Forum Discussion
Can I turn a screenshot into a hyperlink without saving it first?
I'm trying to take a screenshot of something on a web page—like a person's image—and then use that screenshot as a URL or hyperlink to paste directly into Google Images search, without actually downloading or saving the image file first.
I know this is possible using the Google Lens feature built into Chrome, but I'm wondering if there's any way to do something similar using Windows 11's default tools. I haven't found anything built-in that works like that.
If not, does anyone know of a third-party tool that can do this? Specifically, capture a screenshot and use it as a search query or link without storing it locally first.
4 Replies
A screenshot cannot directly become a hyperlink. The field shown in your screenshot only accepts the URL of an image that is already hosted online. A screenshot in the Windows clipboard contains image data, not a web address.
If you only want to search with the screenshot, try Windows 11’s built-in visual search:
- Press Win + Shift + S and capture the required area.
- Click the notification to open the capture in Snipping Tool.
- Open the three-dot menu and choose Visual Search with Bing, if your Snipping Tool version provides that option.
- The captured area will be sent to Bing for an image search without requiring you to save it manually.
If the original image is already displayed in Microsoft Edge, you can also right-click it and select Search the web for image.
Windows does not have a built-in option that sends a Snipping Tool capture directly to Google Lens. If you specifically need Google results, Chrome’s Lens feature is still the simplest method.
If you need an actual reusable URL, the screenshot must first be uploaded to a website or cloud storage service. There is no way to create a working public hyperlink from clipboard image data without storing the image somewhere. For personal or sensitive images, direct visual search is safer than uploading the screenshot to a public image-hosting site.
You can use the Upload to Cloud feature in third-party tools, which automatically generates a link after you take a screenshot.
If you want the same experience but with Google Lens, a free and open-source tool called Snipping Lens is available. It integrates with the Snipping Tool to automatically send your screenshots to Google Lens for a visual search.
This will open your default web browser and use the screenshot you just took as a search query in Bing, providing you with similar images and information.
