This wikiHow teaches you how to find the address or URL for a photo you see online. The easiest and most common way to find it is to use Google's search tool, although you can actually find the URL of an image through most search engines. If you want to set a URL for a photo stored on your computer, you can upload the photo to the Imgur site and copy the URL from there.
Step
Method 1 of 4: Using Google on a Desktop Computer
Step 1. Visit the Google Image search page
Access https://images.google.com/ via a computer web browser. The Google image search page will load after that.
Step 2. Enter image search keywords
Type a word or phrase into the text field in the middle of the page.
Step 3. Click the "Search" icon
This icon is to the right of the text field. After that, Google will search for images related to the search keyword.
Step 4. Find the desired image
Browse the search results until you find an image that matches your needs.
Step 5. Open the image
Click the image once to open it.
Step 6. Copy the image URL
Right-click the image and select one of the following options, depending on the browser you are using:
- Chrome – Click “ Copy image address ”.
- Firefox – Select “ Copy Image Location ”.
- Microsoft Edge – Click “ Copy link ”.
- Internet Explorer – Click “ Properties ”, select the URL to the right of the " Address " header, and press the shortcut Ctrl+C.
- Safari – Click “ Copy image address ”.
Step 7. Paste the copied URL
To view the URL of an image, paste the URL in the text field or in a word processing program by placing the cursor in the text field and pressing the shortcut Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac).
Method 2 of 4: Using Google on Mobile
Step 1. Open
Google Chrome.
Touch the Chrome browser icon which looks like a red, yellow, green, and blue ball.
If you don't have the Google Chrome browser, you can download it for free from the App Store on iPhone or Google Play Store on Android devices
Step 2. Touch the address bar
This bar is at the top of the screen. The keyboard of the phone or tablet will be displayed on the screen.
If there is text in the address bar, touch the text to mark it. Otherwise, you will need to delete the text first before moving on to the next step
Step 3. Enter the search entry
Type a search word or phrase.
Step 4. Touch Search
This key is on the keyboard. Google will search for results or images that match the search word or phrase.
On Android devices, you may need to touch the “ Go " or " Enter ”/” Return ”.
Step 5. Touch the IMAGES tab
This tab is at the top of the search results page. After that, Google Chrome will only show images as search results.
Step 6. Find the desired image
Browse the search results until you find a photo that matches your needs or wants.
Step 7. Open the image
Touch the image to open it.
Step 8. Touch the “Share” icon
This icon is below the image. After that, a pop-up menu will be displayed.
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On the Android device, touch the Android " Share " icon
Step 9. Copy the link
Touch and hold the link at the bottom of the pop-up menu, then select “ Copy link URL ” when prompted.
Step 10. Paste the link
To view the image URL, open the app that has a text field, touch the field, touch and hold the field for a moment, and select “ Paste ” from the displayed menu.
Method 3 of 4: Finding Image URLs in Most Browsers
Step 1. Search for the image whose address you want to find
You can find addresses for most of the images found on the internet.
Step 2. Make sure you see the original version of the image
Some websites display the inset, instead of the full (full size) image. If you manage to find the URL at this stage, you may only get an inset URL. Make sure the full size image is loaded in your browser.
For example, the pictures in this wikiHow article are actually insets. To see the full size version, you need to click on the image to open the large version in a new window
Step 3. Right-click the image
Once you've found the image whose URL you want to get, right-click the image to display the drop-down menu.
- If you're using a Mac with a one-key mouse, hold down the Ctrl key and click the image to open a right-click menu.
- On mobile platforms (eg smartphones or tablets), you can touch and hold the image, then select the option “ Copy URL " or " Copy Link " Not all browsers have this option.
Step 4. Copy the image URL
Click one of the following options from the drop-down menu, depending on the browser you're using:
- Chrome – Click “ Copy image address ”.
- Firefox – Select “ Copy Image Location ”.
- Microsoft Edge – Click “ Copy link ”.
- Internet Explorer – Click “ Properties ”, select the URL to the right of the " Address " header, and press the shortcut Ctrl+C.
- Safari – Click “ Copy image address ”.
Step 5. Paste the image URL
Once copied, the URL will be saved on your computer's clipboard. You can paste it anywhere you want such as messages, documents, or the browser address bar.
If you copy other text before pasting it, the copied URL will overwrite the last text copied
Method 4 of 4: Using Imgur
Step 1. Understand the purpose of this method
If you want to assign a URL to a file from your computer, you'll need to upload it to the file's host site (eg Imgur) and copy the link. Imgur is an example of the most commonly used image hosting site.
Step 2. Open Imgur
Visit https://imgur.com/ through your computer's web browser. The Imgur main page will load after that.
Step 3. Click New post
It's a green button at the top of the main page. A pop-up menu will appear after that.
Step 4. Click Browse
It's a gray button in the middle of the pop-up menu. A File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) window on the computer will then open.
Step 5. Select an image from the computer
Go to the directory where the image you want to upload is stored, then click on the image to select it.
Step 6. Click Open
It's in the lower-right corner of the window. The selected image will be uploaded to Imgur.
You can add a title to an image by clicking the text field just above the image and entering a title
Step 7. Click Copy
It's a gray button to the right of the image URL, in the top-right corner of the page. After that, the image URL will be copied to the computer clipboard.
Step 8. Paste the image URL
To view the copied URLs, paste the URL into a text field or word processing program by placing the cursor in the field and pressing the shortcut Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac).