Blur faces in photos, number plates and text in one go

A face blur tool that finds faces and text for you

When you need to blur face in photo files before sharing them, drawing boxes by hand gets slow. This tool gives you automatic face detection blur: add a picture and every face it can see is marked with a box, ready to hide. It is a free face blur tool that also looks for text, so you can blur number plate digits, signs and screen text in the same pass.

You do not need an account, and there is no watermark on the result. The picture keeps its original resolution, so you can blur face without losing quality anywhere outside the boxes you choose.

What the automatic face blur actually does

Detection uses two free open-source models: YuNet for faces and PP-OCR for text. A reduced copy of your picture is checked on our server, the box positions come back, and that copy is never stored. The blurring itself then happens on your own device, on the full-size photo.

Why text boxes start switched off

Photos often contain text you are happy to show, such as a shop name or a T-shirt slogan. So face boxes start on, while text boxes start off and wait for you. Click the ones you want, like a number plate or a name badge, and leave the rest.

Think of it as an image anonymization tool with the fiddly part done for you. You still have the final say on every box.

Blur, pixelate or a solid censor bar: which to choose

There are three styles. Each one works on every box you have switched on, whether it covers a face, a plate or a line of text.

Gaussian blur face style

The blur is a real Gaussian blur, not a light smudge. Its strength scales with the size of the box, so a tiny face in the background gets as much cover as a big one in front. A little noise is added on top, so the result can't be reversed by sharpening.

Pixelate face style

Pixelate turns the area into large coloured squares, often called a mosaic face effect. It looks deliberate, which many news and review sites prefer, because readers can see at once that something was hidden. Use it when you want a clear “censored” look rather than a soft one.

Solid colour

A solid colour fills the box completely. It works like a black box over face areas or a censor bar across a line of text. Nothing of the original survives, which makes it the safest choice for ID numbers.

If you are wondering whether pixelation is safer than blur: with large blocks both are hard to read, but a solid bar leaves nothing at all. Our blur adds noise so it cannot simply be undone.

How to blur faces in photos for free, step by step

Here is the full workflow, with a few extra controls the quick steps above skip.

1. Open the tool and add one picture by drag and drop, file picker or Ctrl+V.
2. Wait a moment while it will detect faces in photo and text areas.
3. Check each box. Click to switch it on or off, drag to move it, use the corners to resize.
4. Drag across empty space to add a box the detector missed. Press Delete to remove a box.
5. Choose blur, pixelate or solid colour, then download.

Blur one face in a group photo

To blur one face in a group photo, switch off every face box except the one you want hidden. It takes a few clicks, and the other people stay sharp.

Blur all faces in group photo shots

For a class picture or a crowd, leave every box on. To blur faces in group photo scenes where people are small, turn up grow boxes so each box covers hair and ears too. The same trick helps you blur multiple faces at once without redrawing anything.

Soft edge and shape

Soft edge feathers the border so the blur blends into the photo. Shape can be auto, rectangle or oval; an oval blur usually looks most natural on faces, while rectangles suit plates and text.

Blur number plate and license plate details

Selling a car, posting a parking complaint or sharing a road trip picture? It is sensible to hide the plate characters first. The text detector usually finds plates, so you only need to click the box to switch it on.

How to blur number plate text quickly

Add the picture, find the box over the plate and click it. Choose solid colour for the strongest cover, or pixelate if you want the car to still look natural. That is all it takes to blur car number plate details, and a good habit to blur car plate before selling car online.

When the plate is missed

Plates at a sharp angle or in shadow can be missed. Drag a box over the plate by hand and it is covered the same way. This is how you hide number plate details on older or dirty plates too.

The same steps work whatever you call it: blur license plate in photo online, blur vehicle number plate, or blur registration plate. If you post several shots from one listing, repeat the process for each photo, and you can blur license plates on every angle.

After hiding the plate, you may want to tidy the picture for a listing. Crop the photo to a clean frame or remove the background behind the car.

Blur part of image: text, screens and documents

Faces are only half the job. You can blur part of image content anywhere by dragging across empty space to add a box. This works for any area: a laptop screen, a house number or a child's name on a bag.

