How to Blur or Redact Part of a Photo on iPhone
You can redact part of a photo on iPhone without an app. Markup in the Photos app has no blur tool, but it can cover an area with a solid filled shape, which is the safer way to hide a number or a face anyway.
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What do I need to know?
- Use a solid shape at full opacity. A see-through box or a thin scribble can leave the text readable.
- Photos keeps the original. Anyone with your phone can tap Revert to Original.
- Send a flattened copy. A screenshot of the redacted photo has nothing underneath it.
How do I cover part of a photo on iOS 27?
Apple's guides to editing photos and adding shapes with Markup describe these steps.
- Open the photo in Photos and tap the edit button.
- Tap the Markup button to show the Markup toolbar.
- Tap the add button, then tap Add Shape and choose a square or rectangle.
- Drag the shape over the part to hide. Drag the dots on its outline to resize it.
- In the toolbar, set the fill color to black and the opacity to the maximum.
- Zoom in with two fingers to check no edge of the text shows.
- Tap Done to save.
You can also use the pen or marker. Apple says you can change a drawing tool's line weight and opacity (Apple). Choose the thickest line and full opacity, and go over the area more than once. A filled shape is quicker and leaves no gaps.
Why is a blur less safe than a black box?
A blur or pixelation mixes the hidden pixels together, but it keeps some of them. With short text such as a card number, the shapes of the digits can sometimes be guessed back. A solid black shape at full opacity replaces the pixels, so there is nothing left to work from.
The same goes for a low-opacity highlighter. It looks covered on your screen, and anyone who brightens the image may read straight through it.
Can someone undo my redaction?
On your own phone, yes. Apple says that after you save an edit in Photos you can tap Revert to Original to undo it (Apple). With iCloud Photos, edits and originals sync across your devices.
So the black box protects what you send, not what stays in your library. To send a version with nothing underneath:
- Open the redacted photo and take a screenshot.
- Crop the screenshot to the photo and send that.
- When sharing, tap Options and turn off Location (Apple).
Then decide where the unredacted original belongs. If it shows an ID, a card or a child's face, it probably should not sit in Camera Roll.
What should I redact before sending?
- Card numbers, the security code and your signature.
- ID numbers, dates of birth and barcodes on licences and passports.
- Addresses, house numbers and car number plates.
- Faces of people who did not agree to be shared, especially children.
- Names and messages in the background of a screenshot.
What this doesn't protect against
Redaction only hides what you remember to cover. Reflections, other tabs and the corners of a screenshot are easy to miss. Once a photo is sent, you cannot take it back. Keeping the original in a vault does not change what the other person received.
Do it with Cryptile
Redact the copy you send, then keep the full original in a Cryptile vault, encrypted with AES-256-GCM under a key made from your pattern. With Plus, on-device search finds an ID by the text on it.
Cryptile is free for up to 2 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos. Plus removes the limits for $19.99 a year (7-day free trial) or $39.99 once. The price is the same every day.