The invention discloses an image search method based on target area matching, which comprises the following steps: a, selecting an image to be searched, and utilizing an edge detection algorithm to automatically partition the image to be searched; b, judging the partitioning effect, confirming a searched target area if a user satisfies the target area which is automatically partitioned, and selecting a target area that the user is interested in as a searched target from images that are not partitioned by self if the user does not satisfy the target area which is automatically partitioned; c, extracting characteristic values of the target area; d, taking the target area confirmed by the user as a template, using a template matching mode to carrying out template matching and similarity calculation in an image library, taking the searched image as a target when the similarity reaches a preset threshold value, or carrying out the template matching and the similarity calculation continuously until the image is covered completely; and e, sequentially displaying the searched result according to the similarity after the images in a database are searched according to requirements.