What is Visual Search and How to Use it on a Windows PC

Imagine you saw cool headphones on a website, took a screenshot, and attached it to the search to buy one for yourself. You didn’t have to sift through thousands of headphones and brands to find the one you were looking for. This is how visual search has changed the way people search for shopping items, identification, and information about objects such as a unique bird or flower. 

It extends beyond just shopping—picture using visual search to identify an unknown plant in your garden, translate text from a photo taken during a trip abroad, or find furniture that matches your home decor by simply uploading a picture of a piece you love. Visual search enhances productivity and learning, from translating hard-to-read text instantly to solving homework problems. It brings the world closer by letting images do the talking.

Hence, this article presents a complete guide on visual search, how to search visually on your computer, and what to do if visual search does not work. Let’s begin by clearing the basics so that no confusion persists. 

What Is Visual Search

Visual search is a technology that lets you use images to search for information or other content, unlike traditional text-based search. Using AI, machine learning, and computer vision, search engines like Google and Bing identify objects and patterns and match them with the images in their database to deliver the correct product-based or visual results. 

Popular browsers and search engines, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari, support visual search features, allowing users to quickly find information through images.

Note: Users often confuse visual search with image search. Image search means searching for images using keywords. It generates results solely based on the text you enter into the search engine. On the other hand, visual search analyzes visual elements to generate results. 

The benefits of visual search can especially be seen in shopping-related searches, where, instead of typing the keyword “black headphones” into the search engine, you can upload an image of black headphones to get visually similar matches. 

Additionally, more engaging experiences, faster and more accurate search results, customized recommendations, no language and literacy gaps, and increased conversion rates are some other visual search advantages. 

How does that all work? 

Let’s answer this question next. 

How Visual Search Works

Visual search uses AI, computer vision (a technology that helps machines to view and interpret images), Machine Learning (ML) (models trained on millions of images for improved accuracy), and Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) (the method of locating similar images based on visual content) to analyze uploaded image, break the photo into features, such as colors, patterns, and shapes, and then compare these to a huge database to locate visually similar information or items. 

It allows you to find anything on the internet that you can see but cannot describe in keywords or words easily, such as a unique plant. 

Hence, let’s walk you through how to find matching products or details through visual search next. 

Also know: Top 5 Reverse Image Search Tools in 2026

How to Visual Search on Windows

You can search visually on Windows simply by uploading the image of what you wish to find into your search engine. Below is the step-by-step process to do it. 

• First, open your favorite browser for Windows and navigate to your desired search engine.
• Next, click on the Images tab at the top of the search results page.
• In this step, click on the camera icon in the search box.

• Now, drag an image (it could be a file saved on your computer, a picture on a website, or one from the search engine) into the search box. You can even take a photo with your webcam or paste an image/its URL.

To address privacy concerns, most search engines process these images without storing them permanently. They are typically deleted after the search is complete to ensure your privacy. However, it’s always a good idea to review the privacy policy of the service you are using for specific details.

• Once you press Enter, you will have the search results on your screen.

However, if for some reason you are unable to use visual search online, you can follow the troubleshooting steps below. 

What to Do If Visual Search Does Not Work

You can update your browser, clear cache and data, disable extensions, and update Windows to troubleshoot visual search. Below are these solutions in a bit more detail. 

• Update your browser: Open your browser, click on the menu icon (it is usually three dots or lines), navigate to Help, click About, then download and install pending updates.
• Clear cache and data: To your browser cache, apply the Ctrl+Shift+Delete shortcut, choose Cached Images and Files, choose All Time for time range, click Clear Data or Clear Now, and then restart the browser.
• Disable extensions: To disable your browser extensions, click on the browser menu (three lines/dots), navigate to the Extensions or Add-ons, locate the extension you want to delete, toggle off that extension, or choose Remove to delete it.
• Update Windows: To update Windows, search for Check for updates on your computer, click on the first search result, click Check for Updates, download and install the available updates, and restart your PC.

Also know: How to Organize Photos Digitally on Windows

Visual Search: The Conclusion

That’s how you can find anything through visual search, simply by uploading its image. Hopefully, you like this article. However, if you have any questions or confusion, you can leave a comment in the comments section. You can share your suggestions or feedback (if any) about this post in the comments. And, to get more such free tech guides straight in your mailbox, subscribe to our newsletter.