iPhone guide · Checked for iOS 27
How to Remove the Background From a Picture on iPhone
You can remove the background from a picture on iPhone without installing anything: touch and hold the subject in Photos and it lifts away from what is behind it. Here are the steps, which iOS versions support each method, and how to end up with a transparent file.
Which iPhones and iOS versions can do it
Apple added the feature, which it calls lifting a subject from the background, in iOS 16. The release notes list iPhone XS, XS Max, XR and later. Later versions added more ways to use it:
| Method | First documented in | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lift a subject in Photos | iOS 16 | Video frames and several subjects at once came in iOS 17 |
| Stickers from a photo | iOS 17 | Live Photos become animated stickers |
| Copy Subject label | iOS 18 | Earlier versions show only Copy |
| Remove Background in Preview | iOS 26 | Preview arrived on iPhone with iOS 26 |
| Remove Background in Freeform | iOS 17 guide | Apple does not say which release added it |
Apple's current guide no longer lists models for this feature. Any iPhone new enough to run iOS 27, which means iPhone 11 or later and the second and third generation iPhone SE, is newer than the XS and XR cut-off.
A subject does not have to be a person or a pet. Apple's developer material names a building, a plate of food and a pair of shoes as examples.
How to remove the background on iPhone in Photos
1. Open the photo in full screen
Open the Photos app and tap a picture so it fills the screen. On iOS 17 and later you can also pause a video on any frame and lift the subject from that.
2. Touch and hold the subject
Keep your finger on the person, animal or object. After a moment an outline runs around it, which means iOS has separated it from the background.
3. Choose what to do with it
A menu appears. Tap Copy (Copy Subject on iOS 18 and later) and paste the result into an email, message or note. Or keep holding, open another app with a second finger and drag the subject straight into a document. Add Sticker saves it to your stickers, and Share sends it by AirDrop, Messages or Mail.
The same touch-and-hold gesture works in Safari and Quick Look, according to Apple, although it does not publish separate steps for them.
Saving the cutout as a transparent PNG
Photos is quick for pasting a cutout into a message, but Apple does not say what file format the copied or shared subject becomes. If you need a real file with a transparent background, the Preview app is the route Apple documents on iOS 27:
- Open the image in Preview.
- Tap the More button, then Remove Background. This option appears only when Preview detects a subject such as a person, animal or object.
- Tap the Actions menu next to the file name and choose Export.
- Pick PNG, HEIC or TIFF and leave Alpha turned on to keep the transparency. JPEG has no Alpha option.
- Choose where to save it, rename it if you like, and tap Save.
Preview also exists on iOS 26 with the same Remove Background command, but the iOS 26 guide does not mention the Alpha setting on export.
Freeform has its own version: select a photo on a board, tap Modify Image, then Remove Background. If Freeform cannot make that photo's background transparent, the option is simply missing.
Turning the cutout into a sticker
Since iOS 17 you can keep a subject as a sticker. In Photos, open the picture, touch and hold the subject, let go, and tap Add Sticker. On iOS 27 you can then tap Add Effect for a look such as Outline or Comic. Live Photos turn into animated stickers.
Stickers show up in the stickers menu, which you reach from the onscreen keyboard or the Markup tools, and they sync through iCloud to an iPad, Mac or Apple Vision Pro signed in to the same Apple Account.
When the subject will not lift
Apple documents only a few limits. Preview hides Remove Background when it finds no subject, and Freeform hides it when the background cannot be made transparent. In practice that means a landscape, a flat document or a crowded scene may give iOS nothing to separate.
The Photos steps also include no brush for fixing the outline, and you do not choose which object counts as the subject. If iOS picks the wrong one, or trims part of it, the built-in route has no way to correct it.
To blur what is behind a person instead of removing it, see our separate tutorial on Portrait mode and depth.
Erase background from Safari instead
If you need a full-size PNG file, or you want the subject on a white or coloured background rather than a transparent one, CutoutBG AI works in Safari on the phone. Open the site, tap the upload box and pick a JPG, PNG or WebP picture. You get a PNG back at the size you uploaded, with no watermark.
Guests get three images a day, and signing in raises it to ten a day at no cost. CutoutBG AI can also place the cutout on white for product or profile shots.
FAQ
How to remove background from picture on iPhone
Open the picture in Photos, touch and hold the subject until an outline appears, then tap Copy or Copy Subject, Add Sticker or Share. It needs iOS 16 or later on an iPhone XS, XR or newer.
How to delete background on iPhone
iOS does not delete the background from the original photo. It lifts the subject out as a copy, a sticker, or, in Preview on iOS 26 and later, an edited image you can export. Your original picture stays as it was.
How to cut out an image on iPhone
Touch and hold the subject in Photos, Safari or Quick Look, then drag it with a second finger into another app, or copy it and paste it. For a saved file, use Preview's Remove Background and export it as PNG.
Can I save the cutout as a PNG on iPhone?
Yes, on iOS 27 with Preview. Remove the background, choose Export from the Actions menu, pick PNG and leave Alpha on. Apple does not document the file format of a subject copied from Photos.
Why can't I lift the subject from my photo?
Check that the phone runs iOS 16 or later and is an iPhone XS, XR or newer. Then check the photo itself: iOS needs a clear foreground subject, and some pictures, such as landscapes or documents, do not have one.
Need the cutout as a real file?
Upload the photo from Safari and download a full-size transparent PNG, or put it on white in the same step.
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