Mugshot Removal: Remove Your Mugshot and Arrest Record From Google Search
Scan your name first. The scan below shows which background-check and people-search sites are publishing your arrest record, so you know exactly which listings to remove before you deal with the mugshot image itself.
No account needed. Adding a city and state is what lets us tell your record apart from everyone who shares your name.
The short answer
You can remove most of what makes a mugshot spread, but you cannot erase the court record behind it.
Most of an arrest record's reach online comes from background-check and people-search sites that flag it, and every one of those runs an opt-out process, so a data-removal service can take them down and re-file when they relist. The booking photo on a mugshot-publisher site comes down through that site's takedown form or an expungement order, and Google drops the result once the page changes. What no service can do is delete the official court docket; that only happens if a judge expunges or seals it.
Last updated July 2026. Steps checked against Google's removal help pages and the CCPA.
Find the source
Where your mugshot and arrest record show up, and how each one comes down
An arrest record online is not one page, it is copies. Removing it means matching each copy to the right process, because a people-search listing, a mugshot site and a court docket come down in completely different ways.
| Where it appears | What it exposes | How to remove it |
|---|---|---|
| Background-check and people-search sites | Your name, address and an "arrest record" or criminal-record flag on sites like BeenVerified, TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate and Spokeo | Opt out at the source; these listings are removal-eligible and are where a data-removal service does the most work |
| Mugshot-publisher sites | The booking photo itself on sites such as mugshots.com and arrests.org, often with a paid "unpublish" upsell | Use the site's takedown or correction process; many must remove a record once it is expunged or the charge is dropped |
| Google Search and Google Images | The search result and thumbnail that point to the pages above when someone searches your name | Google's Results About You and Refresh Outdated Content tools remove or update results once the source page changes |
| Official court and news records | The county docket, a court PDF, or a legitimate news article about the case | These are lawful public records; removal requires expungement, sealing, or the publisher's own editorial decision, not an opt-out |
The biggest, fastest win is the first row. The background-check aggregators are the copies that put your arrest in front of employers and landlords, and they are all opt-out eligible. Clear those, and the mugshot site becomes a single page to deal with instead of a network.
Do it yourself
How to remove a mugshot from Google, step by step
Scan your name to map the exposure
Search your full name and your name plus your city in an incognito window, and run the free scan below. It shows which background-check and people-search sites are publishing an arrest or criminal-record listing tied to your name. That list is your worklist, and most of it is opt-out eligible.
Opt out of the people-search listings first
The listings that spread an arrest record widest are the background-check aggregators, and they all run opt-out processes under the CCPA and CPRA. Removing these cuts off most of the copies feeding Google. This is the part a data-removal service files and re-files for you when a broker relists.
Request removal from the mugshot-publisher site
For the booking photo itself, use the publisher's correction or takedown form. If the charge was dropped, dismissed, expunged or sealed, say so and attach the order; many states restrict publishing records that no longer stand, and reputable sites will remove them. Never pay an unofficial "removal fee" without checking the free path first.
Clear the Google result
Once the underlying page is gone or corrected, use Google's Results About You tool for results that expose your contact information, and Refresh Outdated Content to drop a stale snippet or cached image. Google updates search within days after the source page changes; it will not remove a live, lawful page on request.
The order matters. People opt out of the mugshot site first, watch it come back through a background-check listing a week later, and assume nothing worked. Cut off the aggregators that feed the copies, then take down the single publisher page, and the result stays gone. If you would rather not chase 50-plus opt-out forms and the relisting cycle by hand, a data removal service files and re-files them for you.
The honest limit
What mugshot removal will not do
No removal service can erase an official arrest or court record. The county docket, the court's own case files and legitimate news coverage of a case are lawful public records, and they stay in place unless a court expunges or seals the record or a publisher chooses to edit it. Anyone promising to "delete your arrest record from the internet" entirely is selling something they cannot deliver.
What removal genuinely controls is discoverability: the background-check and people-search copies that put your record one search away, and the Google results that point to them. Take those down, pursue expungement if you qualify, and an old arrest stops surfacing to employers and landlords, even though the underlying record still exists in the court system. Be wary of mugshot sites that charge hundreds of dollars per photo; check the free correction path and your expungement eligibility first.
FAQ
Questions people ask about mugshot removal
Partly, and it depends on the source. You can remove the background-check and people-search listings that surface your arrest record by opting out at each site, which takes most copies out of Google. The booking photo on a mugshot-publisher site comes down through that site's takedown process or an expungement order, and Google then drops the result once the page changes. Google will not delete a lawful court or news page on request.
Opting out of the people-search and background-check sites is free if you do it yourself, or bundled into a data-removal subscription (Deindex is $29 a month, or $19 a month billed yearly, covering 50-plus sites). Be careful with sites that charge $200 to $1,000 to "unpublish" a single mugshot; check the free correction process and whether your record qualifies for expungement first.
For the people-search and background-check listings, yes, because those sites are legally required to honor opt-out requests. For the mugshot image on a publisher site, results vary: removal is reliable when the record was expunged, sealed or dismissed, and slower when the page is a lawful record of an active case. No service can erase an official court docket.
Start by opting out of the background-check aggregators that flag it, which cuts off most of the spread. Then request removal from any mugshot-publisher site, attaching an expungement or dismissal order if you have one. Finally, use Google's removal tools to clear the leftover results. The underlying court record only disappears if a court expunges or seals it.
No. Removing a result from Google or taking down a people-search listing hides the copy, not the original. The official arrest record stays in county and court systems unless a judge expunges or seals it. Search and data-removal work controls who can easily find the record online; it does not change your legal record.
Keep reading
Related pages
Data broker opt out list
Every background-check and people-search site publishing you, with the real opt-out link for each.
Remove your name from Google search
Clear the results that surface under your name, step by step.
Google outdated content removal
Drop a stale snippet or cached mugshot after the source page has changed.
Removal guides
Opt out of 50 people-search sites at the source, one guide each.
Best data removal service
An honest comparison if you would rather pay someone to file every removal.
Free exposure scan
See which sites publish your arrest record before you decide what to remove.