Pixelate Image
Pixelate a whole photo for a retro mosaic look, or drag over faces, license plates and text to censor just those areas. Free and private — everything runs in your browser.
or click to browse — JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP · stays on your device
Drag a rectangle on the preview below to pixelate that area. Repeat for as many areas as you need.
No areas pixelated yet.
How to pixelate an image online
- Upload your image. Drag and drop a JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or BMP file into the box above, or click it to browse your device.
- Choose what to pixelate. Keep Entire image for a full mosaic effect, or switch to Selected areas and drag rectangles over faces, license plates, names or other sensitive details. Adjust the block-size slider to control how coarse the pixels are.
- Download the result. Pick PNG, JPG or WebP as the output format and press Download to save the pixelated image.
About this tool
This free pixelation tool applies a classic mosaic censor effect: the image is divided into square blocks and every block is filled with the average color of the pixels inside it. Larger blocks hide more detail. Pixelating the whole picture creates retro 8-bit style artwork and stylish blurred-out backgrounds, while the Selected areas mode is made for redacting screenshots — hide faces, license plates, email addresses, account numbers or signatures before sharing an image publicly. For a softer way to obscure details, the Blur Image tool applies a smooth blur instead of blocks.
Because the effect is computed with the HTML5 canvas directly in your browser, the photo you are censoring is never uploaded to any server — an important point when the whole reason you are here is to hide sensitive information. Note that pixelation permanently discards the detail inside each block in the downloaded file; still, for highly sensitive text, prefer a large block size, since very small blocks can leave text partially recognizable.
Frequently asked questions
How does pixelation work?
The selected area is scaled down so each future block becomes a single pixel (which averages the colors inside it), then scaled back up with smoothing disabled. The result is a grid of uniform squares of the chosen block size.
Can pixelation be reversed or undone by someone else?
The averaged blocks in the downloaded file cannot be simply "de-pixelated" — the detail is gone. However, research has shown that short pixelated text can sometimes be guessed or reconstructed if the blocks are small. For serious redaction use a large block size, or cover the area completely.
Can I pixelate several different areas of one image?
Yes. In Selected areas mode, drag as many rectangles as you like — each is pixelated immediately. Use Undo last area to remove the most recent one or Clear all areas to start again. Changing the block size re-applies it to all areas.
Is my image uploaded to your server?
No. All processing happens locally in your browser with JavaScript and the canvas element. Your image never leaves your device, which is exactly what you want when censoring private information.