How to remove a person from a photo without Photoshop

Photoshop can remove a person from a photo, but it costs money and takes practice. If you don't already use it, there are faster options: free phone erasers, online tools, and AI-based apps that let you describe who should go instead of brushing around them.

Before

After AI-edited

Free phone erasers

The quickest way to remove a person without Photoshop is the eraser already on your phone. All three major platforms have one built in.

iPhone Clean Up

Clean Up is part of Apple Intelligence in the Photos app. Open a photo, tap Edit, then Tools, then Clean Up. Tap, brush, or circle the person you want gone, and the app fills in the background. You need a supported device—iPhone 16, iPhone 15 Pro, or certain iPads—running iOS 18.1 or later.

Google Photos Magic Eraser

Magic Eraser is in the Google Photos app on both Android and iPhone. Open a photo, tap Edit, then find Magic Eraser under Tools (iPhone) or Actions (Android). Circle or brush over the person, tap Erase, then Save. Most editing features need at least 3 GB of RAM and Android 8.0 or later.

Samsung Object Eraser

Galaxy phones have Object Eraser in the Gallery app. Open a photo, tap the pencil icon to edit, tap the three-dot menu, and choose Object Eraser. Highlight the person, tap Erase, and save.

Why phone erasers struggle with people

Clean Up, Magic Eraser, and Object Eraser are designed for distractions: a stranger walking past, a power line, a stray arm at the edge of the frame. They do well when the person is small, separate, and off to one side.

When the person you want removed is standing right next to you—shoulder to shoulder, arm around you, head leaning against yours—these tools struggle. Here's why:

• Arms on shoulders. You have to brush around overlapping limbs carefully. The tool doesn't know whose arm is whose, and the fill can blur the boundary.
• Shared shadows. When two people stand close, their shadows merge. Removing one person means the tool has to invent a new shadow for the person who stays.
• Overlap. If part of the person you're keeping is behind the person you're removing, the tool has to guess what that hidden part looks like.
• Large area to fill. The bigger the person, the more background the tool has to generate. With less context to work from, edges often look smudged or warped.

None of this makes the free tools bad. For a small figure at the edge, try them first. But for the person beside you, expect to make several attempts or look for a different tool.

Online alternatives

If your phone doesn't have a built-in eraser, or you prefer working in a browser, there are online options:

• Photopea: A free, browser-based editor that works like Photoshop. It has a learning curve, but it's capable and runs on any computer.
• Online erasers (Picsart and similar): Most let you brush over what you want removed. Free tiers often have limits or watermarks. Check the privacy policy before uploading personal photos.

Describe-to-remove with Remove Your Ex

Remove Your Ex takes a different approach. Instead of brushing, you describe who should go in your own words—"the man on the left in the blue shirt," for example. The AI figures out who you mean and removes them.

This helps with the cases where phone erasers struggle. Instead of drawing carefully around an arm on your shoulder, you say "the man with his arm around me." The AI understands the description and handles the overlap.

It's not perfect. Close couple selfies and heads touching are still the hardest cases for any tool. But describing beats brushing when the free tools leave smudges. You can upload up to 10 photos at a time, in JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, or HEIC, up to 20 MB each.

Each photo costs 1 credit and includes a free second edit. Credits cost $2.99 for 1 photo, $4.99 for 5 (the Starter Pack), $9.99 for 15, or $24.99 for 50. There's no subscription—buy once and credits never expire. Failed edits return the credit automatically. See the pricing page for details.

Your photos are stored privately and deleted automatically after 90 days. You can delete them sooner from My photos. Google doesn't use them to train its models.

Tips for a clean result without Photoshop

• Try the free tool first. If the person is small or at the edge, Clean Up, Magic Eraser, or Object Eraser may be all you need.
• Start with a high-resolution photo. More pixels give the AI more to work with when filling the space.
• Be specific when describing. "The woman in the red dress on the right" is easier for Remove Your Ex to understand than "her."
• Check at full size. Zoom in on the edges where the person was. If something looks off, use the free second edit with a clearer description.

Which tool fits your photo?

• Small figure in the background: phone eraser.
• Need desktop control but no subscription: Photopea or GIMP.
• Person beside you, overlapping, or hard to brush around: describe-to-remove with Remove Your Ex.

More on how tools compare in the best app to remove a person from a photo. For iPhone specifics, see how to remove your ex from photos on iPhone.