Screenshots with account numbers, photos with strangers' faces, listings that show your license plate — sharing images safely often means blurring parts of them first. Here's how to do it in the browser in under a minute, without handing the sensitive image to yet another server.
Blur part of an image in 4 steps
Open Blur Image — free, no account, processed locally in your browser.
Upload your JPG, PNG, or WebP.
Paint over the areas to hide: faces, plates, names, addresses. Adjust brush size and blur strength as needed.
Download the result. The rest of the image stays sharp.
What should you blur before sharing?
Faces — especially children's and bystanders'. In many countries, publishing identifiable photos of people without consent has legal consequences (GDPR, state privacy laws).
License plates — a plate ties a photo to a person and an address.
Documents and screens — account numbers, emails, order IDs, QR codes (yes, QR codes can be scanned from photos), meeting links, API keys in terminal screenshots.
House numbers and street signs in real-estate or marketplace photos.
Boarding passes and tickets — barcodes contain your booking data.
Blur vs pixelate vs black bar — which hides better?
Blur looks natural and is ideal for faces and backgrounds. Use a strong setting: light blur on text can sometimes be reversed by deblurring tools.
Pixelate (Pixelate Image) is the classic mosaic. With large block sizes it is very hard to reverse and reads clearly as \"intentionally hidden\".
Solid bar is the most secure for text — nothing to reconstruct. The tradeoff is aesthetics.
Rule of thumb: faces → blur or pixelate; text and numbers → strong pixelation or a solid shape. And never hide text by merely lowering contrast or cropping tight — both are recoverable.
One more step: strip the metadata
Blurring the pixels doesn't touch the file's hidden metadata. A blurred photo can still contain the GPS coordinates of where it was taken. After blurring, run the file through Remove EXIF — also browser-based — to clear location, timestamps, and device info. Two tools, ten seconds, actually private.
Why browser-based blurring matters here especially
Think about what you're blurring: the sensitive parts. Uploading an unredacted ID photo to a random \"free blur tool\" server defeats the purpose. NanoImage processes the image with the Canvas API on your device; the original never leaves your machine. You can verify: open DevTools → Network while using the tool — no image requests.
FAQ
Can blurred images be un-blurred?
Weak Gaussian blur on text has been partially reversed in research settings. Use strong blur or pixelation for text; for absolute certainty, use an opaque shape.
Does blurring reduce the quality of the rest of the photo?
No — only the painted region is altered. Export quality is configurable.
Can I blur the whole background instead of a region?
Yes — paint the background, or blur everything and re-sharpen the subject area. A dedicated portrait-background mode is on the roadmap.
Is it really free?
Yes. No watermark, no signup, no limits.
Privacy-first image tools
Pair blurring with Remove EXIF Data before sharing. Explore image privacy tools including pixelate an image online when you need stronger redaction.