An online mugshot can ruin your reputation, personal achievements, and social standing. It can also damage your personal relationships and potentially your whole life.

Many people prove their innocence or get their charges dropped, yet mugshot websites still display their photos. This continues to harm them and their loved ones. Mugshot websites do not verify arrests or check the outcome of cases.

It’s also unclear how to take these photos down, who should do it, or who should be held responsible for any incorrect information. Many innocent people waste time, energy, and money trying to fix this problem — often without success.

To help people who are asking how to remove mugshots from the internet, we’ve listed all available options and the ones we recommend. Set your expectations early: no single solution solves every online mugshot problem.

This article covers tips and tricks for various situations. Hopefully, one of them will work for you.

Online Mugshot Removal with Reputation Firms

Removing mugshots online is very challenging. That’s why, in recent years, many mugshot removal websites have appeared online. Sounds great, right? Well, yes and no.

A mugshot removal website is a good idea because it makes this service accessible. However, this segment of internet business is still largely unregulated. It’s not clear which sites have legal authority to remove photos online and which ones face potential prosecution.

Watch Out for Bogus Removal Services

Bogus and illegal websites have been operating online, offering mugshot removal services that do nothing except take your money. People desperately trying to get their pictures off the web become double victims at the hands of the opportunists behind these websites.

Here at EraseMugshots.com, we work with an effective legal team to eliminate any trace of arrest records online.

Monitoring Google for Additional Criminal History

We understand that people whose mugshots appear online for the wrong reasons will do almost anything to take them down. Their lives depend on it.

However, don’t make hasty decisions. Keep your eyes open and watch out for mugshot removal sites that exploit your situation.

How These Sites Operate

A trending tactic among mugshot removal websites is to partner with businesses that collect and share mugshots, as well as data brokers that republish public-record information. Over the last few years, this has become a common scheme.

First, they market their ability to remove mugshots online. Once they sign you to a contract, they contact mugshot websites and take a cut as middlemen. They do not actually perform any technical removal.

You might ask, “What’s wrong with that?” Two things. First, pretending to offer a service you don’t actually provide — especially when money changes hands — is unethical. Second, these sites exist solely to generate income. They have no real concern for their clients.

How They Price Their Services

With connections to various mugshot collectors, these removal sites maximize income by charging clients as much as possible.

They’ll first ask about your budget. Then they tell you that pricing varies by website and removal complexity. After a delay designed to look like effort, they’ll quote you at your maximum budget — or higher.

How Much Does It Cost to Remove Mugshots Online?

Say your budget is $800. Most mugshot removal websites will quote you $1,000 and assure you they can take the mugshot down. Because they partner directly with the mugshot sites, they feel confident they won’t have to issue refunds.

They’ll highlight a money-back guarantee to push you over budget. When you’re desperate for relief, that extra $200 feels worth it.

You might think: if they deliver on their promise, does it matter how they do it? We get that. But the process is more complicated than it appears.

Why a Single Removal Isn’t Enough

If one or two websites take down your mugshot, it doesn’t mean it no longer exists online. Other websites may still host it. You need a strategy that removes your mugshot from every corner of the internet — not just one site.

Paying per-site fees adds up fast, and each removal only solves a small part of the problem.

The Landscape of Mugshot Removal

You need to be careful when trying to remove mugshots online. When you find a website claiming it can remove mugshots from all of Google, think more than twice before making any inquiries.

As mentioned, many mugshot removal websites charge $100 to $500 or more per site. State laws vary on required mugshot removal and associated fees.

This means you need a separate removal service for every individual website that hosts your photo. Think about how those costs add up.

The Whack-a-Mole Problem

Even if you successfully remove every existing mugshot by paying thousands of dollars, nothing stops a new image from appearing on another mugshot website later. It’s very easy for mugshot sites — new or existing — to add your photo to their collections. Identifying them all and dealing with each one individually takes enormous effort.

When Sites Shut Down and Resurface

Many U.S. states have enacted laws banning fees for mugshot removal. When these websites face too many complaints, they shut down and migrate their data to a new domain. This makes it very difficult to prove that the new website is the same one that recently closed.

Pursuing them legally costs a lot of money, time, and effort.

Best Ways to Remove Mugshots Online

These practices put mugshot removal websites on the bad radar of major payment providers such as PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. These companies avoid bogus sites by refusing to process payments and transactions.

This pushes the industry toward accountability, though the situation is far from perfect. Payment processors still struggle to distinguish legal operators from bad actors. Right now, they work primarily with large mugshot removal websites and carefully vet smaller players.

