What to Do If Your Photos Are Leaked: A Calm, Step-by-Step Plan

If your photos are leaked, first make sure you’re safe, then secure the account or device they likely came from, record the links where they appear, and report each post to the platform. For intimate images, use StopNCII.org if you were an adult in the photos or NCMEC’s Take It Down if you were under 18, and ask Google to remove them from search. Don’t pay or reply to anyone threatening you.

Finding out that private photos of you are online is frightening, and it is not your fault, whether the photos were stolen, shared by someone you trusted, or taken without your knowledge. This guide covers the first hours and days in order. You can ask a friend to handle any step that means looking at the images.

First: your safety and support

Before removal, think about whether you’re at risk. If someone is threatening you, demanding money or more images, or you believe you could be hurt, contact the police. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger.

You don’t have to do this alone. In the US, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative runs a free, confidential Image Abuse Helpline at 844-878-2274 for people whose intimate images have been shared. If you’re struggling, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Our help resources page lists more organizations.

Work out what kind of leak this is

The right removal routes depend on what the photos show and who is in them. Most leaked photos fall into one of these groups:

What leaked	Main removal routes
Intimate or sexual photos of you as an adult	Platform reports for non-consensual intimate imagery, TAKE IT DOWN Act removal requests, StopNCII.org, Google’s removal request for intimate images, police
Any sexual photo taken when you were under 18	Platform reports, NCMEC’s CyberTipline and Take It Down, police. Record links only.
Private but non-sexual photos (family, medical, at home)	Platform privacy reports, copyright notices if you took the photos, Google removal for specific categories, talking to a lawyer
Photos posted with your address or phone number	Platform doxxing and privacy reports, Google’s personal information removal, police if there are threats

If the leak involves intimate images, our detailed guide on removing intimate images shared without consent covers the removal requests and your legal rights in depth. This guide focuses on the steps around them: stopping the leak, recording it, and handling what comes next.

Step 1: Stop the leak at the source

If you don’t know how the photos got out, assume an account may be compromised until you’ve checked. Leaks commonly come from a hacked cloud photo account, a shared album or device, an old phone or laptop, or someone you sent the photos to.

1. Change the password on your cloud photo account (for example, your Apple Account or Google Account) and your main email, using a unique password for each.
2. Turn on two-step verification, ideally with an authenticator app or security key.
3. Sign out of devices you don’t recognize in each account’s security settings.
4. Check shared albums and family sharing, and remove anyone who shouldn’t have access.
5. Review third-party apps connected to your accounts and remove ones you don’t use.
6. Check whether your email appeared in a data breach, and change any reused passwords.

If you think a current or former partner may have access to your phone or accounts and could react badly to changes, talk to an advocate first. Our guides on a hacked Gmail account and hacked Instagram account walk through recovery if you’ve been locked out.

Step 2: Record where the photos are

A record makes every report, and any police or legal action, faster. For adults, it doesn’t require looking at the images again, and a trusted friend can do it.

• List each link where the photos appear and the account or site that posted them.
• Note the date you found each one.
• Save any threats, demands or messages about the photos, with the sender’s details.
• If you take screenshots of adult images, store them somewhere private, not in a shared or synced photo library.

For photos of anyone under 18, record the links only, as the callout above explains.

Step 3: Report each post to the platform

Every major social network, forum and messaging app bans intimate images shared without consent, and most ban posting private information and images designed to harass. Use the report option on each post and choose the category that fits best, such as non-consensual intimate imagery, private information, or harassment.

For intimate images, the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act gives your request extra weight. Covered platforms must provide a removal process and take down non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated ones, generally within 48 hours of a valid request. A valid request generally includes your signature, enough information to find the image, a statement that it was shared without your consent, and your contact details.

If a site ignores you, its web host or domain registrar may act under their own acceptable use policies. If you took the photo yourself, such as a selfie, you likely own the copyright and can send a copyright takedown notice. Our guide on filing a DMCA takedown notice explains how, and when not to use one. Creators whose paid content spread after an account takeover can also see our guide to a hacked OnlyFans account.

Step 4: Block re-uploads with a hashing tool

Hashing tools create a digital fingerprint of an image on your own device, so participating platforms can detect and block matching uploads. The image itself isn’t uploaded.

