--- title: "How to blur a photo on iPhone, or just part of it" description: "Blur the background with Portrait, cover a face or a number with Markup, or blur part of a photo free in Safari, and learn which blur can be undone." canonical: "https://dokus.app/blur-photo-on-iphone/" lang: "en" reviewed: "2026-10-15" app_store: "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dokus-private-id-wallet/id6781915709" translations: en: "https://dokus.app/blur-photo-on-iphone/" --- # How to blur a photo on iPhone, or just part of it To blur the background, open the photo in Photos, tap Edit and drag the Depth Control slider; it works on Portrait photos and on photos of a person or pet that Photos can turn into a portrait. Photos has no brush that blurs just one part, so cover a face, a number or an address with a filled shape in Markup, or blur that area for free in Safari with a tool that erases what is underneath. Dokus keeps your documents on your iPhone and erases the details you choose from every copy you share, free, with the original kept intact. [Free on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dokus-private-id-wallet/id6781915709) ![US passport specimen with fictional details. The passport number and the two machine-readable lines are erased, repainted from the paper around them.](https://dokus.app/assets/specimens/en/hero/passport-redacted.b528deda.webp) US passport specimen with fictional details. The passport number and the two machine-readable lines are erased, repainted from the paper around them. "Blur a photo" means two different jobs. One is softening the background behind a person, which your iPhone does well. The other is hiding part of the picture before you send it: a face in a crowd, a license plate, the card number on a photo of a bank card, the address on a parcel label. For that one, Photos has no blur brush, and blurring is not always the safe choice anyway. ## Blur the background with Portrait 1. Open the photo in Photos and tap Edit. 2. On a Portrait mode photo, drag the Depth Control slider at the bottom of the screen. Left sharpens, right blurs more; a black dot marks where the photo started. 3. On a photo taken in Photo mode, tap Portrait at the bottom of the screen if it appears, tap Portrait at the top to turn the effect on, then adjust the depth. 4. Tap Done. Supported iPhones can turn photos of a person, a dog or a cat into portraits after the fact. If Portrait does not appear, Photos cannot add depth to that photo. To go back, open the photo, tap Edit, then Revert and Revert to Original. ## Hide part of a photo with Markup Markup cannot blur, but it can cover anything with a shape you control. 1. Open the photo in Photos, tap Edit, then Markup, the pen icon. 2. Tap Add (+), then Add Shape, and pick the square or the circle. 3. Set a fill color and leave the opacity at full, so nothing shows through. 4. Drag the shape over the face, the plate or the number, and resize it by its dots. 5. Tap Done and save. Use a filled shape rather than the highlighter or a scribble with the pen: translucent strokes can leave text readable once someone turns up the contrast. Two things to know before you send it. Photos keeps the original beneath your edit, which is why Revert to Original works. And if you share with AirDrop, leave Options > All Photos Data off: with it on, Apple sends the original file with its edit history, and the recipient can undo your shape. On iPhone 15 Pro and later models with Apple Intelligence, Clean Up (Edit, Tools, Clean Up) can also erase a small object, such as a sticker or a sign. It rebuilds what it imagines was behind, so check the result closely when the point is to hide something. ## Blur part of a photo in Safari, for good The free [redaction tool](/redact-id/) on this site blurs the areas you choose and works in Safari on your iPhone. It was made for ID copies, and it takes any photo or PDF: 1. Choose your photo. If the tool crops it to something it took for a document, tap Adjust, then Reset. 2. Drag a box over each area to hide. Add as many as you need; the × on a box removes it. 3. Choose JPG or PDF and tap Download. Each box only looks blurred. It is painted from the pixels just around it, so nothing inside the box survives in the copy, and the file never leaves your phone. ## Why a light blur can be undone A blurred or pixelated number is not gone. When the alphabet and the font are known, as on cards, plates and screenshots, the remaining pixels narrow it down to a few candidates, and researchers have trained software that recognizes faces and digits through standard blurs and mosaics. To hide a number, an address or a face for real, cover it or erase it; save soft blurs for backgrounds. ## With Dokus Dokus keeps your passport, licenses and cards on your iPhone behind Face ID. When you share one, Redact erases the areas you drag over, such as a document number or the machine-readable lines, from that copy only. Your stored original stays complete for the next person who needs a different detail. If the photo is of an ID, [Is it safe to send a picture of your ID?](/is-it-safe-to-send-a-picture-of-your-id/) covers what to hide and what the recipient may require. ## Common questions ### How do I blur part of a picture on iPhone? Photos has no tool that blurs only one part of a picture. Cover the area with a filled shape in Markup, or use a free browser tool such as the redaction tool on dokus.app, which blurs the boxes you draw and erases what is underneath. ### How do I blur the background of a photo on iPhone? Open the photo in Photos, tap Edit and drag the Depth Control slider. It works on Portrait mode photos, and on supported iPhones on photos of a person, dog or cat taken in Photo mode, after you tap Portrait. ### How do I blur a face in a photo on iPhone? Cover it with a filled shape in Markup, or draw a box over it in the dokus.app redaction tool in Safari. If you share the edited photo with AirDrop, leave All Photos Data off in Options so the original does not go with it. ### Can blurred text be unblurred? Often, yes. A light blur or a pixel mosaic over text in a known font keeps enough information for software to guess the characters. Cover the text with an opaque shape, or use a tool that repaints the area from its surroundings so nothing of the original remains. ### Is there a free app to blur photos on iPhone? Photos does background blur and opaque covers for free. The redaction tool on dokus.app blurs any area for free in Safari without installing anything, and the Dokus app does the same on the copies of documents you share. ## Sources Reviewed on October 15, 2026 - [Edit Portrait mode photos on iPhone (Apple)](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/edit-portrait-mode-photos-iph310a9a220/ios) - [Add text, shapes, stickers, and more with Markup on iPhone (Apple)](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/iphcdb1d0bc7/ios) - [Clean up, extend, and reframe photos on iPhone (Apple)](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/clean-up-extend-and-reframe-photos-xy0grrlxue5w/ios) - [Share photos and videos on iPhone (Apple)](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/share-photos-and-videos-iphf28f17237/ios) - [Defeating Image Obfuscation with Deep Learning (arXiv, 2016)](https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.00408)