How to Blur a Video on iPhone (Free, No App Needed)

The iPhone Photos app has no blur tool for video: its editor only offers Video, Adjust, Filters and Crop. Here is the free fix: blur faces automatically, or box a license plate, in Safari with pixelate.video, then save the blurred copy back to Photos. Nothing is uploaded.

Written guide How to blur a video on iPhone Blur or pixelate in Safari, then save to Photos. Read the guide →

Key moments

1. 1 Introduction , starts at 0:00
2. 2 Photos has no blur tool , starts at 0:05
3. 3 Open your video in Safari , starts at 0:20
4. 4 Blur the faces , starts at 0:33
5. 5 Or draw a box , starts at 0:49
6. 6 Save it to Photos , starts at 0:58
7. 7 Recap , starts at 1:21

Transcript

Introduction 0:00

1. 0:00 iPhone Photos can't blur part of a video.
2. 0:03 Here's what to do instead.

Photos has no blur tool 0:05

1. 0:05 Open your video in Photos and tap Edit.
2. 0:08 You get just four tools: Video, Adjust, Filters and Crop.
3. 0:13 The More menu has no blur, and no Markup for video either.
4. 0:17 So Photos can't hide a face or a license plate.

Open your video in Safari 0:20

1. 0:21 Instead, open pixelate.video in Safari, and tap Choose video.
2. 0:25 Then tap Photo Library.
3. 0:28 Tap your video, then tap the check mark.
4. 0:30 It opens straight away, and nothing is uploaded.

Blur the faces 0:33

1. 0:34 Under What do you want to hide, tap Faces.
2. 0:36 It scans the video on your iPhone and puts a moving oval over each face.
3. 0:42 Then, under Look, tap Blur.
4. 0:44 Drag Blur strength up until no one can be recognized.

Or draw a box 0:49

1. 0:49 To hide a license plate instead, tap Part of the video.
2. 0:53 Drag the box onto the plate with your finger.
3. 0:55 To add another box, drag on the video.

Save it to Photos 0:58

1. 0:59 Tap Export video, and keep the tab open while it works.
2. 1:02 When your video is ready, tap Share or save to Photos.
3. 1:07 In the share sheet, tap Save Video.
4. 1:09 The blurred copy appears in your Photos library, next to the original.
5. 1:14 Play it back, and both faces stay blurred from start to finish.

Recap 1:21

1. 1:22 Here's the recap.
2. 1:23 Open your video in Safari.
3. 1:25 Tap Faces, or Part of the video, then choose Blur.
4. 1:28 Export it, and save it to Photos.
5. 1:31 Blur your next video free at pixelate.video.