What to know

  • To remove an image’s background, open it in Paint, and click on the remove background option within the ‘Image’ section of the toolbar.
  • You can also remove a portion of the image’s background by first choosing the Rectangle form from ‘Selection’, marking out the area, and then clicking on the remove background option from the ‘Image’ section.

Not all backgrounds perfectly complement the subject of an image. Sometimes, it’s preferable to remove the background without touching the main subject so a new background can be added to it later. Up until a few months ago, one had to have quite expensive products to be able to achieve this or manually crop out the background with sub-par results.

But now, a simple tool like Windows Paint can remove an image’s background as well. Let’s take a look at how you can use Windows Paint and Windows Copilot to remove the background of an image with nothing more than a click of a button. 

Requirements

Before you can start using Windows Paint to remove an image’s background, your Windows and Paint app will need to meet the following requirements:

  • Paint version 11.2306.30.0 or higher (Check in Paint > Settings)
  • Windows Insiders builds in Canary and Dev channels (for now) 

Availability

Microsoft has already started rolling out the new Windows Paint with AI features like background removal, layers, and Cocreator preview. Those who are part of the Windows Insider Program should already see the feature available within Paint.

For everyone else, the new AI capabilities in Paint should become available from the 26th of September. It may not become available immediately and could take some time to roll out to you. If you don’t receive an update after September 26, fret not. Being a 22H2 update, it shouldn’t take too long to reach you. 

How to remove an image’s background in Paint on Windows

Being an AI-enabled Paint feature, removing the background of an image is a cinch. 

Firstly, open your image or drag and drop it in Paint.

Alternatively, right-click on your image, hover over Open with and click Paint. 

Now, under the ‘Image’ section of the toolbar, click on the background removal option. It looks like a square icon with a subject in front of a checkered background.

  

If you’re in windowed mode, click on the Image option first.

Then select the background removal option.

Almost instantaneously, the background will be removed and you’ll be left with just the subject.

Note: The checkerboard pattern highlights the transparent portions of the image, that is, without any background.

You can go ahead and save the image as you like. Press Ctrl+S to save the current image. Or click on File, select Save as, and select which format you want to save your file in.

Give it a name and location and save it.

Check out your image with its background removed. 

Besides removing the background of the entire image, you can also use the rectangle selection to remove the background of only a part of the image. To do this, firstly, click on the ‘Selection’ option. 

Choose ‘Rectangle’.

Now draw the rectangle over the area whose background you want to remove. 

Now, as before, simply click on the remove background option under ‘Image’.

And your selected area’s background will be removed.

Save your image as before and check out the final image without the background.

Alternate method: Use Windows Copilot with Snipping Tool

You can remove an image’s background in Windows by using the power of Copilot AI with the Snipping Tool. Check our guide below for this.

FAQ

Let’s consider a few commonly asked questions about removing the background from an image using Paint.

Can I use Free-form Selection to remove the background of an image on Paint?

No, you cannot use the Free-form selection to remove the background from an image. The features require well-defined borders to remove the background so it will either remove the background of the entire image or the background of the portion defined by the Rectangle selection.

What can I do with images with no background?

Once you remove the background of an image, you can add elements from other images as layers, thereby combining multiple images. All this can now be done within the Paint app itself.

When will I get the background removal feature in Paint?

Microsoft plans to start rolling out the new features from the 26th of September. However, if you have a Canary or a Dev build, the same should be available to you already.

At long last, Microsoft is bringing advanced features to its most basic tools, allowing users to fully utilize the power of AI that is being integrated into apps, and elevate the whole Windows experience a notch further. We hope this guide helped you understand how to use Paint to remove an image’s background with nothing more than a click. Until next time!