Free tools › Images
Pixelate image
Blocks instead of pixels: a mosaic, a censor bar for the whole frame, a pixel-art look.
More free conversions, where you upload. The Fylane extension does the same work inside any upload form, on its own free share every day.Add to Chrome
How to pixelate image
- Drop the image, or paste it straight from the clipboard.
- Pick the block size — small for a fine mosaic, large for chunky squares.
- Press Apply and download the pixelated picture.
What happens to your file
The picture is shrunk so that each block becomes one pixel — averaging the colours inside it — and enlarged back with no smoothing, so every block is a flat square. The block size is a per cent of the shorter side; the pixels actually used are in the report.
Everything happens on your own device. A JPG, PNG or WebP is decoded, blocked and re-encoded by the browser, so the picture is never uploaded to us or anyone else. The page works with the network unplugged.
This pixelates the whole picture. To cover one face or one number plate and leave the rest sharp, use the pixelate faces or pixelate part of an image pages instead — same effect, applied to a region you choose.
Choosing a block size is mostly taste. Around 1–2% of the shorter side reads as a mosaic filter and still shows what the picture is of; 5% and above is the chunky censor look where a face becomes a handful of squares. The preview updates as you move it, so the honest answer is to look rather than calculate.
Questions
How do I pixelate an image?
Drop it on this page, choose how big the blocks should be, and press Apply. There is nothing to install and no account. If you only want part of the picture covered, use the pixelate part of an image page, which lets you drag a box over the bit to hide.
Is pixelating safe for hiding a face, a name or a number plate?
Treat it as a courtesy, not as security. Pixelation throws away detail but it leaves a regular, predictable pattern, and published research has recovered faces and short text from pixelated images by testing candidates until the blocks match. For anything that genuinely matters — an address, a bank account, a passport number — cover it with a solid shape or use the PDF redaction tool, which removes the underlying content rather than painting over it.
Can pixelation be undone?
Not from the file this page gives you. The detail inside each block is averaged away and nothing records what it was, so keep your original if you might need it. That is a different question from whether a determined attacker can guess what was there, which is the one above.
Should I pixelate or blur?
Blur looks softer and keeps a hint of shape; pixelation reads unmistakably as "this was hidden on purpose", which is often what you want in a screenshot. Neither is secure. For a mosaic or pixel-art look, pixelation is the only one of the two that gives you it.
What block size should I pick?
For a pixel-art effect, big blocks — 5% or more of the shorter side. For covering a face in a photo you are posting, something in the same range, large enough that the features are gone. For a light mosaic that still shows the scene, 1–2%.
Does it work on a GIF or a screenshot?
Screenshots, yes, and they are the common case. An animated GIF is accepted, though only the picture is pixelated — if you need the animation kept, check the result before you post it.
Is it really free, with no watermark?
Yes. No sign-up, no watermark, no limit on how many you do, and for JPG, PNG and WebP nothing leaves your device at all.
Do it once, not on every form
A form that wants a square JPEG under 240 KB says so on the page. The Fylane extension reads that, fits your photo to it, and puts it in the field — without you working out what 240 KB looks like.
And it keeps the result. The next application that asks for a résumé, a cover letter and a photo fills all three from one tap, each one refitted to what that site accepts.
Your files stay in the browser, encrypted, on your machine. Nothing is uploaded to keep them and nothing is sent anywhere to fill a form.
Related tools
Do this in code
curl -X POST https://api.fylane.dev/v1/jobs \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $FYLANE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"file_id": "<file id>",
"operation": "image.effect",
"options": {
"effect": "pixelate",
"block": 2,
"format": "same"
}
}'The same operation, image.effect — Four small edits: rounded corners (with transparency), a border, a pixelation, a blur — sizes as a per cent of the shorter side. Upload first with the quickstart; every option is on the operations page. 500 free credits a month, then $5 per thousand.