When you search images on eligible Google services, like Google Lens in the Google App, you can choose whether Google saves Visual Search History to your Web & App Activity when you’re signed in. If you turn on the Visual Search History setting, you can find and delete your past Visual Search History. Learn where your images may be saved from.
Your Visual Search History may be used to improve your experience on Google services, like letting you revisit your past visual searches. It may be used to develop and improve Google’s visual recognition and search technologies, as well as the Google services that use them.
Tip: The Visual Search History setting is off by default.
Turn Visual Search History on or off
- On your iPhone or iPad, open Gmail
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- If you don't use Gmail, go to your Google Account.
- At the top right, tap your Profile picture or initial
Manage your Google Account.
- At the top, tap Data & privacy.
- Under "History settings," tap Web & App Activity.
- Next to "Include Visual Search History," check or uncheck the box.
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Manage your Google Account.When the Visual Search History setting is off, the images you use to search won't be saved to your Web & App Activity. If the Visual Search History setting was previously on and you turn it off, images saved as part of your Web & App Activity may continue to be used to improve visual recognition and search technologies unless you delete them from your account. You can find and delete your Visual Search History on My Google Activity.
Find or delete your images
Find your images- On your iPhone or iPad, open Gmail
- If you don't use Gmail, go to your Google Account.
- At the top right, tap your Profile picture or initial
- At the top, tap Data & privacy.
- Under "History settings," tap Web & App Activity
- On this page, you can:
- Find a list of your past activity: Images saved to your account are displayed.
- Download an image: To download an image, tap the image you want to download.
- On this page, you can:
In your Google Account, you can download your saved images with Google Takeout. Learn how to download your Google data.
Tip: To add more security, you can require an extra verification step to view your full history.Learn how to delete your activity.
Google may delete your images from your Web & App Activity sooner than the timeframe you choose, once it's no longer needed for developing and improving services that use visual search technologies. You can download the saved images in your Google Account with Google Takeout. Learn how to download your Google data.
About the Visual Search History setting
When you use an image to search, Google uses its visual search technologies to process the image, like when you search with Google Lens. For example, if you use Google Lens to search an image of a flower, Google’s visual search technologies process the image and provide relevant results.
Web & App Activity saves things you do on Google sites, apps, and services in your Google Account.
With this optional Visual Search History setting, you can also save images to your Web & App Activity when you interact with eligible Google services. The Visual Search History setting is off by default.
Where your images may be saved from
When the Visual Search History setting is on, the images you use to search may be saved to your Web & App Activity from the following eligible Google services when you're signed in to your Google Account:
- Google Lens on the Google App on Android, iPhone, and iPad
- Quick Search Box and All Apps Tray on Android
- Lens App
Images you use to search may not be saved from the above Google services for certain app and device versions.
Tip: The Visual Search History setting does not affect images that may be saved by other settings, like Gemini Apps Activity.
How images are used
Your Visual Search History may be used to improve your experience on Google services, like letting you revisit your past visual searches. Google uses images saved when this setting is on to develop and improve its visual search and recognition technologies and the Google services that use them, like Google Lens.
Visual search technologiesSome of Google’s visual search technologies can recognize objects within the images you use to search and answer your visual questions. If your Visual Search History setting is on, Google may use the images you use to search on eligible Google services to train the models that develop and improve Google's visual search technologies.
Tip: The Visual Search History setting may not be available for all types of accounts in all locales.
If you use your device without an internet connection, Visual Search History may be saved in your Google Account once you go online
- This doesn’t turn off Google Lens image settings.
- This doesn’t turn off Web & App Activity, which can still save your search activity on Google services.
- Previously saved images can still be used to improve visual search technologies.