), and Google may refuse if it's newsworthy or in the public interest. If approved, the image disappears from Google Images and from image thumbnails across Search.

Personal information and doxxing

Google will consider removing results that expose your contact details (address, phone number, email), government ID numbers, bank or card numbers, images of your signature or ID documents, medical records, or login details. It also considers removing personal details shared to harm you, such as information posted alongside threats.

Its Results about you tool helps you find results containing your contact details, request their removal and get notified when new ones appear. In February 2026, Google expanded it to cover government ID numbers and explicit images, starting in the US. What's available depends on your country, so check the tool in your Google account.

Route 3: The EU right to be forgotten

In 2014, the EU's top court ruled in the Google Spain case that people can ask search engines to stop showing certain results for searches on their name. This is now part of the GDPR's right to erasure.

It works through Google's EU privacy removal form. You list the results and explain why each one is inaccurate, outdated, irrelevant or excessive. Google then weighs your privacy against the public's interest in the information. Requests about private individuals and old, minor matters tend to succeed; requests about public figures' public roles tend not to.

Two limits matter. Delisting only affects searches on your name; the page can still appear for other searches. And Google applies it to its European versions. In 2019, the same court ruled that the right to be forgotten doesn't require worldwide delisting. Our GDPR right to be forgotten guide explains how to write a strong request.

Which route fits your situation

Removing the photo at the source

Every Google tool above changes what Google shows; none of them deletes the photo. For that, you need the website or its hosting provider. A DMCA takedown works if you own the copyright, a GDPR erasure request works if you're in the EU, and a Digital Services Act notice works if the content is illegal. Our complete guide to removing your photos from the internet walks through each one, and our guide to your rights when someone posts a photo of you explains which applies when you didn't take the photo yourself.

Once the photo is gone from the site, come back to Route 1 to clear it from Google.

Don't forget photos without your name

Google's tools work best when you already know which results to report, and most people find them by searching their own name. But many photos are posted without a name, so a name search never shows them. A face search finds those too. Run one before you start, so you can deal with everything at once instead of discovering more later.

Sources: Google: refresh outdated content; Google: non-consensual explicit images; Google: images of minors; Google: personal information; Results about you update (February 2026); CJEU cases C-131/12 (Google Spain, 2014) and C-507/17 (Google v CNIL, 2019). Checked October 2026.

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