• StopNCII.org is for intimate images of adults.
• Take It Down, run by NCMEC, is for images taken when the person was under 18, and you don’t have to give your name. If you don’t have a copy of the image, don’t go looking for one; report the links instead.

Both tools only work with participating platforms, which is why platform reports and Google requests still matter.

Step 5: Remove the photos from Google search

Google has a dedicated request for removing non-consensual explicit or intimate images from search results, including fake or AI-generated ones. It also accepts requests to remove images of people under 18 from search results, and to remove results that show personal contact information alongside the images. Our guide on Google removal requests explains which form fits which situation.

Google removal takes the result out of search, not off the website, so pair it with platform and site reports.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real client.

A man in his twenties gets a message from a stranger with two private photos from his phone and a demand for money, followed by a link to a forum where some of the photos have already been posted. He didn’t share them with anyone.

1. Safety. He doesn’t pay or reply. He saves the messages and reports the account that sent them. Because it’s extortion, he reports it to local police and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
2. Source. In his cloud account’s security page, he finds an unfamiliar device signed in. He signs it out, changes his password, and turns on two-step verification with an authenticator app.
3. Record. A friend lists the forum links and dates for him.
4. Reports. He files a removal request with the forum citing non-consensual intimate images, and a complaint to the forum’s host when the forum doesn’t respond.
5. Blocking and search. He creates hashes through StopNCII.org and submits Google removal requests for the image results.

The host removes the forum posts after a follow-up, and Google removes the search results. The extortion messages stop after he goes silent. Real outcomes depend on the sites involved and how quickly they respond, but this sequence covers the routes that exist. If you’re being threatened like this, our guide to sextortion help has more detail.

Talking to people about it

You don’t owe anyone an explanation. But if the photos have reached your workplace, school or family, a short, calm message can stop rumors and make people less likely to share. For example:

Private photos of me were stolen and posted online without my consent. I’ve reported it to the police and the sites involved. Please don’t view or share them, and if you see them anywhere, send me the link rather than the image.

If a coworker or classmate is sharing the photos, report it to HR or the school as well. Sharing intimate images without consent is illegal in every state, and most workplaces and schools treat it as serious misconduct.

Your legal options

Depending on the facts, the person who leaked your photos may have committed several crimes, such as sharing intimate images without consent, extortion, or unauthorized access to your accounts. The TAKE IT DOWN Act makes knowingly publishing non-consensual intimate images a federal crime, and a federal civil remedy lets people sue someone who shares their intimate images. State laws add their own protections.

This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer or local legal aid organization about your situation, especially if you know who leaked the photos or want to seek a protective order.

What not to do

• Don’t pay anyone threatening you. Payment rarely ends demands and often leads to more.
• Don’t confront the person publicly. It can escalate and draw more attention to the images.
• Don’t upload your photos to unknown “removal” or “detection” sites. Use the established hashing tools, which don’t take the image.
• Don’t trust promises to erase everything. No one can remove images from the entire internet.
• Don’t keep searching for the photos yourself. Ask a friend, or use a professional, to monitor for new copies.

When to get help

Many people handle leaked photos themselves with the free tools above. Help makes sense if the images are on many sites, keep being reposted, or you don’t want to see them again. Our content removal team can do the finding, reporting and monitoring discreetly, and we’ll be honest about what’s realistic. Our guide to reverse image search explains how copies are found.

Frequently asked questions

Can leaked photos be removed from the internet completely?

Often they can be removed from the major platforms and from Google search, which is where most people would find them. No one can promise every copy on every site will disappear, but platform reports, hashing tools and Google requests cover most of the places that matter.

What if I sent the photos to the person who leaked them?

You still have the right to have them taken down. Sending a photo privately is not consent for it to be published, and platforms, Google and the TAKE IT DOWN Act focus on whether it was shared without your consent.

Should I report leaked photos to the police?

That’s your choice. Reporting is especially worth considering if you’re being threatened or extorted, if you know who leaked the photos, or if anyone in them was under 18. A police report can also support removal requests and legal action.

How do I find out whether my photos have been leaked?

A reverse image search can find copies of photos that are publicly indexed, and a search of your name can show where images appear. If looking is too distressing, ask a trusted friend to search for you.