Blur faces and hide personal details before you post โ free, in your browser
How to blur or pixelate part of a photo
- Drag a box โ draw a rectangle over the area and the effect is applied instantly. Perfect for faces, license plates, house numbers and card numbers.
- Brush โ paint over the area like you would with a finger. Use it for groups of people, curved shapes or text scattered across the background.
- Effect โ pixelate (mosaic), blur (soft focus) or a solid black box. Raise the strength for a heavier effect.
- Made a mistake? Undo. Happy with it? Save (PNG stays PNG, everything else becomes JPG). On a phone, the share button sends it straight to Instagram or your messaging app.
Step by step on the screen
- Choose a photo on the first screen or drag it in; a copied image can be pasted with Ctrl+V. The tool handles one photo at a time, and Another photo swaps it out while you work.
- In the tool panel on the left (top on mobile) pick the effect (pixelate, blur or black box) and the tool (drag a box or brush), then set the strength slider (1โ10, default 6). Choosing the brush reveals a brush size slider (10โ150, default 40).
- Drag over the area to hide, or scrub it with the brush; the effect is applied the moment you let go. While dragging a box you see a dashed rectangle, and in brush mode a circle the size of the brush follows the pointer.
- Covered the wrong spot? Undo steps back one action; Reset clears everything. The original is always kept, so you can start over as often as you like.
- Save downloads the result as "name_blurred.jpg" (or .png if the original was a PNG). On a phone a Share button appears for sending it straight to your photo library or a messaging app.
How each effect works
| Pixelate | The area is divided into square cells and each cell is filled with its average color. Cell size scales with both the area and the strength: at strength 1 the shorter side of the area is split into about 20 cells, at the default 6 about 12, at 10 about 6, and a cell is never smaller than 4 px. Drag a large box and the cells grow; drag a small face and they get finer to match. |
|---|---|
| Blur | A Gaussian blur softens the area. The radius is 7 px at strength 1, 22 px at the default 6 and 34 px at 10. The blur is computed with a generous margin around the area, so no odd band appears at the edges. |
| Black box | Fills the area with near-black. Strength has no effect here โ nothing of the original pixels remains. |
Is blur enough?
Research has shown that light blur can sometimes be reversed. For anything that must stay hidden โ a face, an ID number โ use pixelate at strength 8 or higher or the black box. This tool overwrites the actual pixel values, so the original cannot be recovered from the saved file.
Related tools
Want to remove the background entirely? Try the background remover (one click with the magic wand for a transparent PNG). Need a smaller file to send? Use the image compressor.
- EXIF Viewer & Remover โ check whether the photo carries its shooting location before you post it.
- Pixel Art Converter โ turn the whole photo into pixel art instead of just one area.
- HEIC to JPG Converter โ convert iPhone HEIC photos to JPG first, then hide what you need to.
Why nothing is uploaded
All editing happens on the HTML canvas in your own browser. The photo is never sent anywhere โ not even to our server โ and EXIF metadata such as GPS location is stripped when you save. Output is limited to 2400 px on the long side, which is plenty for social media and keeps the file light.
Frequently asked questions
Why pixelate at strength 8 or higher?
At low strength the cells are small enough that the outline of a face survives, and several such photos together could give it away. From strength 8 a face is reduced to a handful of cells and cannot be recognized. For details that absolutely must stay hidden, the black box is the safest choice.
Does saving reduce the quality?
A PNG original is saved as a lossless PNG; anything else is saved as JPG at 92% quality, which is hard to distinguish from the original on screen. Photos larger than 2400 px on the long side are scaled down to that size when loaded.
Can I process several photos at once?
One at a time. After saving, use Another photo to load the next one; your effect, tool and strength settings stay as they are.
Does it work on animated GIFs?
Only the first frame is loaded, as a still image, and the result is saved as a still JPG or PNG.
Can the hidden part be revealed later?
Before saving, Undo and Reset bring the original back. The saved file, however, contains only the altered pixels. Your original photo is untouched and stays on your device.