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Remove an object from a photo on iPhone

A single golden leaf rests beside a sunlit stone path in a quiet forest.

The short answer

On an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, open the photo in Photos, tap Edit, tap Tools, then tap Clean Up and tap, brush, or circle what you want gone. If Clean Up isn’t available on your iPhone or in your language, you can cover the object with a blur box instead of removing it.

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How to do it

  1. Open the photo and Edit

    In the Photos app, open the photo, then tap the Edit button.

  2. Choose Clean Up

    Tap Tools, then tap Clean Up. Some items may be highlighted automatically so you can tap to remove them.

  3. Tap, brush, or circle

    Tap, brush, or circle what you want to remove. Pinch, zoom, or pan with two fingers to be precise.

  4. Fix a mistake

    Tap the undo button if you want to restore something you removed. If you use High Quality processing, tap Clean Up to apply the change.

  5. Save, or reset later

    Tap Done to save and close the photo. After saving, you can undo Clean Up by opening Edit, then Tools, then Clean Up, and tapping Reset.

What does Clean Up need?

Apple’s guide says Clean Up uses Apple Intelligence. On iOS 27 or later it is available on an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 16 model or later, and Apple Intelligence isn’t available in all languages or regions (Apple: Clean up, extend, and reframe photos on iPhone, iOS 27 edition). Apple also points to a separate article for Clean Up’s requirements, since it isn’t available everywhere.

Can I choose how it works?

Yes. You can choose the processing type Photos uses for Clean Up: Auto, Fast, or High Quality. Tap Auto during the Clean Up process, then choose an option.

What if my iPhone doesn’t have Clean Up?

Removing an object means the iPhone has to fill in what was behind it, and Apple’s guide describes that only for Clean Up. Without it, the practical choices are to crop the object out (how to crop a photo), or to hide it. To hide a name, face, or plate rather than rebuild the background, PicWay’s Blur out box covers the area, and you choose Blur or Pixelate. That hides the object; it doesn’t remove it. See hide personal info in screenshots for the steps.

What to watch for

Check the result by zooming in. Apple notes that from iOS 27.2, most images created or edited with Apple Intelligence tools include a hidden SynthID watermark that helps identify whether an image was generated or modified with generative tools.