Image tool
Blur & Pixelate
Cover a face, a street number, a licence plate, or anything else you would rather not share, by painting over it.
1. Choose an image
The image is processed in this tab and is never uploaded.
Choose an image, or drop one here
You can also paste an image with Ctrl or Command and V
JPG, PNG, or WebP
Choose an image to begin. Nothing is uploaded.
2. Paint over what to hide
The image will appear here. Drag across it to blur.
Check the edges before you share. Blurring is not redaction. Very heavy compression can still leave a recognisable outline, and a blurred region near the edge of the frame sometimes keeps a sliver of the original. Open the downloaded file and look closely, especially around hair, glasses, and reflections. The Image Redaction tool is the right choice when something must be genuinely covered.
Hiding information in a picture
Prefer pixelation for anything sensitive
A blur can sometimes be partly undone or guessed at. Pixelation throws the information away, which is the point.
Use a brush larger than the detail
Cover well past the edges of what you are hiding. A soft edge that fades back into sharp detail defeats the effect.
Reset before you download
Reset restores the untouched original, so you can check the download is not hiding anything you did not mean to cover.
Cover more than looks necessary
Both modes here paint solid blocks over the area you drag across, so anything still visible inside a block is still visible in the result. Extend well past the edges of whatever you are hiding. A number plate with its first and last character left outside the block is still identifiable, and so is a face with the ears showing.
Saving a blurred JPG can undo the blur
This is the most important thing on this page. JPG compresses the picture in small square blocks, and it decides how many bits each block gets partly from what is already in it. A blurred region is smooth and compresses well, so the encoder hands it very few bits, and the detail it discards can reappear as faint blotches and edges when the file is opened, zoomed, or re-compressed by something else. It is a well-known way for supposedly hidden information to come back.
Save as PNG whenever the image contains something you need to keep hidden. PNG does not throw information away, so what you painted over stays painted over. If you must send a JPG, check it at full size and at 400 percent before you trust it, and re-check it after it has been through a messaging app.
Blur is for looks, pixelation is for hiding
A blur is reversible in principle and is meant to be attractive. Pixelation replaces the area with large blocks, which is far less convincing as a disguise. Neither is a security control: both are a way of making something inconvenient to read, and neither survives someone who has the original file to compare against.
Text is the hardest thing to hide
A legible number, a surname or a postcode is guessable from partial shapes, because there are only so many plausible values. If the content has to be genuinely private, remove it from the picture rather than covering it.
Your original is never modified
Everything is drawn to a copy. Reset and start again as often as you like, and download a fresh file when you are satisfied.
Blurring so that the detail is actually gone
A blur strong enough to satisfy you on a phone screen can still leave a number plate legible when someone zooms in or adjusts contrast. Since the point of this is to remove information rather than to make it look removed, judge the result at full size rather than in the preview.
Pixelation is the more reliable of the two for redaction, because it discards the detail outright instead of averaging neighbouring values. A gentle blur keeps more of the underlying structure and can sometimes be partially reversed by a determined reader, which matters for a plate number, an address, or a name badge.
Choose a strength that makes the block boundaries obvious. If you have to squint to decide whether the numbers are still readable, they are still readable to someone who wants them. It is better to cover slightly more of the image than to leave a clean edge that reveals where the sensitive area began.
Cover the whole sensitive region including its edges. A blurred patch with sharp margins tells a reader exactly where to look, and partial coverage of a plate often leaves the first or last character in focus.
Further reading: Read the full guide: Blur & Pixelate
Common questions
Is my original image changed?
No. The blurring happens on a copy that is drawn in this tab, and the file you download is the modified copy. The image you chose is never written to, so you can undo anything by starting again.
When should I use pixelation instead of blur?
Whenever the aim is to hide something rather than soften a background. A blur is reversible by anyone determined: the shape underneath can often be sharpened back into view. Pixelation replaces the detail with blocks, and it cannot be recovered from the file.
Does it matter how much I paint?
Yes. Use a brush larger than the detail you are covering, and cover more than looks necessary. A thin edge left just outside the blurred area is enough to suggest the shape of what is behind it.
Why does saving as a JPEG undo my blur?
A blurred image compresses badly, because blurring creates fine gradients and JPEG throws away exactly the subtle differences those are made of. The blockiness and smudges reappear, and text can become readable again. Save as PNG when the point is hiding something.
Can I hide text this way?
It is the hardest thing to hide. Letters are high contrast, and enough of them survive to be guessed. Cover them completely with pixelation, and check the saved file rather than the preview, because the preview is not what gets shared.