Blur Part of a Video

How to blur part of a video

1. Choose the video above and pause the preview on a frame where the thing you want to hide is visible.
2. Drag the box over it, then use the "Box width" and "Box height" sliders to size it. Leave a margin around the target.
3. Choose "Blur" or "Pixelate" and set "Strength" from 1 to 10.
4. To limit the effect to one stretch, tick "Only part of the video" and set From and To, typing the times or pressing "At playhead" for each.
5. Press "Blur the area", keep the tab open, and download the MP4. The file name ends in "-blurred" or "-pixelated".

What the tool does, and what it doesn't

The box is a fixed rectangle. It covers the same part of the frame for the whole video, or for the From–To range you set, and it doesn't follow anything that moves. There is no face detection and no object tracking.

Good fit

a logo or watermark in a corner, a phone number on a sign in a tripod shot, a number plate on a parked car, private details in a screen recording, a document on a desk

Poor fit

a person walking through the frame, a car driving past, a face in handheld footage, anything filmed while the camera pans

Effects

Blur (soft smear) or Pixelate (square blocks), strength 1 to 10

Timing

whole video, or one From–To range per pass

Output

MP4, re-encoded at the original size; the sound is kept, copied as it is where MP4 allows

Every frame is redrawn and re-encoded on your device, which needs a browser that can encode video (current Chrome or Edge, Safari 16.4 or later, or Firefox 130 or later on a computer). How long it takes depends on your device and the video's length and resolution. Nothing is uploaded.

Blur or pixelate: choosing for privacy

The point of hiding something is that nobody can read it afterwards, so err on the strong side.

• Use a high strength for anything sensitive. A light blur over large, high-contrast text, such as a number plate or a big heading, can leave the shapes of the characters recognisable.
• Pixelate at a high strength is often the safer look for small text: when the blocks are bigger than the letters, no letter shapes survive. Over large text, even pixelation can hint at what is underneath, so turn it up and check.
• Make the box bigger than the target. Encoders and slight camera shake can shift edges by a few pixels, and a tight box can leave a sliver of text uncovered.
• Check the result before you share it. Scrub through the start and end of the range and pause on a few frames, especially any frame where the target was largest or clearest.

Examples

Several areas, or something that moves

The tool handles one box per pass, but you can run the result through again. Blur the first area, download, choose the downloaded file, and blur the second. Each pass re-encodes the video, so keep the number of passes small.

For a subject that drifts slowly, such as a parked car while the camera slowly pans, you can cover it in steps: one pass per few seconds, each with its own From–To range and the box moved to where the subject is during that stretch. That works for slow movement. For a person walking across the frame or a face in handheld footage, use a tool that tracks objects:

• YouTube Studio's editor, on a computer, has Blur with Face blur and Custom blur, Rectangle or Oval shapes, "Track object" so the box follows a subject, and several boxes per video. You can download the edited video afterwards.
• Desktop editors such as Premiere Pro can track a mask over a moving subject and blur inside it.

Covering subtitles that are already in the picture

To hide old burned-in captions, the subtitle editor has a blur band built for that job, and you can add new subtitles over it in the same render. The guide to hiding burned-in subtitles explains why they can be blurred or covered but not truly erased.

Other ways to hide an area

• If the unwanted area is at the edge, cropping the video removes it completely instead of blurring it.
• If the sensitive part is a short section, trimming the video may be cleaner than blurring.
• If the problem is what people say rather than what they show, mute the video or replace the sound.
• A blurred area belongs to someone's footage: only remove a logo or watermark from video you have the right to edit.

For context on what staying on your device does and doesn't protect, see on-device video privacy.