How to remove an object from a photo
Painting out an unwanted object usually beats cropping around it. Here is how to do it on your phone, and a free browser tool with no upload.
Why painting it out beats cropping
Cropping to cut out a stranger, a bin or a car in the background often ruins the framing or leaves too little of the actual subject. An inpainting tool instead paints over just that area with a plausible guess at what belongs there, based on the pixels around it, so the rest of the photo, including its framing, stays exactly as shot.
On an iPhone
The Photos app's Clean Up tool (iOS 18 and later, or Magic Eraser on older models with limited support) circles or brushes over an object and an on-device model fills it in, similar to Google's Magic Eraser. It works well for a single distinct object against a simple background and is built into every photo, no separate app needed.
On Android
Google Photos' Magic Eraser does the same job: tap suggested objects or draw around one, and it fills in the gap. On Pixel phones it runs on-device or in the cloud depending on the model; on other Android phones it usually needs a Google One subscription for full access.
On a computer, without an editor
Photoshop's Generative Fill and Lightroom's Remove tool do this well but need a Creative Cloud subscription. Free web tools like cleanup.pictures work for quick jobs but usually cap resolution or the number of free uses per day, and the photo is uploaded to their server to be processed.
Removing an object without uploading the photo
Stayput's remove object from photo tool uses MI-GAN, a small open-source inpainting model, running as WebAssembly directly in the browser tab: paint over the thing to remove and it fills in the gap on your own device, with no account, no daily limit and no upload. It is best at objects on a background that repeats, like a person on a beach or a wire across the sky; a large object in front of something unique, like a face, comes back as a plausible blur rather than the real thing underneath.
Questions
Can I remove a person from a photo for free?
Yes, with an inpainting tool such as your phone's built-in eraser or a browser-based one like Stayput's, which paints over the person with a guess at what is behind them.
Does removing an object upload my photo anywhere?
Not with a tool that runs the inpainting model in your browser or on-device on your phone. Many free web tools do upload the photo to process it, so check before using one for a private picture.
Why does the filled-in area look smudged?
The model is guessing what belongs there from the surrounding pixels, so a smooth, repeating background (sky, grass, pavement) fills in convincingly, while a busy or unique background leaves a softer, less exact patch.
Can I remove more than one object?
Yes, one at a time. Painting and erasing a smaller area at a time generally gives a cleaner result than one large stroke covering several things.