Delete old pictures on Google - how it works
In order to delete old pictures on Google, you have to proceed differently depending on the storage location. In this practical tip, we explain what you need to do to make your images disappear from the search results.
This is how Google's image search works
First, you need to be aware that Google Search images are not on Google’s servers. Google's web crawler, the so-called Googlebot, automatically searches the Internet for images and stores copies in a cache.
- In the future, Googlebot will visit the website at irregular intervals and check whether the content found is still available. If this is not the case, they will be deleted from the cache after a certain time.
- You cannot remove the images from Google's cache on your own. Depending on where the images are actually stored, different procedures are necessary to delete the old images from Google's search results:
The images are on your own web server
It is easiest if the old pictures are on your own web server. If you delete the picture there, it will also be deleted automatically by Google after some time.
- However, it cannot be said exactly when the image will be deleted from Google. In some cases, this can take several days or even a few weeks, depending on how often Googlebot checks the page.
The old pictures are on a foreign web server
It is much more difficult if the images are stored on third-party web space, such as an image host. In this case you have to use the delete function of the respective provider.
- Sometimes, however, the images are still displayed on Google despite deletion. This is because the provider did not actually delete the images, but only made them inaccessible to normal Internet users by deleting the link. The Googlebot can often continue to find the images. If this is the case, you can try to contact the provider and ask for a permanent deletion.
- In any case, it makes sense to contact the operator (via imprint or contact form) of a website if there is content on it that you would like to have deleted.
Accelerate deleting the images from the Google cache
You can also speed up the deletion of the old images from the Google cache by requesting deletion:
- To do this, go to the page with the request to remove outdated content and enter the exact address of the image in the input field. Then click on "Request removal".
