How to Blur the Background of a Photo on iPhone

The short answer

On most recent iPhones, the built-in way to blur a photo's background is Portrait mode in the Camera app. It uses depth information to keep the subject sharp and soften what is behind it. On supported models you can change the strength of the blur, and turn the effect off, both while shooting and later in the Photos app. The main limit: this only works for photos captured with depth data. The Photos app has no general tool to add background blur to an ordinary photo, so for those you need a third-party editing app.

Feature support varies by iPhone model and iOS version. No model-by-model specifications were available for this guide. To confirm what your phone supports, check whether Portrait appears among the Camera app's modes and whether an f-number control appears when you edit a Portrait photo.

What background blur on iPhone actually is

Photographers call a softly out-of-focus background shallow depth of field. The pleasing quality of that blur is often called bokeh. Large-sensor cameras with wide-aperture lenses produce this optically. A phone camera's small sensor naturally keeps more of the scene in focus, so the iPhone mostly simulates the effect. It estimates how far each part of the scene is from the camera and then applies computed blur to the areas it judges to be background.

Two kinds of blur are involved. Optical blur comes from the lens and distance alone. Computational blur is added by software using depth data. Portrait mode relies on the computational kind. That is why the blur can be adjusted or removed after the shot.

Blurring the background while taking the photo

• Open the Camera app and swipe to Portrait mode.
• Frame your subject. Follow any on-screen prompts, such as a request to move farther away, until the camera indicates the effect is active.
• On models that support it, tap the f-number (aperture) control and drag the slider. Lower numbers give stronger blur and higher numbers give lighter blur.
• Take the photo.

Some newer iPhones can also record depth information in the standard Photo mode when they detect a person or a pet. You can then apply the Portrait effect afterwards. Whether this is available depends on your model.

Adjusting or removing the blur afterwards

• Open the photo in the Photos app and tap Edit.
• Use the f-number control to increase or reduce the background blur.
• Tap the Portrait toggle to switch the effect off entirely. The original depth-of-field version can be restored the same way.
• On some newer models, you can also change which part of the image is in focus after capture.

Photos taken without Portrait mode

An ordinary photo without depth data cannot be converted to Portrait in the Photos app. Your choices are a third-party app that selects the subject and blurs the rest, or getting more natural optical blur next time. App-based results depend on how accurately the app separates subject from background. No specific apps were evaluated for this guide.

Getting more natural blur without software

• Increase the distance between your subject and the background.
• Move the camera closer to the subject, within the lens's minimum focusing distance.
• Tap the subject on screen to set focus on it.
• Choose backgrounds with distant points of light or texture, which make blur more visible.

Common limitations of simulated blur

Because the blur is computed from estimated depth, edges are where errors usually appear. Typical trouble spots are fine hair, glasses, transparent objects, and gaps between arms or fingers. Background may stay sharp in those areas, or parts of the subject may be blurred by mistake. A lighter blur setting often makes these errors less noticeable. Low light and cluttered scenes can also make the camera's depth estimate less reliable.

Background blur in video and on calls

For video, iPhone offers Cinematic mode, which applies a similar depth-of-field effect to footage. When an iPhone is used as a webcam for a Mac through Continuity Camera, a Portrait video effect can blur the background during calls in supported apps.

Background blur affects only the picture. It does nothing to the sound. Speech quality on a call depends on which microphone is selected as the audio input and on any microphone mode in use. On Apple devices, those modes include Voice Isolation, which is designed to reduce background noise. If your goal is clearer speech rather than a cleaner-looking frame, check the audio input setting in your conferencing app separately. No measurements of iPhone microphone performance were available for this guide.