How to Use Circle to Search on Samsung Galaxy Phones

Circle to Search lets you draw a circle around anything on your Samsung Galaxy phone screen — a plant, a product, or text — and instantly search for it without leaving the app you are in.

In this guide (5 steps):

1.Activate Circle to Search
2.Draw a circle or select what you want to search
3.Review your search results
4.Use it to identify objects and find products
5.Turn off Circle to Search if you prefer

Activate Circle to Search

~33s

While looking at anything on your phone screen — a photo, video, webpage, or any app — press and hold the home button (the horizontal bar or pill at the bottom center of the screen). After holding for about one second, the screen edges will light up with a glow effect, indicating Circle to Search is active. The screen will darken slightly to show you are in search mode.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: On Galaxy phones using gesture navigation (no visible home bar), press and hold the bottom center of the screen where the home button would be. The same glow activation will occur.

Draw a circle or select what you want to search

~35s

With Circle to Search active, use your finger to circle, highlight, or tap the item on screen you want to search. You can draw a loose circle around an object in a photo, drag to highlight text, or tap directly on an item. You do not need to be precise — Circle to Search is designed to recognize what you meant even if your circle is wobbly or imprecise.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: You can also scribble directly on text to highlight it for a search, rather than drawing a circle. This is useful when searching for a specific name, product, or term in an article.

Review your search results

~21s

After you select the item, a panel slides up from the bottom of your screen with Google search results related to what you circled. This might include websites, shopping results, image matches, translation, or more information about the object. Scroll through the results. When you are done, tap the X or swipe the panel down to close it and return to what you were doing.

Use it to identify objects and find products

~25s

Circle to Search is excellent for identifying things you see in photos or videos. Circle a plant and it will tell you the species. Circle a piece of furniture and it will find similar products to buy. Circle a dog and it will identify the breed. Circle someone's shoes in a social media post and it will find where to buy them. Tap any result to open it in your browser for more details.

Turn off Circle to Search if you prefer

~24s

If you find yourself activating Circle to Search accidentally, you can disable it. Go to SettingsDisplayNavigation Bar and look for the Circle to Search toggle, or go to SettingsAdvanced FeaturesCircle to Search. Turning it off means holding the home button will no longer trigger the search mode. You can turn it back on any time from the same settings location.

You Did It!

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Circle to Search is a feature developed jointly by Google and Samsung that lets you search for anything you see on your phone's screen without switching apps. While you are in the middle of watching a video, scrolling Instagram, or reading a webpage, you can press and hold the home button (or navigation bar at the bottom of the screen) to bring up the Circle to Search tool. Then draw a circle around whatever you want to search — a product, a plant, a person's outfit, a logo, or a piece of text — and Google will search for it instantly.

The results appear in a panel that slides up from the bottom of the screen, so you never fully leave the app you were in. When you dismiss the search panel, you are right back where you were.

Circle to Search can recognize objects in photos and videos (identifying products, plants, dog breeds, landmarks, and more), translate text shown on screen (including text inside images), find where to buy a product you see, identify a song you hear in a video, and search for text you highlight on screen.

This feature is available on Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra, S23 series, S22 series, Z Fold 5, Z Fold 6, Z Flip 5, Z Flip 6, A35, and A55, as well as many 2024 and later Galaxy phones. It requires the Google app to be installed (which it is by default on all Galaxy phones).

Circle to Search is different from Google Lens, although it uses similar technology. Google Lens requires you to open the camera or a specific app. Circle to Search works on top of anything already on your screen.

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