The 8-step bed bug inspection
Gather your inspection tools
A bright flashlight, a credit card or thin plastic spatula, a magnifying glass, white sticky-side gloves or duct tape (to catch what you find), and a small flashlight phone app.
Strip the bed
Remove all bedding and put it in a sealed plastic bag for hot washing. Examine the sheets before bagging — look for tiny reddish-brown stains or dark fecal spots.
Inspect mattress seams and tufts
Slowly run the flashlight along every seam, tuft, and label of the mattress. Use the credit card to lift seams. You're looking for live bugs, shed skins, eggs, and dark spots.
Check the box spring
Flip the box spring. Inspect every corner, seam, and the underside fabric. Bed bugs love the dark voids inside box springs — sometimes more than the mattress itself.
Inspect the headboard and bed frame
Pull the bed away from the wall. Check the back, joints, and screw holes of the headboard with your flashlight. Wooden frames hide bugs in cracks.
Look at nearby furniture and walls
Bedside tables (especially undersides), dressers within 2 m of the bed, chairs, picture frames, and baseboards behind the headboard. Loose wallpaper edges are a favorite hiding spot.
Check electrical outlets and switch plates
Unscrew face plates near the bed (turn off power first) and shine a flashlight inside. Bed bugs hide in outlet voids and can travel between rooms through walls.
Document what you find
Photograph live bugs, shed skins, fecal spots, and eggs. Photos are critical for confirming the species with a pest professional before paying for treatment.
Signs of bed bugs to look for
- Live bugs — flat, oval, 4–5 mm, reddish-brown adults; smaller tan nymphs.
- Fecal spots — small dark dots that smear rust-colored when wiped with a damp tissue.
- Shed skins — pale, translucent, bed-bug-shaped husks along seams.
- Eggs — pearly-white, 1 mm, in clusters in cracks and seams.
- Reddish stains on sheets — crushed bugs that fed.
- Sweet musty smell — only noticeable in heavy infestations.
For visual identification of the bugs themselves, see our bed bug identification guide.
Where bed bugs hide
Bed bugs are flat, which lets them squeeze into impossibly thin cracks. Their favorite hiding spots, in rough order of likelihood:
- Mattress seams and tufts.
- Box spring corners and the dust ruffle.
- Headboard cracks and screw holes.
- Bed frame joints — especially wooden frames.
- Bedside furniture (undersides, drawers, joints).
- Baseboards within 2 m of the bed.
- Behind picture frames and wall art near the bed.
- Under loose wallpaper edges.
- Inside electrical outlets and switch plates.
- Inside used books and stacks of paper.
Confirming you found bed bugs
Several harmless bugs are mistaken for bed bugs. Before assuming, compare against the size, color, and shape guide in the bed bug ID page. Photograph any live bug you find and a few of the fecal spots — these are the best evidence to share with a pest professional.
Pest control disclaimer. Photo-based identification can help, but it is not always perfect. For dangerous spiders, large infestations, or anything you are unsure about, contact a licensed pest control professional.