Blur text in image and screenshots

To blur text in image files such as chats and receipts, let the text detector mark the lines, then click only the ones that matter. It is a handy way to blur screenshot content before posting it. People use it to blur phone number in screenshot shares and to blur email address in screenshot bug reports.

Blur sensitive information in screenshot and ID photos

For documents, use solid colour. It is the most reliable way to blur aadhaar number in photo copies, blur pan card number in image scans, or blur id card in photo uploads. To hide aadhaar card details in image files, cover the number, the QR code and the photo.

You can also blur address on document photo shots and hide personal details in photo prints the same way. If you need to redact image files for work, a solid box is the closest thing to a real redaction.

Blur everything except face: the reverse mode

Sometimes you want the opposite effect. Switch on blur everything except the boxes and the tool keeps your boxes sharp while the rest of the picture is blurred.

Blur background except face

Use it to blur background except face areas in a portrait, so the person stands out. It is also a quick way to hide bystanders in one move while one subject stays clear.

Blur a person in a photo, or everyone but one

To blur a person in a photo, keep their box on in normal mode. To blur people in photo backgrounds and keep only yourself sharp, use reverse mode with just your box switched on.

For finer colour and light changes afterwards, open the result in the online photo editor.

Privacy: where your photo goes

This is a hybrid tool, and it helps to know exactly what happens. A reduced copy of your picture is sent over a secure connection to our server so the models can find faces and text. That copy is checked and never stored.

Blurring happens on your device

The full-size photo stays in your browser. All blurring, pixelating and solid fills are drawn on your own device, then you save the file. So you can blur face in browser tabs without installing anything.

Camera data removed

Photos often carry hidden details like the camera model and time. The downloaded file has camera data removed, so you do not need a separate step to remove exif data before sharing.

Can blurred faces be unblurred?

A weak blur can sometimes be partly reversed. Here the blur is strong, scales with box size and has noise added, which makes reversing it impractical. For numbers and names, solid colour leaves nothing behind.

All of this makes it a practical face anonymizer and photo anonymizer for everyday use. If you only want to anonymize photo files before posting, you now know what leaves your device and what does not.

Blur face on iPhone, Android, Windows and Mac

The tool runs in any modern browser, so you can blur face without app downloads on any device.

Blur face on iPhone and iPad

Open the page in Safari, tap to pick a photo and it opens directly, even iPhone HEIC files. That makes it easy to blur face in heic photo files straight from the camera roll, and to blur face on ipad the same way. Options open as a bottom sheet on phones.

Blur face on Android and Samsung

To blur face on android phones, including when you blur face on samsung devices, use Chrome or any modern browser. After saving, the Share button sends the picture on, which helps when you blur face in whatsapp photo shares.

Blur face on Windows, Mac and Chromebook

On a computer you can paste with Ctrl+V straight from a screenshot. It works to blur face in photo on pc, blur face on windows, blur face on mac, blur face on laptop screens and blur face on chromebook machines alike.

Common reasons people blur faces

Here are the situations where a quick blur saves trouble later.

Children and family photos

Many parents blur kids faces before posting school events or birthdays. To blur child face in school photo shots, keep only your own child sharp and hide the classmates.

Street, news and property photos

Photographers blur bystanders in street photography. Reporters blur faces for journalism when a source must stay anonymous. Agents blur faces in real estate photos of occupied homes, and shops blur customer faces in shop photos. Some teams blur faces for gdpr compliance before publishing.

Social media and video thumbnails

You might blur face for social media post images, blur face in instagram photo uploads or blur face for youtube thumbnail designs. To mark your own work afterwards, add a watermark to the image, and compress the image if a site limits file size.

Tips for a clean result

Make the box bigger than the face

A face is recognised by hair, ears and outline too. Use grow boxes so the cover reaches past the edge. This matters most when you blur someone's face that is turned sideways.

Adjust blur intensity through box size

Because the strength scales with the box, a larger box gives a stronger blur. To adjust blur intensity, grow the box or switch to pixelate or solid colour.

Check at full zoom

Zoom in up to 16× and use hold to compare (B key) to check each area against the original. Undo and redo are there if something looks off.

These habits keep a free face blur looking tidy while still doing its job.