Remove a Watermark from a Photo (Your Own)
The short answer
Drag a box over the watermark and the part under it is filled in again from the pixels around it. It works well on plain backgrounds such as sky, walls and paper, and less well on faces or detail. For a pale mark on a white page, the Whiten pale marks slider is simpler.
What it can and cannot remove
- Word and PowerPoint: a watermark added with the program's own watermark feature is deleted cleanly, and nothing else in the file changes.
- PDF: a watermark the file marks as one, a layer called Watermark, and watermark notes are deleted, and the text stays text. A mark that was painted into the page can only be cleaned as a picture.
- Photos and scans: a pale mark on a plain page can be whitened, and a marked part can be filled in from its surroundings. On faces, text or busy patterns the fill can look smudged. It is not AI and cannot bring back what was hidden under the mark.
- Passwords and locked files are not opened. Everything stays on your device.
Your files stay on your device. This tool runs entirely in your browser and nothing is uploaded to a server.
How to: Remove a Watermark from a Photo (Your Own)
- 1Choose your photo. Use a picture that is yours, or one you may edit.
- 2Drag a box over the watermark. Add more boxes for more marks.
- 3For a coloured mark on a busy picture, pick the mark's colour so only that colour is rebuilt.
- 4Press Clean and save, and zoom in to check the result.
At a glance
- Best on
- Plain backgrounds: sky, walls, paper
- Weak on
- Faces, text and fine patterns, which can smudge
- Method
- Fill from surroundings, not AI
Frequently asked questions
Why does the cleaned part look blurry?
The fill is made from the colours around the mark, so it is smooth. A busy background has detail that a smooth fill cannot copy. Mark a smaller area, or pick the mark's colour.
Can it remove a watermark from a stock photo?
Stock watermarks protect the photographer's work. Removing one to use the picture without paying can break copyright law, so use this only on pictures you have the right to change.