How to Remove a Photo Background on iPhone and Android (and When Not To)

On a supported iPhone, open the photo, touch and hold the subject until it is outlined, and tap Copy, Add Sticker or Share. On Android, press and hold the subject in Google Photos, or in Samsung's Gallery app, and copy it or save it as a sticker. Those built-in tools are free, fast and good for a sticker or a quick paste into a chat.

They have limits. Older phones lack them, and the official help pages do not describe a transparent PNG file, a chosen background color, or edge touch-up. This guide covers each built-in tool as the manufacturer documents it, what is not stated, and when an online tool is the better choice.

The short version

Use the built-in tool when the result is going straight into a message, a note or a chat as a sticker. Use an online remover when you need a file: a transparent PNG, a white background for a listing, a print-size image, or a cleaner edge. Both are free, so you can try the built-in tool first and move online if it does not give you what you need.

iPhone: lift a subject from the background

Apple calls this a photo cutout, and the lift-subject behavior is part of Visual Look Up. Apple's iOS 16 update notes describe it as "Lift subject from background isolates the subject of an image so you can copy and paste it into apps like Mail and Messages", listed for iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later. Apple's support article Create and share photo cutouts on your iPhone repeats the requirement: "Photo cutouts are available in iOS 16 and later on iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later."

Apple's pages name models, not chips. You may see an A12 chip requirement quoted elsewhere, but neither Apple page we read states one. The model list is the safe test.

Steps

1. Open the photo in the Photos app. Apple says you can also use the feature in apps like Messages and Safari, and its iPhone User Guide entry lists Photos, Safari, Quick Look "and more". Apple does not name the Files app on those pages.
2. Touch and hold the subject. Apple says a shiny white outline might appear.
3. Let go to see the options. In Photos these include Copy, Add Sticker and Share. In Safari the option is Copy Subject.
4. Pick what you want:
   • Copy, then paste into an email, text message or note.
   • Add Sticker, then save the sticker to use in Markup, Messages and more.
   • Share, then choose AirDrop, Mail or another sharing option.

The current version of Apple's guide also says you can pause a video on any frame and lift a subject from it. You can drag the subject into a document in another app by holding it and opening that app with a second finger.

What Apple does not say

Apple's pages do not state the resolution of the lifted subject, and they do not say it is saved as a PNG file or any other file type. They describe copying, sharing and stickers. If you need to know the pixel size, test it yourself: paste the subject somewhere, save it and check the file's dimensions.

The photo-cutouts article also says: "Subjects cannot be pasted onto another photo." Apple does not explain what that covers, so read it as a reason to test your exact workflow before you rely on it.

Stickers on iPhone

Apple's guide Make stickers from your photos says to tap a photo to open it in full screen, touch and hold the subject, release, and tap Add Sticker. The sticker appears in your stickers menu, which you reach from the onscreen keyboard or the Markup tools, and you can add an effect such as Outline or Comic. Apple says stickers sync with iCloud. Stickers are made for messages, photos and notes. Apple does not describe them as an image file you can hand to a printer.

If lift subject is not working

Apple publishes no troubleshooting list for this, so the checks below are ordinary logic, not Apple guidance:

• Check the model and iOS version first. Below iPhone XS or XR, or below iOS 16, Apple does not list the feature.
• Hold on the subject, not the empty background. If no outline appears, the system did not find a subject there.
• Try a photo with a clearer subject. A dark subject on a dark background gives any cutout tool less to work with.
• Update iOS and try again. The current guide describes steps that differ from the iOS 16 version, such as opening the photo in full screen.

If your phone is below the model list, there is no setting that adds the feature. That is the clearest case for an online tool.

Android: Google Photos stickers

Google's help page Create stickers from your photos says Google Photos uses "advanced segmentation and object recognition" to identify standout subjects and turn them into shareable stickers. The eligibility lines differ by platform:

• Android: "most Android devices with the latest update and at least 4 GB RAM."
• iPhone and iPad: iOS version 17 or up.
• Computers: "This feature isn't available on computers."

On Android the steps are short:

1. Open the Google Photos app and select a photo.
2. A shimmer effect outlines the subject you can turn into a sticker.
3. Press and hold the subject.
4. Tap Copy or Share.

Google adds a tip: you can paste or share stickers directly into apps like WhatsApp, Instagram and Messages. It also says: "For best results, choose photos with a subject that's clearly defined in the foreground. Stickers can't be modified at this time."

That last sentence matters. If the subject comes out with a missing hand or a chunk of background, Google's page offers no way to fix it. On iPhone, the Google Photos version saves each sticker to a sticker sheet under Collections, and Google says a deleted sticker cannot be recovered.

Google's page does not state the output resolution or file type, either.

