Before you share a photo or a screenshot, it’s worth a quick look for things that shouldn’t be public: children’s faces, strangers in the background, number plates, house numbers, or names, email addresses and account numbers in a screenshot.
Blur, pixelate or cover?
| Method | Best for | How safe |
|---|---|---|
| Solid box | Text: card and account numbers, addresses, names, emails | The information is gone completely. |
| Pixelate (large blocks) | Faces, number plates, logos | Safe when the blocks are large relative to what you’re hiding. |
| Blur (strong) | Faces and backgrounds, where a box would look harsh | Fine for faces. A light blur over short text, such as a number, can sometimes be partly reconstructed. |
For anything where being wrong matters, such as financial details or documents, use a solid box. It’s the only method that leaves nothing to guess from.
How to do it
- Open the photo in Blur & Pixelate.
- Drag the box over the first thing to hide, making it a little larger than the item itself. Use Add another area for each of the rest.
- Choose Pixelate, Blur or Solid box, and turn up the strength until nothing can be made out.
- Download. The hidden areas are replaced in the saved image, not covered by a layer that could be removed.
To hide everything except the subject, the same tool can blur or pixelate the whole image instead. Or crop the rest away with the Image Cropper.
Covering isn’t always hiding
Some apps add boxes as a separate layer on top of the image. PDF annotations are a common example, and so are some editors’ own file formats. Anyone who removes the layer sees what’s underneath. A flattened image, like the one this tool saves, doesn’t have that problem.
Also check the less obvious places:
- Reflections in windows, mirrors, glasses and screens.
- Background details such as street signs, house numbers, school uniforms and letters on a desk.
- Other tabs and notifications at the edges of a screenshot.
- Metadata: the photo file itself can contain its GPS location. Images saved by this site’s editing tools don’t include it; for other files, use the EXIF Remover.