Privacy

Blur screenshot

Details

How to use Blur screenshot

What the tool does, how to run it, and what to expect from the result.

How to blur part of a screenshot

Blur softens a region of a screenshot. It is appropriate for faces and visual clutter, and it is the wrong tool for account numbers, tokens, addresses and names.

The edit is applied destructively to a canvas and exported as a new flattened file.

  • Upload or paste the screenshot.
  • Drag a rectangle over the region you want softened.
  • Raise the blur radius until nothing legible remains at full zoom, and if it is text, switch to a black box instead.
  • Repeat for each region, checking window titles, notification banners and browser tabs.
  • Export as PNG and review the result at 100 percent before sharing it.

Why blur works well for screenshots

Blur is often the least visually disruptive way to hide details on a screenshot. It softens a private area without turning the whole image into something that feels aggressively censored.

That makes it useful for support screenshots, product walkthroughs, chat captures, and internal documentation where the content should still feel readable everywhere except the sensitive region.

What this page should help with

This page is for the narrow case where someone already knows blur is the right treatment and wants the fastest possible screenshot-specific workflow.

  • Hiding names, emails, and account IDs
  • Softening balances, QR codes, or addresses
  • Cleaning screenshots before docs or bug reports
  • Preparing safer screenshots for social or support sharing
Tips

Getting a better result out of Blur screenshot

Specific settings and thresholds, not general advice.

  • Read this before you use it: this page is locked to blur, and blur is the weakest option for a screenshot, because screenshots are mostly text. Blurred text in a known UI font has been recovered by publicly available tools. For anything readable, use the black box on the redact screenshot page.
  • Blur is a reasonable choice for a screenshot when the goal is to de-emphasise rather than hide: an avatar, a photo thumbnail, a colleague's face in a video-call grid, a background window that is not confidential.
  • The blur radius defaults to 18 pixels. On a Retina screenshot where the UI text is 28 pixels tall, an 18-pixel radius smears it without destroying it. Push the radius well past the height of the text if you are going to blur text at all.
  • The export is a flattened PNG, JPG or WebP encoded from a canvas. The screenshot is rasterised, the blur is painted onto those pixels, and a new file is written, so there is no layer stack and no original pixel data left in the region.
  • The re-encode also drops the original file's metadata. That matters for screenshots taken on a phone, which can carry a device model and a timestamp in EXIF.
Limits

What Blur screenshot does not do

The honest boundary, so you do not lose time finding it yourself.

  • This page only offers blur. It does not expose the black box, white box, pixelate or crop modes, which is a real constraint given that blur is the weakest of them.
  • It does not detect text, faces or sensitive fields. Every region is a rectangle you draw.
  • Blurred text is not securely redacted, and no radius makes that guarantee.
  • It does not delete the original screenshot, which is still on your disk with everything visible.
Reference

Terms used on this page

Short, plain-language definitions for the formats and settings above.

At a glance

Who Blur screenshot is for

A quick way to understand who this helps, what it solves, and where it connects next.

Best fit

People sharing screenshots that include names, chats, balances, order details, faces, or account information

Ideal for

Fast screenshot cleanup when blur is the preferred masking style and the rest of the workflow should stay simple

FAQ

Common questions

Short answers for the questions people usually have before trying a utility like this.

Does this upload the screenshot anywhere?

No. The screenshot stays in the browser while you blur the selected area and export the cleaned file.

When is blur better than pixelate?

Blur is better when you want the screenshot to stay visually smooth and the redaction should feel softer than a hard pixel block or box.

Does export remove metadata too?

Yes. The export is regenerated through canvas, which strips common source metadata before the new file is downloaded.

Is blurring a screenshot safe?

For text, no. Screenshots use known system fonts at known sizes, which is exactly the situation in which blur reversal works. Publicly available tools have recovered blurred and pixelated text from screenshots. If the content matters, use an opaque box.

What is blur actually good for on a screenshot?

Faces in a call grid, avatars, thumbnails, a background window whose contents are not confidential, or anything you want softened so the reader's eye goes to the part you are demonstrating.

Does the exported file keep the original pixels under the blur?

No. The screenshot is drawn into a canvas, the blur is applied to those pixels, and a new file is encoded. There is nothing underneath and no way to peel it back.

Does exporting strip the screenshot's metadata?

Yes, as a side effect. Re-encoding from a canvas produces a file with no EXIF, which drops anything the original carried, such as a device model or a timestamp.

What should I use instead for an account number?

A black box. Use the redact screenshot page, which exposes the black box, white box, pixelate and crop modes, and put an opaque rectangle over the number.

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