If you have been backing up your photos to the cloud for the last decade, your Google Photos library likely contains tens of thousands of images. Manually scrolling through that endless chronological timeline trying to find a specific picture of your brother or your dog is a nearly impossible task. Thankfully, Google Photos uses incredibly advanced artificial intelligence to scan your entire library, recognize distinct facial features, and automatically group all photos of the same person into a single folder.
How to Find the Faces Menu
The facial recognition engine runs entirely in the background on Google’s servers, meaning the groupings are ready and waiting for you.
- Open the Google Photos app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Look at the navigation bar at the very bottom of the screen. Tap on the Search tab (the magnifying glass icon).
- At the very top of the Search page, you will see a row of circular profile pictures under a heading labeled People & Pets.
- Scroll horizontally through these circles, or tap View All to see a complete grid of every face the AI has successfully identified in your library.
How to Name a Face for Text Searching
Once you tap on a person’s face, you will see a grid containing every single photo they have ever appeared in, regardless of what year the photo was taken.
To make this feature even more powerful, you should assign a name to the face.
- Tap on a specific person’s face from the grid.
- At the top of their photo collection, you will see a text box that says Add a name.
- Tap the box and type the person’s name (e.g., “Mom” or “David”).
- Tap Done on your keyboard.
By attaching a text label to the facial data, you unlock the true power of Google Photos. You can now go to the main search bar and type complex, multi-variable queries like “David at the beach” or “Mom in 2018.” The AI will cross-reference the facial tag with the location data and object recognition to instantly deliver the exact photo you are looking for.