PDFConvertersOnline.comHow to blur part of a picture
- Choose a photo. It opens with the blur effect ready.
- Drag a rectangle or oval over each face, plate or address, or switch to Brush and paint. Raise the strength until nothing can be read.
- Press Save image to download the picture at its original size.
What to hide before you post
A photo often shows more than you meant to share. Before posting to social media, a marketplace listing, a review site or a group chat, look for:
- Faces of children, bystanders, or anyone who didn't agree to be online.
- License plates on your own car in a sale listing, or on cars parked in the background.
- Addresses and house numbers, street signs next to your home, and parcel labels with names and tracking codes.
- Screens and paperwork: open messages, email addresses, boarding pass barcodes, ID cards, bank details on a desk.
- Small clues such as school logos on uniforms or a name on a lanyard.
The saved image is a brand-new file drawn by your browser, so it doesn't carry over the original's hidden details such as camera model or GPS location. To clean those without changing the picture, use Remove EXIF Data.
Blur, pixelate or solid box?
| Effect | Looks like | How safe |
|---|---|---|
| Blur | Soft and natural, good for faces and backgrounds. | Safe at high strength for faces. Light blur on text can sometimes be partly reversed. |
| Pixelate | Blocky mosaic, clearly marks that something was hidden. | Big blocks are safe for faces. Short text, plates and numbers with small blocks can often be guessed. |
| Solid box | A flat colored shape. | The safest. The pixels are replaced, so there's nothing left to recover. |
Blur and pixelation don't delete information; they mix neighboring pixels together. When the hidden thing comes from a small set of possibilities, such as a license plate or a short number, someone can try every candidate, blur it the same way and see which one matches. Researchers have shown this works on lightly blurred or pixelated text. For words and numbers, use a solid box, or push the strength slider well up until the area is a smooth smear.
Marking areas precisely
Use Rectangle for plates, signs and documents, and Oval for faces. Drag inside a marked area to move it, drag a corner handle to resize it, and press Delete selected (or the Delete key) to remove it. Brush is handy for odd shapes like a tattoo or a winding street name; its size is set relative to the picture. Whole image blurs everything at once, which is useful for a soft background or a teaser picture.
The preview is a scaled copy. When you save, the effect is applied to the full-resolution photo with the same strength relative to the image size, and pixels outside your marked areas are left exactly as they were. JPG photos are saved as JPG, PNG as PNG and WebP as WebP.
More ways to use this tool
Frequently asked questions
Can someone unblur my photo?
A strong blur on a face can't be turned back into the original face. Light blur on text is different: sometimes it can be partly reversed or guessed by comparing against possible words or numbers. For text, plates and numbers, use Solid box or a very high strength.
Does blurring reduce the quality of the rest of the photo?
No. Only the areas you mark change. The picture keeps its full width and height, and a PNG stays pixel-for-pixel identical outside those areas. A JPG is saved at high quality.
Can I blur a face on my phone?
Yes. Open this page, choose a photo from your gallery, drag your finger over the face to draw an oval or box, and tap Save image.
Why did my blurred area get a soft edge?
Blur mixes nearby colors, so the effect fades slightly at the border of the area. Make the area a little larger than the thing you're hiding to be safe.
Is my photo sent to a server?
No. The blurring happens inside your browser, and the photo never leaves your device.