Censor Image Online

How to censor an image

• Add your image. Drop it on the tool, click to browse, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac).
• Draw over what you want hidden. A starting box is placed for you. Drag it into position, resize it with the handles, and drag anywhere else on the image to add more.
• Choose the right effect. Pixelate for faces and bodies, Solid box for any text or number. Ellipses fit faces more naturally than rectangles.
• Check, then download. Hold the compare button to flip back to the original, and check the result zoomed out as well as in. Then download as PNG, JPG, or WebP.

Which effect to use for what

The three effects are not interchangeable. They differ in how much information survives, and that is the only thing that matters once someone is actively trying to see what you hid.

Faces and people: pixelate

Pixelation replaces each block with its average color, which genuinely deletes the facial detail. Size the blocks relative to the face, aiming for about 5 to 8 blocks across it. Cover hair, ears, and any distinctive tattoo too, because people are recognised by far more than their facial features. The face pixelation guide goes through the details.

Text, numbers, and plates: solid box

Text is the case where pixelation and blur fail. A short value in a known font can be attacked by rendering every candidate, pixelating each one the same way, and picking the match. A solid box leaves nothing to compare against, so use it for names, email addresses, phone numbers, card and account numbers, passwords, QR codes, and license plates.

Backgrounds and clutter: blur

Blur is the gentlest-looking option and the weakest protection. Use it to soften a messy background or pull attention away from something, not to hide anything that would cause harm if it were recovered.

Mistakes that undo censoring

• Cropping or drawing in an app that keeps the original. In 2023 the "aCropalypse" bug showed that screenshots cropped in Google Pixel's Markup tool and the Windows Snipping Tool could still contain the cut-away data. This tool always writes a fresh file from the final pixels only.
• Covering text with a semi-transparent highlighter. Raising the contrast or levels on the image often makes it readable again.
• Leaving reflections and repeats. Mirrors, windows, glasses, screens, and a second copy of the same detail elsewhere in the shot are easy to miss.
• Forgetting the metadata. A photo with its face hidden can still carry the GPS coordinates of where it was taken. Exports from this tool contain no EXIF data.

Private by design

Many online censoring tools upload your image to a server to process it. This one does everything inside your browser with the HTML canvas, so the uncensored original never leaves your device. That is the point of censoring in the first place, and it is why you can use it for ID cards, bank statements, medical letters, and private conversations.