Safety & privacy
How to Remove Intimate Images From the Internet
Here's how to remove intimate images from the internet: block new uploads with a free hash-matching service (StopNCII.org for adults, Take It Down for images of anyone under 18), report every copy to the site hosting it, and ask search engines to drop the results. None of these steps require you to send the images to anyone.
If this is happening to you, it is not your fault, and you're not out of options. The steps below are listed in the order that usually works best. You can do them one at a time, and you can ask someone you trust to sit with you while you do.
Before you start: three quick steps
- If someone is demanding money or more images, don't pay and don't reply. Paying rarely ends it. Our sextortion guide covers that situation step by step.
- Make a list of every link where the images appear, with the site name and the date you found it. For images of an adult, you can also screenshot the page around the image (the username, caption and address bar) for your records.
- Don't ask friends to go and report it for you by sharing the link around. Every share is another view. Report it yourself, or have one trusted person help.
If the images show anyone under 18, don't screenshot, download or forward them, even as evidence. Write down the links and report them instead.
How StopNCII works
StopNCII.org is a free tool for adults whose intimate images were taken when they were 18 or older and have been shared, or might be, without consent. It works with a growing list of participating platforms, listed on its site.
- On StopNCII.org, you select the images or videos on your own phone or computer.
- Your device creates a hash, a kind of digital fingerprint. The images themselves never leave your device.
- Only the hash is shared with participating platforms, which use it to detect and block matching uploads.
- You get a case number so you can check on your case later.
What it can't do: it only helps on participating platforms, it matches copies of the same image (heavily edited or cropped versions may slip through), and it doesn't remove images from sites that don't take part. That's why the next steps still matter. You can also create hashes before anything is posted, if someone is threatening to share images they have.
Take It Down for images of anyone under 18
Take It Down, run by the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), uses the same hash approach for images and videos of someone under 18. It can be used by a young person, by an adult whose images were taken before they turned 18, or by a parent or trusted adult helping them. The images stay on the device.
Images of minors are also a crime to share, so report them to the NCMEC CyberTipline or local police as well. If you came across someone who seemed under 18 on a chat site, see what to do if someone seems under 18.
Non-consensual image removal on each platform
Most major social networks, forums, video sites and file hosts prohibit intimate images shared without consent and have a report form for it. Report every copy separately.
- Open the post or page and look for Report, then an option like "non-consensual intimate imagery," "private image" or "sharing private content."
- If there's no report button, check the site's help pages or footer for an abuse or legal contact email.
- Say clearly that you're the person shown and that you didn't consent to it being shared. Include the exact link.
- Keep the confirmation, and follow up if nothing changes after a few days.
Two extra levers
- Copyright. If you took the photo or video yourself, you generally own the copyright, and a copyright takedown notice to the site or its hosting company can work even when a site ignores other reports.
- The law. Many countries and US states have laws against sharing intimate images without consent. In the US, the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed in 2025, requires covered platforms to remove reported non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated fakes, within 48 hours of a valid request. It's a law, separate from NCMEC's similarly named tool. A lawyer or local victim-support service can explain what applies to you.
Remove leaked photos from search results
Even when a site won't cooperate, you can make the page much harder to find. Major search engines accept requests to remove non-consensual explicit or intimate images of you from their results, including fake ones in many cases.
- In Google's help center, search for "remove non-consensual explicit images" to find the request form.
- Microsoft Bing has its own reporting route for non-consensual intimate images; look in Bing's help and content-removal pages.
- Submit each link separately, and run the search again after a week or two in case new copies appear.
Search removal hides the result; it doesn't delete the page. Do it alongside platform reports, not instead of them.
Which tool fits your situation
| Your situation | Start here |
|---|---|
| You're an adult and the images were taken when you were 18 or older | StopNCII.org, then platform reports and search removal |
| The images show you or someone else under 18 | Take It Down and the NCMEC CyberTipline |
| Someone threatens to post images unless you pay | Don't pay; StopNCII.org (or Take It Down if under 18), plus police or FBI IC3 in the US |
| A stranger recorded you on a video chat | Platform report where it happened, then the steps above |
| The images are fake or AI-made | Platform reports and search removal; many policies cover fakes too |
If the images came from a video chat, our guide on what to do if a stranger records you covers reporting on the chat site and keeping evidence.
Getting help, and lowering the risk next time
- Extortion or threats: in the US, report to the FBI's IC3; anywhere, you can go to your local police.
- Feeling overwhelmed: in the US, call or text 988 for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Elsewhere, contact local emergency services or a counselor.
- Legal options: a lawyer or victim-support organization can help with takedowns and protective orders.
Going forward, assume anything shown on camera can be captured. Omlet doesn't record or store calls, but no site can stop the other person from recording their own screen; here's why screen recording can't be detected. And if you suspect images came from your own camera without your knowledge, check how to protect your webcam from hacking.