Pixelate an Image
Replace detail with solid blocks of colour. Unlike blurring, pixelation genuinely discards information — which makes it the right choice when you need something to be unreadable.
Drop your image here
or
Choose ImageYou can also paste an image with Ctrl+V
Images are processed on your device and never uploaded.
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Runs on your device — nothing is uploaded.
Working…
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- Original
- Result
- Saved
- Quality
How to pixelate an image
- Select your photo.
- Choose Whole image or Selected area.
- Drag boxes over anything that must be hidden.
- Pick a block size — 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32 px or a custom value.
- Press Apply and download.
Why pixelation beats blurring for redaction
Blurring averages neighbouring pixels using a known, reversible kernel. Given the blurred output and a guess at the radius, an attacker can recover a surprising amount — and for a small set of possible values, such as digits on a card, they can simply blur every candidate and compare.
Pixelation replaces each block with a single averaged colour and throws the rest away. With a large enough block, the information is gone rather than rearranged.
The caveat is block size. Pixelating text at 4 px per block leaves letter shapes partly intact; the same known-candidate attack then works. Use blocks large enough that each character is covered by only a few of them.
Choosing a block size
| Block | Effect | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| 4 px | Light mosaic | Stylistic only — not secure |
| 8 px | Visible mosaic | Mild obscuring |
| 12–16 px | Faces unrecognisable | General privacy |
| 24–32 px | Heavy censoring | Card numbers, addresses, IDs |
These assume a normal-resolution photo. On a 48 MP image, scale the block size up proportionally — 16 px is nothing on a 8000 px-wide frame.
A redaction checklist
- Pixelate every identifying element, not just the obvious one — names, account numbers, reflections in windows, distinctive backgrounds.
- Use a block size of at least 24 px for anything textual.
- Zoom to 100% and verify nothing is legible.
- Strip the metadata afterwards — GPS coordinates identify a location perfectly regardless of what you censored in the frame.
- Share the pixelated copy, never the original.
Frequently asked questions
Are my images uploaded to your server?
No. The image is decoded, processed and re-encoded by your own browser using the Canvas and Web Worker APIs. There is no upload endpoint for this tool — open your browser's network panel while you use it and you will see no request carrying image data.
Is pixelation actually secure?
With a large enough block, yes — the information is averaged away and cannot be recovered. With small blocks over text it is not, because an attacker can pixelate candidate strings and match the pattern. Block size is the whole game.
Should I pixelate or blur?
Pixelate for redaction, blur for aesthetics. If the goal is that nobody can read or recognise something, pixelation at 24 px or more is the safer tool.
Can I pixelate the whole image for an effect?
Yes — choose whole-image mode and a large block size for a mosaic or retro look.
What happens to my file when I close the tab?
It is gone. The image only ever exists in your browser's memory as an object URL; closing or refreshing the page discards it. Nothing is written to our servers, and nothing is stored on your device unless you download the result.