How to use imagebin.ca
What imagebin is, how public and private images work, and step-by-step how-tos — no technical knowledge needed.
What is imagebin?
imagebin.ca is a free, fast image host. Drop in a picture and you get a permanent, shareable link in seconds — no account required. It’s built for sharing screenshots, photos, and graphics anywhere you can paste a link: chats, forums, issue trackers, social posts, or your own website.
imagebin is part of the bin family (alongside pastebin.ca, filebin.ca and others). If you make a free account on any of them, the same sign-in works everywhere — it simply raises your limits and keeps a tidy list of everything you’ve uploaded.
How it works
- You upload an image. Drag it onto the page, click to choose a file, or paste from your clipboard.
- We store it and give you a link. Every image gets a short, permanent address you can share.
- We make fast thumbnails. When your image appears in a list or preview, we serve a small, optimised version from a global cache so pages load quickly — the full-quality original is always one click away.
- You share it however you like. Copy a direct link, grab ready-made Markdown, or download the file again anytime.
Public vs private
Every image is either public or private. This is the most important choice to understand, so here’s exactly what each one means.
- Anyone with the link can view the image.
- Once checked and marked safe, public images may appear in the homepage gallery and can be found by search engines.
- Good for: things you’re happy for the world to see — screenshots for a public bug report, art you want discovered, a photo for a forum post.
- Private images never appear in the gallery and are never indexed by search engines.
- The share link includes a secret access token (the long
?s=…part of the URL). That token is the key: anyone who has the full link can view the image; anyone without it gets a “not found” page. - Good for: things meant for specific people — a receipt, a document photo, a draft you’re only sharing with a teammate.
By default, new uploads are public. You can flip any single upload to private before you send it, or set private by default once in your account so every new image starts private. See the how-tos below.
How-to guides
Upload an image
- Go to the homepage.
- Drag an image file onto the drop area, click the drop area to browse for a file, or copy an image and paste it (Ctrl/⌘ + V).
- Wait a moment while it uploads. When it’s done, your image and its links appear.
Share your image
- Open your image’s page (it opens automatically after upload, or click any image you own).
- Use Direct link to share the image itself, Markdown to paste into docs/issues that support it, or Download to save the original file.
- Click the Copy button next to a link to copy it to your clipboard.
Make an upload private (or public)
- Before uploading, tick “Keep these uploads private (link-only)” in the upload form to make that batch private.
- Prefer it always on? Sign in, open your account, and turn on “Make new uploads private by default.”
- Remember: a private link only works with its full
?s=…token. Copy the whole link.
Add a title, description, or tags
- In the upload form, expand the details for an image and fill in a title, description, or comma-separated tags. All are optional.
- These help you recognise images later and can add context for viewers.
Find and manage your uploads
- Sign in, then open your account to see everything you’ve uploaded.
- From there you can open any image or delete ones you no longer want.
Delete an image
- Open your account and find the image.
- Click Delete next to it. This removes the image and stops its link from working.
Sign in (and why it helps)
- Click Sign in in the top bar. Accounts are shared across the bin family via pastebin.ca — if you have one, use it here.
- Signing in raises your upload limits, removes the automatic expiry on new uploads, and keeps a list of your images so you can manage them later.
Protect your privacy
Photos often carry hidden metadata — the location where a picture was taken, camera serial numbers, timestamps, and more. imagebin lets you strip this automatically. Sign in and open your account to choose:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Remove all metadata | Strips every embedded tag before storing. The most private option. |
| Remove location (GPS) | Drops GPS coordinates (and rebuilds the rest from a safe allow-list, so unknown tags go too). |
| Remove camera & owner serial numbers | Keeps basic camera info (make/model/exposure) but removes serials, owner name, and GPS. |
| Private by default | Every new upload starts as link-only private. |
| No AI descriptions or tags | Opts your images out of automated captioning/tagging, and clears any that already exist. |
Limits & file types
imagebin accepts common image formats — JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, and similar. Limits depend on whether you’re signed in:
| Anonymous | Signed in (free) | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum per image | 8 MB | 15 MB |
| Total storage | — | 1 GB |
| Uploads per hour | 30 | 120 |
| Auto-expiry | Removed after 90 days | Kept until you delete |
Staying safe
imagebin is a shared, public-friendly service. To keep it usable for everyone:
- Only upload images you have the right to share.
- No illegal content, and nothing that sexualises minors — such material is removed and reported.
- Uploads are automatically screened, and only images checked as safe appear in the public gallery.
If you come across something that breaks these rules, please report it via the abuse page.
FAQ
- Do I need an account?
- No. You can upload and share without one. An account just raises limits and keeps your images from expiring.
- How long do images last?
- Images uploaded while signed in stay until you delete them. Anonymous uploads are removed after 90 days.
- Who can see a private image?
- Only people you give the full link to. The link contains a secret token; without it, the image can’t be opened.
- Can I change an image after uploading?
- You can edit its title, description, and tags, and delete it. The image file itself can’t be swapped — upload a new one instead.
- I lost a private link. Can you recover it?
- If you were signed in, open your account to find it again. If you uploaded anonymously, the link can’t be recovered — so save private links somewhere safe.
- Can I make a public image private later (or the reverse)?
- Set visibility at upload time. To change it afterwards, the simplest path is to re-upload with the visibility you want and delete the old one.
For developers
Want to upload from a script, the terminal, or an AI agent? imagebin has a REST API, the pbca command-line tool, and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.