Blur Image

Blur an image, or only the part that needs it

This blur image tool softens a whole photo with one slider, pixelates it with chunky blocks, or hides just the regions you draw yourself. Pick whole-image mode to soften a background or take the edge off a busy picture. Pick region mode to draw rectangles over the parts that should not be readable, then choose blur, pixelate or solid fill for those boxes. You can stack several regions on one photo, and the whole job works one photo at a time so each box gets placed with care.

Whole-image blur uses a standard Gaussian blur, the same softening photo editors apply. Pixelate works differently: it shrinks each block of pixels down to its average color and blows it back up, which is why faces and text break into squares. Solid fill paints the region with one flat color and removes the information completely.

How to blur part of an image

1. Add your photo to the box above. For careful region work, one photo at a time gives you room to place boxes well.
2. Choose whole image or regions. In region mode, drag on the photo to draw a rectangle over each area you want to hide.
3. Pick the effect, blur, pixelate or solid fill, then set the strength or the block size.
4. Add more regions if the photo needs them, and nudge any box that misses an edge.
5. Press the button and download the result. Look at it once at full size before you share it anywhere.

Blur for looks, fill for secrets

Designers blur on purpose. A blurred photo makes a calm background for text, a soft backdrop for a product shot, or a way to push attention toward one sharp subject. For that work, the whole-image slider at a low or medium setting is all you need, and pixelate gives a retro mosaic look for posters and thumbnails.

Hiding information is a different job with a different right answer. A face you want less recognizable, a house number, a name on a badge: moderate blur or pixelate handles casual viewing fine. The mistake is treating the same settings as protection for truly private text. If you only need faces covered, the blur face tool is set up for that job alone, with padding and effects chosen for people.

The honest limits of blur and pixelation

Blur feels final because the text looks gone. Research says otherwise. Published work has shown that light blur and coarse pixelation over short text can be partly reversed, because the shapes of letters leak through the blocks and software can test guesses against them. A four-digit code or a short password blurred with big friendly squares is far less hidden than it looks on your screen.

The rule on this page is blunt. For passwords, card numbers, bank details, door codes and anything else that must stay secret, use solid fill, or crop the area out of the photo entirely. Blur and pixelate are visual treatments. They are not redaction, not encryption, and not a promise that nobody can recover what sits underneath.

Your photos stay on your device

Every pixel is processed in your browser. Photos of documents, ID cards and family members are exactly the files that should never sit on a stranger’s server, and here they never do. No upload, no storage, no account. The finished file is the only copy that exists, and it lives on your machine. Other privacy-minded tools sit in the image tools category.