To remove the background from an image in Word, select the picture and choose Picture Format > Remove Background. Word shades the parts it plans to delete in magenta. Fix any mistakes with Mark Areas to Keep or Mark Areas to Remove, then select Keep Changes. This works in desktop Word for Windows and Mac; Word for the web doesn’t have the tool.
This removes the background behind the subject of a photo. If you want to change the color of the document page itself, that’s a different setting, covered at the end.
Remove a picture background step by step
- Add the photo with Insert > Pictures, or click a picture that’s already in the document.
- Select the Picture Format tab. It only appears while a picture is selected, so click or double-click the image if you can’t see it.
- Choose Remove Background at the far left of the ribbon. Word opens the Background Removal tab and colors the area it plans to remove in magenta. Everything that keeps its normal color will stay.
- If Word marked part of your subject for removal, choose Mark Areas to Keep and draw over that part with the pencil.
- If some background is still showing, choose Mark Areas to Remove and draw over it.
- Select Keep Changes. The magenta areas disappear and become transparent.
Changed your mind? Choose Discard All Changes on the Background Removal tab before you keep the result, or press Ctrl+Z right after.
Get cleaner edges with Keep and Remove marks
Word guesses the subject from contrast, so it does best with a clear subject against a plain background. Hair, fur, glass, shadows, and busy backgrounds usually need touch-ups.
- Zoom in on the document before marking, so your lines land where you mean them to.
- Draw short strokes across the area rather than tracing its outline. Word uses each stroke as a hint and recalculates the edge.
- Work in small passes. Mark one region, check the preview, then mark the next.
- If a stroke makes things worse, undo it with Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on a Mac) and try a shorter one.
After you select Keep Changes, check the edges against a contrasting color. A quick way is to set a temporary page color, then look closely around fine lines, holes, and shadows. To adjust again, select the picture and choose Remove Background again and add more marks. If repeated passes keep cutting into the subject, edit the photo in a dedicated image editor and replace the picture in Word, rather than hiding the mistake under a white shape.
Use Set Transparent Color for a solid background
Remove Background tries to separate a subject from everything around it. When the image has one flat background color, such as a logo on pure white, Set Transparent Color can be faster:
- Select the picture.
- Choose Picture Format > Color > Set Transparent Color.
- Click the background color in the image. Every pixel of that exact color becomes transparent.
It makes only one color transparent. It can leave a faint fringe around smooth edges and miss shades that are slightly different, so it’s best for simple graphics rather than photos.
Making the whole picture see-through is a different effect again: Picture Format > Transparency fades the subject along with the background. Microsoft explains that option in Make a picture transparent.
Place the edited picture in your document
Once the background is gone, text can sit closer to the subject. Select the picture, choose Layout Options (or Picture Format > Wrap Text), and try Tight or In Front of Text. Check the result at the size you’ll print or share, since small gaps in the edge are easier to spot at full size. You can also add a caption or label on top; see our guide to adding text on an image in Word.
Save or reuse the image with a transparent background
- Right-click the edited picture and choose Save as Picture.
- In Save as type, choose PNG. PNG keeps the removed areas transparent.
- Name the file and select Save.
Avoid JPEG for this. JPEG doesn’t support transparency, so the removed background is filled in with a solid color. Open the saved file in the app where you’ll use it to confirm it looks right, and keep your original photo as a backup.
Remove Background on a Mac and on the web
Word for Mac: Select the picture, open the Picture Format tab, and choose Remove Background. The marking tools and Keep Changes work the same way as on Windows.
Word for the web: Microsoft says Word for the web can’t make parts of a picture transparent. Open the document in desktop Word for this edit, save it, then check how it looks online.
Work on several pictures or start over
Remove Background works on one picture at a time. If several images need it, select each one and repeat the steps.
To undo the whole edit later, select the picture and choose Picture Format > Reset Picture. Word restores the original image, background included. Other adjustments you made to the picture, such as color changes, are reset too.
When Remove Background is grayed out or missing
- You selected the wrong thing. Make sure you clicked an inserted picture, not a shape, a text box, or the page background.
- The image is a vector graphic. Microsoft notes the tool doesn’t work on vector formats such as SVG, AI, WMF, and DRW. Edit those in a graphics app, or insert a PNG or JPEG copy instead.
- You’re in Word for the web. Switch to the desktop app.
For other picture edits such as cropping, color, and effects, see our guide to editing a picture in Word. If your goal is to remove a page color rather than the background of a photo, use our Word page-color guide.
Microsoft’s guide to removing a picture background documents the same tools for other Office apps.
Matt has been writing about Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products since the days of Windows XP. He spends much of his time writing for sites like WindowBrain.com