Google recently replaced its classic “Search Google for image” right-click option in Chrome with a new feature powered by Google Lens. Now, when you right-click an image and select “Search image with Google,” a side panel opens displaying visual matches and text extraction tools, rather than opening a standard Google Images search in a new tab.
While Google Lens is a powerful tool on mobile devices, many desktop users find the side panel implementation clunky and prefer the traditional reverse-image search functionality. Fortunately, you can disable the Lens integration and revert to the old behavior using Chrome’s hidden flags menu.
How to Disable Google Lens in Desktop Chrome
To turn off the Lens side panel and restore the classic reverse image search, you must modify a hidden experimental flag:
- Open the Google Chrome browser on your computer.
- Click the address bar at the top of the window, type
chrome://flags, and press Enter. - In the “Search flags” search box at the top of the screen, type Lens.
- Look for the flag titled Enable Lens features in Chrome.
- Click the drop-down menu next to this flag (which is likely set to “Default”) and change it to Disabled.
- A prompt will appear at the bottom of the screen asking you to restart the browser. Click the blue Relaunch button.
How to Verify the Change
Once Chrome reopens, find any image on a web page and right-click it. The menu option should now say “Search Google for image” instead of mentioning Google Lens.
Clicking this option will immediately open a new tab taking you to the classic Google Images interface, allowing you to easily browse visually similar pictures or find the original source of the image without dealing with a cramped side panel.