Face Pixelator
Pixelate every face in a photo automatically, choose the block size, and keep the faces you want. Processed entirely on your device.
Drop photos here
Every face is found and blurred automatically. Tap a face to keep it visible. You can also paste a screenshot.
JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF or HEIC · Up to 20 photos at once
Face detection runs on your device
Several photos? Open them together and download every result in one ZIP file.
What is a face pixelator?
A face pixelator replaces each face with a grid of coloured blocks, the mosaic effect used on television and in news photos. This pixelator finds faces automatically and sizes the blocks to each face rather than to the whole photo. A small face in the background gets the same protection as a large face in front: at the default setting, about 7 blocks span each face.
How to pixelate a face in a picture
- Choose Open File, drop your photos, or paste an image. Several photos can be opened together.
- Faces are detected and pixelated automatically. Choose Find more for distant faces in crowds.
- Move the Pixel size slider. Higher values make bigger blocks; at 100, only about 4 blocks span a face.
- Tap a face to keep it clear, or drag over anything else you want to pixelate, such as a name badge.
- Download the pixelated photo, or download every photo as one ZIP file.
Why blur faces with this tool
- Private by design
- Photos are processed in your browser tab. Detection, editing and export all happen on your device, and the detector is served from this site, not a third-party AI service.
- Finds small faces in crowds
- The detector scans the whole photo and then overlapping tiles, so faces only a few dozen pixels wide in a large group photo can still be found. In our test, a 2803 × 2140 conference photo returned 176 faces.
- Protection that scales with each face
- Blur radius and pixel size are measured against each face, not the whole image. Distant faces get the same level of hiding as faces close to the camera.
- Batch photos and ZIP download
- Open up to 20 photos, review each one, and download them all in one ZIP file. Settings apply to every photo, and each photo keeps its own choices.
- Keep the faces you choose
- Tap a face to leave it visible. Hide all, Keep all, undo and redo make group photos quick to fix.
- Clean, full-size output
- Photos are saved at their original dimensions without a watermark. GPS location, camera model and other EXIF metadata are not copied into the new file.
Common reasons to blur faces in photos
- Children and school events
- Share class photos, sports days and parties without showing other families' children.
- Social media and marketplaces
- Hide bystanders before posting a holiday photo, or people in the background of a property or car listing.
- Journalism and protests
- Protect participants, witnesses and sources in news, activism and documentary photos.
- Research and compliance
- Anonymise people in field photos, usability studies, and reports where data protection rules apply.
- Support tickets and screenshots
- Cover faces in video-call screenshots and app screens before sending them to colleagues or vendors.
- Real estate and travel blogs
- Remove identifiable people from street scenes, interiors and travel photos you publish.
Blur, pixelate, solid or emoji: which should you use?
| Effect | Best for | How strong | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blur | Natural-looking photos for social media and blogs | Good at 60+ | A light blur can leave a face recognisable; keep the strength high. |
| Pixelate | News-style anonymisation, street and crowd photos | Good at 60+ | Fewer, larger blocks remove more detail. |
| Solid | Legal, HR, research and anything sensitive | Strongest | Replaces the face completely; nothing can be recovered. |
| Emoji | Friendly posts with family and friends | Strong | Pixelated underneath, so gaps around the emoji stay hidden. |
How this face blur compares with other online tools
The comparison below is based on what each tool publicly states on its face-blur page, reviewed in October 2026. Features change, so check each site for current details.
| Tool | Where photos are processed | Automatic detection | Batch | Free version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital ToolPad | In your browser | Yes, with a Find more scan for crowds | Up to 20 photos, ZIP download | Free, no watermark or account |
| iLoveIMG Blur Face | Online service; files are sent for processing | Yes | Yes | Free with limits; premium plans |
| Watermarkly | In your browser | Yes | Yes | Free version adds a Watermarkly logo |
| PicDefacer | In your browser | Yes, up to 100 faces | Not stated | Free; files up to 16 MB |
| Facepixelizer | In your browser | Yes; may miss tilted faces | Not stated | Free; JPG and PNG |
| BlurQ web tool | In your browser | Yes (MediaPipe) | Batch in the mobile app | Free on the web |
| Canva photo blur | Online editor with an account | No; blur whole photo or brush | Not for face blurring | Free tier; sign-in required |
How the automatic face detection works
The tool uses YuNet, a lightweight open-source face detector (MIT licence) from the OpenCV model zoo, running through ONNX Runtime Web in a background worker. The model is about 230 KB, and the runtime is downloaded once, then cached by your browser. The first scan takes a few seconds; later photos are usually processed in under a second on a laptop.
Each photo is first scanned as a whole, then in overlapping tiles so small faces reach the detector at a usable size. Results are merged, and faces that appear in more than one tile are counted once. Standard detection keeps confident results. Find more lowers the threshold and adds a finer tile pass, so it finds more faces, but it can also mark hands or patterns. Tap a mistaken area to keep it unchanged.
Hiding more than faces
To blur text, number plates or part of a screenshot by hand, use the image blur tool or blur text in an image. Photos also carry hidden details: check them with the photo metadata viewer, or strip GPS location from originals with the photo metadata remover.
Example: pixelate bystanders in a street photo
A street photo has two friends in front and a dozen passers-by behind them. Open it and choose Find more so the small, distant faces are found. Tap your two friends to keep them clear. Raise Pixel size until the passers-by cannot be recognised, then download the photo for your blog.
What to expect from the result
Face detection is very good but not perfect. Profiles, faces behind hands or masks, very small or blurry faces, and drawings or statues can be missed or wrongly detected. Always check the whole photo before sharing. Blurring a face does not hide other identifying details such as name badges, tattoos, car number plates or a house number; drag a box over those as well. Very large photos are scaled down to fit your browser's limits, notably about 16 megapixels on iPhone and iPad.
Face Pixelator questions
How do I pixelate a face in a picture?
Open the picture with Open File. Every face is found and pixelated automatically. Drag the Pixel size slider to make the blocks bigger or smaller, tap any face you want to keep, and choose Download photo.
Is pixelation safer than blurring?
Neither is foolproof. Both are safe when strong enough, and both can leave a face recognisable when too weak. Large blocks remove more detail than a light blur. Because block size here scales with each face, a strong setting hides small and large faces equally. For the strongest protection, use Solid.
Are my photos uploaded to a server?
No. Your photo is decoded, scanned for faces and edited inside your browser tab. The face detector is an open-source model that loads from this site the first time you use it, and no image data is sent anywhere. Closing the tab discards everything you opened.
What if a face is not detected?
Switch Detection to Find more, which scans the photo in overlapping tiles for small, turned or partly hidden faces. For anything still missed, drag a box over it. Faces in profile, behind sunglasses or masks, and very blurry faces are the most likely to need a manual box. Check the whole photo before sharing it.
Does pixelating reduce the quality of the rest of the photo?
No. Only the faces and areas you select are changed. The rest of the photo is saved at its original size, and PNG output keeps it pixel for pixel. JPG and WebP are saved at high quality, and EXIF data such as GPS location is not copied.