The Easiest Ways to Blur or Hide Sensitive Parts of a Photo on Your Phone

Sometimes, a great photo has something you’d rather not share—like a license plate, address, or even a stranger’s face. Instead of skipping the upload, you can quickly blur or cover sensitive parts using built-in tools and free apps.

Hiding Sensitive Parts of a Photo on iPhone

The built-in photo editor on the iPhone doesn’t include a blur tool. However, you can still hide sensitive parts of a photo using the Markup tool. It gives you options to cover parts of an image with various tools, such as pens, shapes, emojis, and stickers. Here’s how to use it:

1. Open the Photos app and find the image you want to edit.
2. Tap the edit icon at the bottom.
3. Tap the Markup icon (a pencil inside a circle) at the top.
4. Select the pen tool and draw over sensitive parts of the photo. You can tap the color wheel at the bottom to choose a pen color that matches the object.
5. If you prefer to cover parts of the photo instead of drawing over them, tap the plus icon to add a shape, a sticker, or even an emoji.
6. Once you’re satisfied with the image, tap Done in the top right corner to save it.

Hiding Sensitive Parts of a Photo on Android

Similar to the iPhone, Android’s Google Photos doesn’t have a dedicated blur tool, so you can’t blur parts of an image. That said, you can easily conceal sensitive areas in your photos using the Pen tool. Here’s how:

1. Open the Google Photos app and select the photo you want to edit.
2. Tap the Edit option at the bottom.
3. In the editing menu, look for the Markup tool and tap it.
4. Tap the Pen option, select a color that matches the object or area you want to hide and draw over it.
5. Once you’re satisfied tap Done followed by Save copy to keep the original photo intact while saving the edited version.

Blurring or Hiding Parts of a Photo on Samsung Galaxy Phones

Unlike Apple Photos and Google Photos, the photo editor in Samsung’s Gallery app includes a blur tool. So, if you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, you can blur or hide sensitive parts of an image using these steps:

1. Open the Gallery app on your Samsung phone and open the photo you want to edit.
2. Tap the pencil icon located at the bottom of the screen to open the photo in the photo editor.
3. Look for the decoration icon (it looks like a smiley face with a pencil) and tap it.
4. Select the mosiac pen and choose your preferred blur pattern. You can use the slider to increase or decrease the thickness of the pen.
5. Use your finger to draw over the areas you want to blur.
6. Once you’re done, tap Save at the top or tap the three-dot menu and select Save copy.

Easily Blur Parts of a Photo on Any Phone Using Canva

Canva is a versatile design tool available on both Android and iPhone. It offers several useful photo editing options, including a blur tool. So, if you don’t have a Samsung phone but want to use the blur tool, Canva is a great alternative.

Best of all, this feature doesn’t require a Canva Pro subscription, so you can blur parts of a photo on your phone for free. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Open Canva, tap the plus icon at the bottom, and select Upload.
2. Find and select your photo and tap Edit image.
3. Select Effects > Blur and set your preferred brush size and blur intensity.
4. Use your finger to brush over the areas you want to blur.
5. Tap Save in the top right corner and select Download to get to the edited image on your phone.