How to blur an image on iPhone

Blur the background of a Portrait photo

Apple's steps for a photo taken in Portrait mode:

1. Open the Photos app and tap a Portrait mode photo to view it full screen.
2. Tap the Edit button, then tap Portrait.
3. Drag the Depth Control slider at the bottom of the screen to increase or decrease the background blur. A grey dot marks the photo's original setting.
4. Tap Done.

On supported models, photos of a person, dog or cat taken in ordinary Photo mode can also become portraits: open the photo, tap the Edit button, then tap Portrait. On iPhone 13 or later you can tap a new subject to move the focus point, and the background blur adjusts around it.

To undo it later, open the photo, tap the Edit button, tap Revert, then Revert to Original.

Cover a face or text with Markup

Markup doesn't blur, but a filled shape hides what's under it completely.

1. Open the photo in Photos and tap the Edit button, then the Markup button.
2. In the Markup toolbar, tap the Add button, then Add Shape, and choose a square or circle.
3. Drag the shape over the face or text. Drag the dots on its outline to resize it.
4. In the Markup toolbar, set a fill colour and full opacity, so nothing shows through.
5. Tap Done.

Blur or pixelate part of a photo in Safari

For a real blur or pixelation over a face, a number plate or a name, use the tool below. It starts on a strong blur with Areas I pick selected.

1. Tap Choose an image and pick the photo from your library.
2. Choose Blur or Pixelate. For ID numbers and addresses, choose Solid box.
3. Drag your finger over each part to hide. Each box is listed below the tool, where you can adjust or remove it.
4. Pick JPG for photos or PNG for screenshots, then tap Download image.

The download is a new copy drawn from the pixels on screen, so your original stays as it was and the copy doesn't carry the photo's location data.

What about Clean Up?

Clean Up in Photos removes distracting objects rather than blurring them. It needs Apple Intelligence: an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max or an iPhone 16 model or later, in a supported language and region. Apple's guide describes it for removing things from a picture, not for hiding a face.

Which method to use

• Soft background behind a person: Depth Control on a Portrait photo.
• Strangers in the background, a face in a group photo: the blur tool above.
• Anything that must stay private, like a card number or address: a solid box, either in the tool or with a Markup shape at full opacity. Blurred and pixelated text can sometimes be read back, so see how censors get removed before you choose.

For a faster start on faces, the face blur page opens the same tool set up for faces. Faces in videos aren't covered here: this tool works on photos only.