How to blur an image in Google Slides

What Slides can and can't do to an image

According to Google's help, you can do the following to an image in Slides:

• Crop it, or mask it into a shape.
• Add a border.
• In Format options, use Recolor, and under Adjustments change Opacity, Brightness and Contrast.
• Reset image to undo your changes.

There's no blur, pixelate or redact among them. Lowering the opacity only fades the whole picture into the slide.

Blur the picture, then add it to your slide

1. Choose the image in the tool below. It starts on Blur for the Whole image.
2. Set the strength. For a soft background behind slide text, a low strength is often enough.
3. To blur only some parts, choose Areas I pick and drag a box over each one.
4. Keep PNG and download the image.
5. In Google Slides, click Insert, then Image, then Upload from computer, and choose the downloaded file.

Replace an image that's already on a slide

To keep the size and position of a picture you've already laid out:

1. Right-click the image on your slide.
2. Click Replace image.
3. Choose Upload from computer and pick the blurred copy.

Google also notes you can drag and drop an image onto an existing one in Slides to replace it.

Why blur before uploading

Slides keeps the original picture: Reset image returns an edited image to the photo you added. A crop or a shape over a face can be undone by anyone with edit access. When you blur the picture before uploading, the sharp original never goes into the presentation.

For names, numbers or addresses in a screenshot, choose Solid box rather than blur. Blurred text can sometimes be read back; a solid box leaves nothing to recover. The censor image page starts with that setting.

Working in PowerPoint instead? It has a built-in blur: see how to blur an image in PowerPoint.