How to remove the background from a photo
- Tap "Add photos" or drop JPG, PNG, WebP or iPhone (HEIC) photos onto the box. The first time, allow the one-time download of the background remover (about 6 MB).
- Check the result. Choose a background, and use Erase or Bring back to touch up the edges.
- Tap "Save", then download the PNG (or JPG with a background). Several photos come as one ZIP file.
Good to know
The background remover is a small model trained to find the subject of a photo (U²-Net, about 2.3 MB). It runs inside your browser, together with ONNX Runtime, the program that runs it. Both come from our own site, once, and your browser keeps them, so later it starts straight away and works offline. The first download is about 6 MB, or about 9 MB on browsers that can use the graphics chip, which makes it faster. Your photos never leave your device.
It works best on one clear subject: a person, a pet, a product on a table or a car. It finds the subject on a small copy of the photo, then follows the photo’s own edges to make the cut-out at the full size, so the PNG is exactly as big as your photo. On our 2-core test computer it took about 4 to 7 seconds per photo, including a 12-megapixel one, without the graphics chip; phones may be slower.
It is less good at fine detail. Loose hair and fur come out as a soft edge, not single strands. Glass and other see-through things are cut out as if solid. A subject that is the same colour as its background, holes inside a shape (such as the middle of a ring) and busy backgrounds can be cut wrongly. The Erase and Bring back brushes fix most of this. Logos, drawings and signatures on one plain colour are a special case: the tool notices the plain background and offers to cut out that colour instead, which also clears holes inside letters and shapes. For passport photos, use the passport photo maker, which says whether the office accepts a changed background.
Questions
Are my photos uploaded?
No. The background remover runs inside your browser, on your phone or computer. Your photos are never sent to us or anyone else. Only the remover itself is downloaded from our site, once.
How big is the download, and does it use my data every time?
About 6 MB the first time (about 9 MB on browsers that can use the graphics chip). Your browser keeps it, so the next time it starts without downloading again, and it works offline.
Does it keep the full size of my photo?
Yes. The PNG has exactly the same width and height as your photo. Very large photos on iPhones and iPads are the one exception: Safari can’t make pictures above about 16.7 million pixels, so those are saved at the largest size it allows, and the tool tells you.
Why is the hair edge soft, or part of the subject missing?
The remover sees the photo at a small size, so single hairs, glass and thin parts are hard for it, as are subjects the same colour as the background. Choose Touch up, then Erase to remove leftovers or Bring back to restore missing parts.
Does it work for logos and signatures?
Yes, when they are on one plain colour, such as a logo on white or a signature on paper. The tool notices the plain background and offers “Cut out the background colour”, which removes exactly that colour, including inside letters such as O and A. A busy or patterned background still needs the normal cut-out.
Page last reviewed 22 October 2026.