State-Level Protections

Some states have passed laws preventing these sites from charging removal fees. Others prohibit sheriffs from sharing mugshot photos with websites that profit from removal services. However, this legislation varies by state.

No federal law yet bans mugshot removal fees nationwide. We hope that changes soon, because many people across all states need this protection.

State Guidelines to Remove a Mugshot Online

If you’re in a state without laws against mugshot removal fees, you’ll need to stay proactive to protect your reputation online and in real life.

Once law enforcement takes your mugshot, you cannot stop it from appearing online — and you can’t always rely on state law to protect you.

How Do I Get My Mugshot Removed From Google?

The next question is: should you pay a mugshot removal website?

It depends on your state. If you live in a state that prohibits booking photos and charges fees for removal, you may have a path forward. Under Florida law, you can submit a formal removal request on the website, and it must be completed within 10 days.

Once authorities dismiss or drop your charges, you have the right to make this request. The same applies to cases that courts seal or expunge — websites must remove mugshots after expungement.

Before Contacting Google

Contact website owners directly first. Many mugshot websites have an opt-out removal process and list contact details for takedown requests. Source-site removal is usually the most realistic path.

Making a Request to Google

Many people try to get search engines to de-index their mugshots. However, Google and other search engines generally don’t consider mugshot removal their responsibility.

Google USA follows specific guidelines and typically agrees to de-index pages that contain:

  1. Copyrighted content
  2. Sensitive personal information
  3. Child pornography
  4. Revenge porn

Search engines also generally won’t remove content from government websites.

For countries outside the US, Google honors removal requests in accordance with each country’s guidelines. In the European Union, the “Right to be Forgotten” law forces search engines to remove outdated information about people at their request. If a mugshot image no longer exists on the source page, you can then request de-indexing or use Google’s outdated-content tools to remove it from search results.

Google also made an algorithm update in 2013 to lower the ranking of mugshots in search results. This helps irrelevant mugshots fall off the first page over time.

How Suppression Helps Remove Mugshots

Mugshot removal websites and search engine requests can work depending on your location. But suppression is the most recommended long-term solution.

Suppression is also the most sustainable strategy — and a proactive one that any individual can pursue. As an online reputation management approach, suppression pushes negative content down in search results.

How Suppression Works

The strategy focuses on building a strong online brand and promoting a positive image on the web, including social media. This pushes negative results — including mugshot photos — lower in search engine rankings.

The key insight: a lack of positive online content about you creates more problems than the mugshot sites themselves. When you control your own brand and build positive images on the web, those pages rank higher in Google. They create a strong, positive reputation in your name and reduce the impact of any negative publications.

How to Build Your Suppression Foundation

To create these positive pages, set up a personal website on a domain that includes your full name. Link it to your social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Google+.

Building a strong foundation is essential. Since 70% of employers review candidates’ social media profiles, this step also strengthens your employment prospects.

Optimize your website and social media profiles by creating an “About Me” page and a personal profile that share public information about you. Creating professional profiles online helps suppress negative search results. These pages will rank high in search engines for your name and give your positive image a strong boost.

Conclusion

Removing mugshots online can feel overwhelming at first. The strategy outlined in this article makes the process more manageable. The best approach doesn’t have to be expensive — despite what most mugshot removal websites claim. By following these steps, you can suppress negative images online, even if you live in a state without helpful legislation.

Learning how to remove mugshots online is what we do best. Success depends on how much time and effort you invest. Follow the steps in this article, and you can remove your mugshots online.

Our company also offers tools and services to help you strengthen your reputation online. If you want an alternative to mugshot removal sites, sign up for our reputation management software and make immediate progress. Click here.

We also offer professional reputation management services if you need expert help. Check out the different services we offer — one of them may be exactly what you need.

EraseMugshots | A Trusted Company

With almost 400 reviews and an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot, EraseMugshots brings more than 10 years of experience in removing mugshots and arrest records online.

If you struggle to remove a mugshot online — or multiple — EraseMugshots can help fast. We offer a 100% FREE ANALYSIS to uncover which websites have published your information. We also offer a free consultation to discuss your arrest or criminal record, or any charges, before you choose a service. Costs may include attorney fees, and pricing can vary based on the case and the websites involved.

Our team of reputation specialists and legal experts — including a mugshot removal attorney where appropriate — works around the clock to remove your negative mugshots. All solutions come with a money-back guarantee. If we can’t remove it, you pay nothing. Call today, stop stressing over your past, and get the job you deserve.