How to Improve Facial Recognition in Google Photos

Google Photos is more than just a gallery app on iPhone and Android. It includes a media backup tool, plenty of photo and video editing features, partner sharing, and AI-based facial recognition to quickly find people. However, Google Photos continues to add and mark incorrect photos with the wrong name. Here’s how to fix it and improve facial recognition of your photos on mobile and the web.

After all, this is AI-based recognition in Google Photos and it can sometimes go wrong. By fixing these errors, you can help the Google Photos app to tag photos correctly.

As a responsible technology company, Google offers several options to improve facial recognition in Google Photos. In this way, you fix bad faces detected by Google Photos and improve the overall algorithm for better results in the future.

Use the Google Photos mobile apps

Google Photos for Android and iPhone has the same UI / UX. The steps to improve facial recognition are the same on both platforms.

In the example below, we’ll be using the Google Photos app for iPhone, but you can follow the same steps on Android for better results.

Step 1: Open the Google Photos app on your mobile.

2nd step: Tap the Search icon at the bottom.

Step 3: Select the faces of the people to be corrected.

Step 4: You will see all the photos of the user that Google Photos has identified over the years.

Step 5: Select the problematic photos and tap the three-dot menu at the top.

Step 6: Tap Delete Results.

Step 7: Google Photos will ask you, “Why are these results for ‘x people’ incorrect?”

Select a relevant result and tap Submit at the bottom. Most users will mark the wrong person as the reason for incorrect facial recognition.

To further improve facial recognition, Google will ask you to identify whether it is the same person in other photos or not.

Tap on it and select Same or Different or Not sure from the next menu. Google Photos will continue to ask for your input from different types of photos of the person to do a better job of facial recognition, no matter what the person looks like in a photo.

This is very useful for your children’s photos. The shape and style of the face changes drastically for them compared to adults. Google Photos will learn what your child looked like at two, four, etc.

It can create a full profile for the little one and you can find all the photos with just one click in the search menu.

Use Google Photos Web

You can also perform the same actions from the web version of Google Photos. Those who are sitting at the desk will find this method more useful. It is easier to view all the photos on a larger canvas than on a small screen on mobile.

Step 1: Visit Google Photos on the web.

2nd step: Sign in using your Google Account credentials.

Step 3: This will take you to the Photos menu on the home screen.

Step 4: Click Explore in the left sidebar.

Step 5: Click on the face of the person you want to correct and Google Photos will display all the identified results from the Google Photos library.

Step 6: Select the problematic photos you want to delete.

Step 7: Click on the three-dot menu at the top and select Delete Results.

Likewise, on Google Photos for mobile, it will ask you for the reason for deletion. Select the wrong face and continue.

Like Google Photos on mobile, you have an option like Same Person or Different Person than Google Photos. Click on it, and it will take you through a photo poll and ask you to submit comments.

Google Photos will save your entries to the database and use them to provide nifty facial recognition in the future.

Another way to improve facial recognition is to upload more photos to the Google Photos cloud. The more data Google has, the better it can improve facial recognition results for you.

Try to upload different types of photos of a person. Some pictures with straight faces, some in group photos, some in dark scenes, and more. Try to train the algorithm on your end by providing more data.

Use Google Photos like a pro

Google Photos facial recognition is one of the best we’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, iCloud and OneDrive fall far behind in terms of relevant results. You can further improve facial recognition by following the steps above and be amazed at what Google Photos is capable of.