How to blur a face in a photo before you post it

Open Blur image, choose the photo, switch Blur with to Brush and paint over each face, or keep Box and drag a rectangle over it. Raise Strength until you cannot make out the features, then Download. The saved file has the blur baked into its pixels.

Steps

1. Open Blur image and drop in the photo. It opens in the editor with the Blur tool ready.
2. Under Hide parts, choose Blur with: Box for a quick rectangle, Brush to follow the shape of a head.
3. For Brush, set Brush size first (1 to 25), then paint over the face. For Box, drag over the face.
4. Move Strength up. It runs from 5 to 100; for faces, use the upper end.
5. Repeat for every face. Undo takes back the last area, and the Remove button under the controls clears them all in one go.
6. Look at the result at full size, then press Download.

Box or brush?

If you cannot drag on your device, Add a blur box in the middle places a box you can then move and size.

For a group photo, Blur every face under Faces finds the faces and blurs them all at once; How to blur all the faces in a group photo walks through it, including keeping one person visible.

Make sure it really hides the face

A light blur softens a face but often leaves it recognisable, especially to someone who knows the person. Check three things before you share:

• Strength. Use a high setting. A strong blur spreads each pixel over a wide area, so eyes, nose and mouth merge into one shape.
• Coverage. Cover a little more than the face: hair, ears and the outline of the head identify people too.
• Other clues. A name badge, a school logo, a distinctive tattoo or a car's number plate can identify someone as well as their face. Blur those in the same session.

Switch from Edit to Compare to flip between the original and your edit and see what has changed.

Can a blur be undone by someone else?

The downloaded file contains only the blurred pixels; the original face is not stored inside it. A strong blur over a generous area leaves too little detail to reconstruct a face. A weak blur over a small area can sometimes still be guessed at, which is why strength and coverage matter. If the detail must be gone with no doubt, crop it out of the picture instead, with Crop in the same editor.

Other ways to hide someone

• Emoji over the face. Open Emoji in the photo editor, tap a sticker and drag it over the face. It looks playful and fully covers the features.
• Blur everything but one person. The Background tool in the editor can blur everything behind a person it finds, or behind something you tap. This is for a portrait look rather than hiding people, but it softens bystanders behind your subject.

Questions

Is my photo uploaded to blur it?

No. The blur is worked out in your browser, and the photo stays on your device.

Does it remove the location from the photo?

Saving the file drops most hidden metadata, such as the GPS location your phone may have recorded.

Can I blur the whole picture?

Yes. Whole picture has its own Blur slider, separate from the areas you hide.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Drag with your finger for a box, or paint with it in Brush mode.