Screenshot AnnotationBlur a screenshot
hide anything in one click
Blur a screenshot to redact the parts you can’t share — a password field, an API key, someone’s email or face. Pick the mosaic tool, click the element, and the whole region is blurred in place. Three modes (blur, pixelate, black-bar), and every redaction snaps to the real element bounds.
What does it mean to blur a screenshot?
Blurring a screenshot means obscuring a region so the information underneath can’t be read — a soft Gaussian-style blur, a chunky pixelate, or a solid black bar. It’s how you share a screenshot safely when it contains credentials, tokens, personal data or other people’s faces.
The usual way is fiddly: paste the screenshot into an editor, draw a box over the secret, apply a blur filter, hope you covered the whole thing and didn’t leave a letter peeking out. Redaction that snaps to the real element fixes this — hover the password field or the email address, click, and the entire element is covered to its exact bounds.
Why blur instead of cropping?
Cropping cuts the sensitive region out — but it also cuts the context that tells the reader what was there (a login form, a settings panel, a billing table). Blurring keeps the layout intact while hiding the value. That matters most for:
- Bug reports with logins — show the broken form, hide the password you typed into it.
- Support screenshots — share the settings page without exposing the customer’s email or account ID.
- API & developer docs — show a response or console without leaking tokens, keys or request headers.
- People & faces — redact bystanders or profile photos before posting a screenshot publicly.
Three redaction modes, element-accurate
I wrote the mosaic tool myself, so here’s exactly what happens when you redact a region.
- You pick the mosaic tool. Press
M(or click the mosaic icon). Three modes are available: blur (soft), pixelate (chunky blocks) and black-bar (solid cover). - It snaps to elements. Hover the field, label or image you want to hide and click — the redaction is fitted to that element’s exact bounds. No hand-drawn rectangle that misses a corner.
- Or drag freely. Need to redact part of something? Drag a box over exactly the region you want hidden, anywhere on the screenshot.
- The original is never recoverable from the export. The blurred pixels are baked into the output PNG / JPG / PDF — what you share is what others see.
Two things make the blur safer and easier to use:
- Pixelate for text — soft blur can leave short strings partly legible. Pixelate (larger blocks) is the safer choice for passwords, codes and short tokens.
- Black-bar for certainty — when nothing may be recoverable, the solid black bar removes all doubt. Useful for legally sensitive content.
Redaction happens locally, in the in-page editor. Nothing is uploaded — the screenshot never leaves your device — and the result is on your clipboard the moment you close the editor.
How to blur part of a screenshot
From capture to a safely redacted image in under a minute.
Capture
Press Alt+A (Win) or ⌘⇧S (Mac), Alt+C / ⌘⇧X for a dragged region, or right-click the page. The editor opens on the page.
Redact
Press M for the mosaic tool and choose blur, pixelate or black-bar. Click the element to hide (snapped), or drag a box over the region.
Export
Close the editor — the redacted image is auto-copied to your clipboard. Or download as PNG / JPG / PDF.
Tips for safe screenshot blurring
- Snap, don’t drag, for fields. Clicking a password or email field covers the whole element — a hand-drawn box often misses the edges.
- Pixelate short text. Soft blur can leave short strings readable. For passwords, codes and tokens, use pixelate with larger blocks.
- Check before you share. Glance over the redacted image at full size — make sure no character peeks out from under the blur.
- Redact first, annotate second. Hide sensitive data before you add boxes and arrows, so you never accidentally reveal it later in the flow.
Blur screenshot, answered
Can the blur be reversed?
No — not from the exported image. The blurred or pixelated pixels are baked into the output PNG / JPG / PDF, so what you share is final. (No blur can recreate data that was genuinely destroyed; that’s the point.)
Blur, pixelate or black-bar — which should I use?
Black-bar is the safest (nothing recoverable). Pixelate is good for text. Soft blur looks natural but can leave short strings partly legible, so use it for larger areas like faces rather than passwords.
Does it work on any screenshot?
It works on any screenshot taken with the extension, where the in-page editor is available. You can snap to real elements (precise) or drag a free region.
Is the blur tool free?
Yes. Blur, pixelate and black-bar are all part of the free mosaic tool — no paid tier, no watermark, no sign-up.
Written by Virgil
I’m the independent developer who built the mosaic / redaction tool described here — the blur, pixelate and black-bar modes, with element snapping so you never miss a corner of a sensitive field.
I read every email and ship updates regularly; the changelog lists what changed in each release. Questions about redaction? Email virgil1126@gmail.com.
Blur your next screenshot safely
Free, no sign-up, no tracking. Blur, pixelate or black-bar — snapping to real elements.
Add to Chrome — Free