The present application discloses a method and a device for searching a target in an image. The search method includes: locating a target in an image to be searched (S101); classifying the target and extracting a local feature of the target to generate a local feature code of the local feature (S102); searching an image database for suspected images of the same classification as the target through a tree classification index structure, comparing pre-stored local feature codes of the suspected images with the local feature code of the target, and outputting a suspected image with a similarity larger than a first threshold (S103). By locating a target in an image to be searched, performing at least two levels of classification on the target, generating local feature code of the target, and searching according to the classification of the target when searching and sorting by similarity, thus the target to be searched is model-matched within the same target classification, enhancing the searching accuracy and efficiency.