Pixel and Magic Editor

Google's editing help page says most Photos editing features need at least 3 GB RAM and Android 8.0 or later, that other features may need 4 GB or 6 GB RAM, and that some features are only available on Pixel. We did not find a Google help page that documents a Magic Editor cutout export, so we do not describe one here. If you own a Pixel, look in the Edit screen and the Pixel features page for what your model has.

Samsung Galaxy: Gallery stickers

Samsung's support article Create custom stickers on Galaxy phones and tablets describes the same touch-and-hold idea:

1. Open the Gallery app and select the picture.
2. Touch and hold a subject to include it in the sticker, then tap Save as sticker.
3. Choose a sticker style from the options and tap Done.

You then find the sticker from the Samsung keyboard's custom stickers icon, or add it to another picture through the editor's Decorations menu. Samsung notes that "Available features, settings, and menu options may vary by device and software version." The page does not list which models or One UI versions support it.

Two other Samsung tools come up in searches, and neither is a background remover:

• Object eraser removes objects or people from a picture. Samsung Australia's Object Eraser guide walks through selecting an area and tapping Erase. It is for taking things out of a photo, not for lifting a subject from it.
• Lasso is listed in Samsung's photo editing guide: you draw around the area you want to keep. That page does not say what happens to the rest of the picture, so we do not claim it produces a transparent background.

We found no Samsung page documenting a "copy subject" action in Gallery, so we mark that as not stated.

Built-in versus an online tool

Here is how the three routes compare. Where the manufacturer's page is silent, the table says "Not stated" rather than guessing.

This is a comparison of what the official pages document, not a test of how well each cutout comes out. We have not measured edge quality, and it varies with the photo.

When an online tool is the better choice

The built-in tools win on speed and convenience. An online tool is the better choice in these situations:

• Your phone is too old. Apple lists XS, XR and later on iOS 16 or later. Google lists at least 4 GB RAM. If you are below those, a browser-based remover is the practical route.
• You need a transparent PNG file. A cutout in a message is not the same as a file you can attach to a design or a store listing. Our guide to transparent PNG files explains why the format matters, and the transparent background maker does the job directly.
• You need a white or colored background. Marketplaces often want pure white. WipeMark lets you pick a background color after the cutout and download PNG, JPG or WebP.
• You need to fix the edge. Hair, glass and shadows are where cutouts go wrong. WipeMark has a touch-up brush; Google says its stickers cannot be modified.
• You need full size. Apple and Google do not document the output resolution. WipeMark downloads the cutout at full size, for photos up to 25 megapixels.
• You are working on a desktop. The Apple guide covers iPhone, and Google says the sticker feature is not available on computers.
• You want a WhatsApp sticker pack. Our WhatsApp sticker maker is built for that format.

And these are the cases where the built-in tool is enough: sending a friend a cutout of your dog, making a sticker for a chat, or pasting a subject into a note. You do not need to open a browser for those.

The picker above encodes only the model and version facts quoted in this article. It cannot test your photo, so treat its answer as a starting point.

Using WipeMark on a phone

WipeMark works in a mobile browser, so you do not install anything. iPhone photos are often saved as HEIC, and WipeMark accepts HEIC directly along with JPG, PNG and WebP. Here is the process:

1. Open wipemark.pro in Safari or Chrome on your phone.
2. Pick the photo from your library. Choose the original, not a screenshot or a copy from a chat app.
3. Wait for the cutout. A photo takes roughly 10 to 15 seconds.
4. Zoom in on the edges. If anything is wrong, use the touch-up brush to restore or erase.
5. Pick a background: transparent, or a solid color such as white.
6. Download as PNG, JPG or WebP. Use PNG or WebP for transparency, since JPG fills the background with a solid color.

The files are not free of tradeoffs. Photos are limited to 25 megapixels, which covers typical phone photos, and an online tool needs a connection. On privacy, WipeMark states: "A small copy is processed on our server, then deleted. Nothing is stored." If that does not suit a particular photo, use the built-in tool for it.

For the full workflow including hair, glass and shadows, see our complete background removal guide.

A practical routine

You do not have to pick one tool forever. A routine that covers most cases:

1. Sticker or chat: touch and hold the subject in Photos, Google Photos or Gallery.
2. If no outline appears, or the cutout is missing part of the subject, take it online instead of retrying many times.
3. If you need a file, whether a transparent PNG, a white background or a large export, start online.
4. Keep the original photo. Every route above works better from the original than from a screenshot or a messaging-app copy.

The main difference is control. The built-in tools make a decision for you and hand back a sticker. An online tool lets you check the edges, choose the background and download a file.

What we could not verify

For transparency, here is what the manufacturers' pages leave open, as of October 2026:

• Apple: the output resolution, the file type of a lifted subject, and the chip requirement. Apple lists models and iOS versions only.
• Google: the output resolution and file type of a Photos sticker, and any Magic Editor cutout export.
• Samsung: the supported models and One UI versions for Save as sticker, and any copy-subject action.

If you rely on one of those details, test it on your own phone before building a workflow around it.