Blur text in a video

How to hide text in a video

1. 1

   Open the recording

   Drop the screen recording or video into the tool above. Long captures are easier to review if you first trim them to the part you will share.

2. 2

   Box each piece of text

   Choose Chosen areas and pause where the text is clearest. Drag a box over it with a small border, and use Add area for every other line you need hidden.

3. 3

   Set when each box shows

   Select a box, go to the frame where the text appears and press Starts here, then go to where it disappears and press Ends here. The [ and ] keys do the same.

4. 4

   Cover and export

   Choose Black box for anything sensitive. If text scrolls, select Track movement automatically. Scrub slowly around each change, then select Export video.

Why a black box is safest for text

Text survives blur better than a face does. Letters come from a small alphabet, words follow predictable patterns, and a blurred email address keeps its length and the rough shape of each character. Researchers have shown that pixelated text can sometimes be reconstructed by trying likely words and comparing how each would look after the same effect, especially when the font is known.

Black box replaces those pixels with solid black, so there is nothing left to work from. Use it for passwords, API keys, account numbers, phone numbers, home addresses and anything in a message you would not read out in public.

For less sensitive text, like a brand name on a mug, Pixelate with large blocks or a strong Blur amount gives a softer look. Check it at full screen, where small text that seemed hidden in the preview can turn legible.

Text that scrolls or moves

In a screen recording, chat threads and web pages scroll, and in phone footage the camera drifts across a sign or label. A box that stays in one place will slip off the words.

Track movement automatically handles this by matching what is inside the box from one frame to the next, searching near where it was last seen. It works in both directions from the playhead and stops if the text leaves the frame or changes too much to recognize. When that happens it names the time, so you can move the box back on and track again from there.

Rows of similar text, such as a column of near-identical chat bubbles, can look alike to the tracker. Box something distinctive, like a message together with its avatar, and check that the box does not hop to a neighboring line.

For a scroll that moves at a steady pace, Follow movement is another route. Place the box where the text starts and again where it ends, and the box glides between those two positions.

Text that only appears for a moment

Notifications, pop-ups, autocomplete suggestions and typed passwords often flash up for a second or two. Give each one its own box with start and end times, so the cover shows only while the text is there and the rest of the recording stays clean.

Start the box a little before the text arrives and end it a little after it leaves. Text often fades in or slides on, and one faint frame can be enough to read a short number.

When a whole window or page is private for a stretch, one large box over that part of the screen is simpler than covering each line.

What to look for in a screen recording

Before you share a tutorial, demo or bug report, scrub through for text like this:

• Email addresses and names in an inbox, sidebar, account menu or video call grid.
• Phone numbers, home addresses and order details in forms, receipts and delivery apps.
• Chat messages and notification banners from other people.
• Browser tabs, bookmarks and the address bar, which can reveal internal links or search history.
• Passwords, API keys, tokens and one-time codes, even when typed briefly.
• File names and folder paths that include a client's or colleague's name.

A webcam corner in the same recording can be handled by the face finder, covered in the guide to blurring faces in a video. For plates, logos and other things to hide, the guide to censoring a video has a wider checklist.