How to Blur Part of a Picture (Faces, Text, Plates)
Blur a face, a number plate, an address or anything else in a photo before you share it — and when to pixelate or cover it instead for real privacy.
3 min read ·
To blur part of a photo, open Blur Region, add the picture, drag the box over the area to hide — a face, a number plate, a screen, an address — set the blur strength with the slider, click Adjust Image!, and download. To blur several areas, blur one, then load the result and blur the next.
Blur an area step by step
- Open Blur Region and add the photo.
- Drag the box over the area you want to hide. Make it a little larger than the area itself.
- Move the slider to set how strong the blur is.
- Click Adjust Image! to see the result.
- Download the image.
For a second area, open the downloaded image in the tool and repeat.
Blur, pixelate or cover?
All three hide details, but they're not equally safe:
| Method | Looks | How safe |
|---|---|---|
| Light blur | Soft, natural | Weak — text and faces can sometimes still be read or reconstructed |
| Strong blur | Smooth smudge | Good for faces and backgrounds |
| Large pixelation | Blocky squares | Good, if the blocks are big |
| Solid box | Plain shape | Safest — nothing underneath survives |
For sensitive information — passwords, account numbers, ID numbers, addresses, children's faces — use a strong effect. Pixelate Image with big blocks, or a solid box, is safer than a gentle blur. Small text under a light blur can sometimes be read by zooming, adjusting contrast, or by software that guesses blurred characters.
What people commonly blur
- Faces of bystanders and children in public photos.
- Number plates on cars in street and property photos.
- House numbers and street signs that reveal where you live.
- Screens and documents in the background — laptops, whiteboards, mail on a table.
- Names and messages in screenshots of chats and emails.
- Personal details in photos of tickets, boarding passes and receipts (barcodes and QR codes can contain your booking details!).
Check the whole photo — and the hidden data
Before sharing, look over the entire picture: reflections in windows and mirrors, things on the fridge, a calendar on the wall. And remember the information you can't see: photos straight from a phone usually carry the GPS location where they were taken. Remove it with the EXIF Viewer & Remover.
Crop instead of blur
If the private part is near the edge, cropping it out with the Image Cropper is cleaner and completely safe — nothing of it remains in the image.
Screenshots: cover instead
For screenshots of chats, emails and dashboards, a blur often isn't the best choice: text is small and high-contrast, so it's the easiest thing to read through a blur. Pixelate it with large blocks, or crop the screenshot to exclude the private part altogether.
Blurring for style
Blur isn't only for privacy. A soft blur on a distracting background corner, or a deliberately blurred area to draw the eye to the subject, can improve a photo. Use a moderate setting so it looks natural.
Frequently asked questions
Can a blur be undone?
The original pixels are replaced in the saved image, so it can't be simply "un-blurred". But weak blur on simple shapes like text and numbers can sometimes be guessed. For anything truly private, use strong pixelation or a solid cover.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The blur is applied in your browser.
Can I blur a video instead?
This tool works on images. In a video, the simplest privacy fix is to cut the area out of the frame with Crop Video; hiding a moving area needs a video editor with motion tracking.