PNG, JPEG, and WebP input
Open a supported image up to 25 MB, including a photo, scan, screenshot, or exported document page.
Free image redaction tool
Redact private details from an image or photo.
Cover faces, labels, addresses, identifiers, and other visible details, then download a new PNG without the source image metadata.
What this tool does
Images can reveal identity in more places than the obvious face
A photo can expose a home address on a package, a license plate in the background, a school name on clothing, a patient label, a computer screen, or a handwritten signature. Scanned images can contain the same names, account numbers, and signatures as a PDF while lacking a clean text layer.
FreeRedact renders the image in your browser and offers suggestions for likely text and faces. Treat those marks as a starting point. Pan across the full image, inspect reflections and background objects, and draw manual redaction boxes anywhere context or image quality makes automatic detection uncertain.
Image uploads are exported as new PNG files. The approved solid redactions become part of the output pixels, and metadata from the source PNG, JPEG, or WebP is not copied into the new file.
Files and output
Supported formats and results
Text and face suggestions
Review likely private text, faces, and handwriting regions directly on the image.
Manual redaction
Draw a precise solid box over a license plate, signature, tattoo, label, screen, or any other visual clue.
Fresh PNG output
Download a new PNG with redactions applied and source image metadata left behind.
How to use FreeRedact
A careful three-step workflow
Choose the image
Open a PNG, JPEG, or WebP from your device. The editor decodes and displays it locally.
Review text and visual clues
Check suggested text and faces, then inspect objects, labels, screens, backgrounds, and reflections for additional clues.
Export a clean PNG
Apply black or white redactions, download the new file, and inspect it at full resolution.
Automatic suggestions
What image detection can—and cannot—recognize
Text recognition and visual models work best on clear, upright, high-contrast images. Real photos often contain perspective, glare, shadows, and clutter.
Details FreeRedact looks for
- Email addresses, common U.S. phone formats, account IDs, payment details, and U.S. SSN-style numbers
- Person names, U.S.-style street addresses, IPv4 addresses, private-looking URLs, and access tokens
- Faces and regions that may contain hard-to-read handwriting
- Custom text repeated across labels, forms, badges, signs, and screens
Visual clues to check manually
- License plates, house numbers, tattoos, uniforms, badges, and location landmarks are context-dependent
- Text at an angle, behind glare, on a curved surface, or at low resolution may be missed
- Posters, illustrations, statues, and logos can create false face suggestions
- Reflections, mirrors, windows, screens, and photo backgrounds can reveal additional people or information
Before you share
Verify a redacted image at full resolution
Small previews can hide gaps around a redaction or details in the background.
- Open the downloaded PNG at 100% size and zoom in around every redaction edge.
- Inspect faces, name tags, documents, mail, screens, plates, mirrors, and reflections.
- Confirm solid boxes cover the complete detail rather than only its center.
- Check the new file's properties if the source image may have contained location or camera metadata.
- Ask a second person to scan the final image when disclosure would carry meaningful risk.
- Rename the downloaded copy if its filename includes a person's name, case number, health condition, customer, project, or other private context.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked questions
Which image formats can I redact?
FreeRedact accepts PNG, JPEG, and WebP images up to 25 MB. The redacted download is a new PNG.
Can FreeRedact automatically find faces?
It can suggest likely faces, but visual detection can miss faces or mistake illustrations and objects for faces. Review the full image and add or reject boxes as needed.
Can it read handwriting in a scanned image?
FreeRedact can flag regions that may contain handwriting, but handwriting recognition is less reliable than clear printed text. Inspect signatures, filled fields, and handwritten notes manually.
Will the exported image keep EXIF location data?
No source EXIF data is copied. FreeRedact creates a new PNG from the visible image and approved redactions.
Related tools and guides
Continue your privacy check
Ready to review the file?
Open the private editor to apply these checks. No signup is required, and the file stays on your device.
Open private editor