How to blur a background in photos

Introducing a background blur to your photos can draw attention to a specific subject, such as an individual in a portrait or an item in a still life, while adding a professional flair to your image. This beautiful background blur, also known as bokeh, can be achieved even after shooting your photo, thanks to advances in editing software. This guide will walk you through the process on iOS, Android, Windows, and MacOS.

Blurring photos on iOS

If you haven’t taken your photograph yet, you can use Portrait Mode to automatically blur the background. Note that while this can sometimes work for other subjects, it’s best for photos of people.

But if you didn’t shoot the photo in Portrait Mode, you can create the effect after the fact using an app. We like Blur Photo Editor Background by Connects Ltd in the App Store, which allows you to edit photos with high levels of precision — but it does require a $5-per-month subscription.

Step 1: Grant permission to access photos, then select the photo you wish to alter.

Step 2: Click the Portrait button in the lower-right corner.

Step 3: Drag your finger over the subject you wish to keep in focus.

Step 4: If needed, adjust the Intensity and Brush Size sliders to better aid your task.

Step 5: Once finished, select the checkmark icon in the lower right.

Step 6: Click the Save button in the upper-right corner to save your work.

Blurring photos on Android

Some Android phones, such as Samsung’s Galaxy lineup, offer similar Portrait Mode abilities to the iPhone for automatically blurring the background of your photographs. Otherwise, if your phone doesn’t provide the capacity within the stock camera app, we would recommend downloading the Auto Blur Background app by Judi Studio from the Google Play Store. Once you have the app installed, follow these steps:

Step 1: Click the large Portrait button.

Step 2: Grant permission to access photos, then select the photo you wish to alter.

Step 3: Click the Focus button to blur the background automatically.

Step 4: Click the Blur Level button; adjust the slider to your desired strength, then click back.

Step 5: Once finished, select the Save button in the lower-right corner to save your work.

Note: If you wish to blur a background without a person using the Auto Blur Background app, once the application is open, slide your finger to the left over the Portrait option, then click on the Landscape option.

Blurring photos on Windows/MacOS

While Windows and MacOS both contain simple apps to add background blur to images, we’ll be focusing on using one of the most popular photo editing packages available — Adobe Photoshop. If you would rather use a different application, you can see our list of the best Photoshop alternatives. Otherwise, once Photoshop is installed on your machine, follow these steps to introduce a simple background blur to your image.

Step 1: Open the photo you wish to alter in Photoshop (File > Open).

Step 2: On the right side of the screen, under the Layers section, right-click your photo and select Duplicate Layer.

Step 3: Ensure the top layer in the Layers section is chosen, then apply a Gaussian Blur filter (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur). For the current radius, enter 50, then click OK.

Step 4: Next, select the Erase tool in the left-hand toolbar. You may wish to adjust the hardness of the tool to around 50% using the top toolbar.

Step 5: Begin to erase the areas that you wish to be clear and sharp; take your time as the process may take a bit of patience.

Step 6: If needed, adjust the size of your erase tool as you work, using the size adjuster in the top toolbar — this will allow you to work on finer details.

Step 7: Save the image (File > Save). You may also want to export a smaller version for the web or social media (File > Export > Export As…).

Tip: While working, you can change the opacity of the blurred layer to see fine details better below. Achieve this by clicking on the layer in the Layers section, then using the Opacity selector. Remember to return this setting to a higher number once finished.

This is one of the simplest and fastest ways to blur a background in Photoshop, but it won’t be the most realistic. If you want more control over the blur in your photo, complete with the ability to simulate depth-of-field falloff, see our tutorial on Photoshop’s Field Blur tool.

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