# Blur Faces & Text — Blur faces and number plates in photos on Mac

Automatically hide faces, number plates, names and screens before sharing. Part of OneMacTools, 151 private tools in one native Mac app (macOS 26 or later); category: Images. Runs on your Mac; nothing is uploaded.

Faces are found with Apple's Vision framework, and text such as number plates, names and screens can be found too. Hide them with a soft blur, pixelation or a solid box.

Page: https://www.onemactools.com/tools/blur-faces · Download: https://www.onemactools.com/download · Pricing: https://www.onemactools.com/pricing

## How to use it
1. **Drop your photos.** Add the photos you want to share. Every face and, if you choose, every piece of text in them is found automatically.
2. **Choose what to hide.** Faces are on by default. Turn on Text & number plates to also hide car plates, name badges, signs and screens.
3. **Choose the style.** Blur, Pixelate or Black box, and set the strength.
4. **Click Blur.** Each photo is saved with “blurred” in its name, and you see how many faces and text areas were hidden.
5. **Check before you share.** The copies are saved in a new dated folder in Downloads › OneMacTools. Open each one with the Preview (eye) button to make sure nothing was missed. Your originals are untouched.

## Options
- **Faces:** On by default. Finds every face with Apple's Vision framework and covers it with a soft-edged oval that also takes in the hair and chin.
- **Text & number plates:** Off by default. Finds every piece of readable text, including number plates, name badges, signs and screens, and covers it with a rectangle.
- **Style:** Blur gives a soft, natural look. Pixelate gives the familiar mosaic. Black box covers each area completely.
- **Strength:** From 1 to 10, 6 by default. How heavy the blur or how large the pixels are. It scales with the photo's size and doesn't apply to Black box.
- **Also hide these areas:** Drag on the photo in the window to draw a box over anything detection missed, such as a name badge or a screen. Draw as many as you need; select a box to move or resize it, and press Delete or click its × to remove it. Boxes are hidden in the same style as the rest.

## Tips
- Use Black box or a strength of 8–10 when it really matters. A light blur on a small face can still be recognisable.
- Always check the results. Faces in profile, in shadow, very small or partly hidden can be missed.
- Text & number plates covers all text in the photo, including signs you may want to keep. To hide only emails, numbers or names, use Redact Images.
- Blurred copies keep the original's hidden details. Run them through Remove Metadata as well if location matters.

## Questions
**How do I blur faces in a photo on a Mac?**
Drop the photo onto Blur Faces & Text, leave Faces on, choose Blur, Pixelate or Black box and click Blur. Every face it finds is hidden automatically.

**How do I blur a number plate?**
Turn on Text & number plates. Plates are read as text, so each one is found and covered.

**Can blurred faces be un-blurred?**
The blur is drawn into the picture, so the original detail isn't in the copy. A light blur on a large face can still hint at who it is, so use a high strength or Black box for anything sensitive.

**Can I blur faces in a whole batch of photos?**
Yes. Drop them all, such as event or school photos, and every face in every photo is hidden.

**Why was a face missed?**
Very small, side-on, blurry or partly covered faces can be hard to detect. Check each result, and for anything missed, crop or retake the photo.

**What's the difference between Blur Faces & Text and Redact Images?**
Blur Faces & Text hides every face and all text it finds. Redact Images reads the text and covers only emails, phone numbers, card numbers and words you choose.

**What if it misses something?**
Draw a box over it. Drag on the photo in the window to add as many boxes as you like; they're blurred, pixelated or blacked out along with the faces and text it finds.