Free Face & License Plate Blur Tool — Protect Privacy in Photos
Before posting a dashcam clip, a street photo, or a group picture, you often need to hide something: a child's face, a license plate, a house number, a document on a desk. This free editor lets you pixelate or Gaussian-blur any rectangular area of a photo with adjustable strength, undo support, and PNG export — all processed locally in your browser via the HTML Canvas API.
How to Blur Parts of a Photo
- Upload the photo — any JPG, PNG, or WebP from your device.
- Pick pixelate or blur — pixelate (mosaic) is the classic censorship look and is harder to reverse; Gaussian blur looks smoother and more natural.
- Set strength — higher values hide more. For faces, go strong: weak blurs can be partially reversed with AI sharpening.
- Drag over each area — click, drag a rectangle over a face or plate, release. Repeat for every sensitive spot, then download.
Pixelate vs Gaussian Blur: Which Hides Better?
Mosaic pixelation destroys fine detail by averaging blocks of pixels, making it the safer choice for true anonymization. Gaussian blur spreads pixel values smoothly and looks more aesthetic, but faint outlines can survive light blurs. Rule of thumb: use pixelation for identities and plates, blur for backgrounds and casual redaction — and always cover the full feature, since half-covered faces are still recognizable.
Can blurred faces be unblurred?
Strong pixelation is effectively irreversible, while light Gaussian blur can sometimes be enhanced. When privacy truly matters, use high strength, cover generously, and export as PNG (re-saving as low-quality JPEG can occasionally leak edges).
Does this work for videos?
This tool processes still images. For video frames, export a screenshot with your player, blur it here, or use a video editor with tracking blur for moving subjects.
Are my photos uploaded?
Never. Everything runs on a local <canvas> element — the original file is read with FileReader and never transmitted anywhere.
Related Tools
Need to remove whole objects instead of blurring? Try the AI Object Remover. To cut out subjects entirely, use the Background Remover, and slim files down with the Image Compressor.