How to remove your ex from a photo for your dating profile

To turn a photo with your ex into a solo picture for your dating profile, upload it to Remove Your Ex and describe who should go. You don’t brush or outline them, and you download a photo of just you. Some of your best photos from the last few years probably have your ex in them, and that’s no reason to leave them in a folder.

You’re not the only one. In an OkCupid survey of over 185,000 users, 50 percent of millennials and 54 percent of Gen Z said they have photos they’d like to erase their ex from.

Before

After AI-edited

Why cropping your ex out often falls short

Cropping is free and quick to try, and sometimes it works. Often it doesn’t, for a few reasons:

• Their arm is still there. A hand on your shoulder or an arm around your waist stays in the crop, and people notice.
• You end up off-center. In a couple photo you’re usually on one side of the frame, so a crop leaves you pressed against the edge.
• The crop gets too tight. Cutting close enough to lose your ex can cut off the view, your shoulders, or the top of your head, and the photo stops looking like the moment it was.

Removing your ex instead keeps the whole frame. The background where they stood is filled in, so you stay where you were, with the view behind you.

Which photos make the best solo picture

Some photos turn into a solo picture more cleanly than others. Look for ones where:

• You’re facing the camera. Your face is the point of a profile photo.
• There’s little overlap. The less your ex covers you, or touches you, the less has to be rebuilt around you.
• The light is good. A clear, well-lit photo of you is a good start for any profile.
• It’s recent. A profile photo should still look like you, so favor photos from the last year or two.

Describe who goes, then check the edges

Describe your ex by position and clothing, for example “the person on the right in the white shirt”. There’s no brush or mask to draw.

When the edit is ready, look closely where you and your ex were touching: your hair, your hands, and your shoulders. That’s where an edit is most likely to need another try. If something looks off, the second edit is free, and each photo uses 1 credit including that second edit.

For more on each case, see how to remove your ex-boyfriend from a photo, how to remove your ex-girlfriend from a photo, or the overview of how to remove your ex from a photo, including the free tools on your phone.