How to search a picture on Google on Android, four ways

From the Google or Chrome app

Google Search Help’s Android article says to open the Google app or the Chrome app and tap Google Lens in the search bar. To take a photo, point the camera at an object and tap Search; to ask a question about the object by voice, press and hold the Shutter button, which Google says is available only for English queries. To upload an existing image, select a photo under Screenshots. Then drag the corners of the box around the part of the image you want, scroll at the bottom for results, and tap Ask about this image to refine the search; Google’s tip is to select a smaller area for more specific results. The same article starts from google.com instead: on your Android phone or tablet, go to google.com and tap Google Lens at the bottom left. Chrome Help’s Android article adds that the same Lens button reads a QR code or a barcode: position it in the box and tap the link that pops up.

An image on a web page

For a picture you are looking at, Google Search Help says to go to the website in the Google app or Chrome app, touch and hold the image, and tap Search image with Google Lens; Chrome Help gives the same gesture. Google adds an important condition for the Chrome app: to search with a website image there, make Google your default search engine. After the Lens panel opens you can drag the corners of the box to search part of the image, and tap Ask about this image to refine it.

A photo in Google Photos

Google Search Help’s article on getting info about your photos says to open the Google Photos app, tap More at the top and then Google Lens. Based on the photo you can check details, take an action or find similar products, and Google lists what it does with several kinds of photos: apparel and home goods, barcodes, business cards, books, event flyers, landmarks, museum paintings and plants or animals. To copy text from the photo, tap and select the words. Google says Lens can translate text into all Google Translate languages, and the same article lists the countries where shopping results are available. That article is about using Lens on a photo; it does not describe searching your photo library by keyword, which is the other thing the question asks about Google Photos.

Circle to Search

The android.com article separates the two tools. Google Lens helps you search the world around you using your camera, a photo or almost any image; Circle to Search works while you are on your screen. It says Circle to Search is a quick way to reach Google Lens, that you circle, highlight, scribble or tap on the screen, and that it works on any Android app that allows screen captures. It is available on selected phone models. With three-button navigation you long-press the Home button, and with gesture navigation you long-press the navigation handle. Once it is open, circle, highlight, scribble or tap the text, image or video you want to search; on selected devices a translate button next to the search bar translates the whole screen, and a musical note searches for music playing. The article also tells you how to find Lens on the phone: some phones put a Lens icon or mode in the Camera app, Google Assistant has a Lens icon on most Android phones, and the Google app shows a Lens icon in its search bar on some. Chrome Help adds that on select Android devices you can search a page, including Chrome, with Circle to Search.

What we did not use

The android.com article we read is the edition for India, and Google says product availability, features and specifications vary by region, carrier and device. The Android articles from Search Help and Chrome Help are written for Android phones and tablets in general, so a button may be labelled differently on your phone. We did not run any of these routes. The Lens product page returned no usable text, a blog on image search was read and not used, and the Google Images page, a second blog and the Play Store listing were not read. For taking and saving a screenshot first, see screen capture on an Android, and for copying text you have found, the clipboard on Android.