Whether you need to remove the background of an image for a creative project, a fun sticker, or to isolate a subject, there are some great mobile apps that let you quickly remove the background from your image.
iPhone Sticker Maker (Free, iOS Only)
If you use an iPhone, you probably already know this trick. The iPhone Sticker Maker lets you isolate the subject of a photo with just one long hold. It’s a free and native tool for any iPhone running iOS 17 and above.
To isolate your subject from its background, go to your Photos library and find an image that has a clear subject. Photos that have a lot going on in the foreground or around your subject may not work as successfully. Press and hold the subject of the image until a white glow appears around its edge. You can then choose to copy or share the isolated subject.
You can paste your subject as a sticker in your Notes app, turn it into an emoji in your messaging or social apps, or paste it into a creative project using any photo editing app like Canva. You can also save it as a new photo with a transparent background.
Canva (Pro and Free)
Although Canva is a free photo editing app, the background removal tool is one of its premium features and is only available to Canva Pro users or anyone with a free trial. There are Canva apps available that also offer background removal, such as the Background Eraser, Clear Background, and Replace Background apps, which are all free for Canva users.
Canva’s background remover works the same on mobile as it does on desktop. Once you’ve uploaded your image and opened it on the canvas, select it and then choose Effects in the bottom menu. Pro users will see Background Remover as one of the options—free users won’t see the option—selecting it will open the Refinement page to tighten the selection and remove the background.
If you don’t pay for Canva, the Background Eraser app in the Canva apps is a great option. Select the Apps icon and open Background Eraser. Upload your image and select Remove Background. Once loaded, you can add your isolated subject image to a Canva canvas project.
Hypic (Free)
The Hypic photo editing app is from the same people who created CapCut and TikTok—Bytedance—and it offers in-app integration for CapCut. It allows you to edit your photos or send it back to CapCut to remove the background and add it as a video element.
Hypic has plenty of free tools, including a background eraser or subject cutout feature. Just open your image and scroll down to Cutout in the menu below.
The cutout options are Auto, Quick Select, Manual Select, Eraser, and Reset. You can change the brush size for Manual or Quick Select, color everything you want to cut out from the background green.
Auto Select is reliable and fast, and you can edit the select if you need to fine-tune the edges. It’s not the tightest select in the world, but for most uses it will be fine. Tap the tick to confirm the select, and you’ll be rewarded with your subject on a transparent background.
Adobe Express (Premium)
Adobe Express has many free tools, but the Background Removal tool is one of its premium features. If you subscribe to an Adobe All Apps Creative Cloud plan, you’ll get access to Adobe Express Premium—you can also upgrade to a Premium plan if you’re not an Adobe subscriber.
Upload and select your image, and on the Tools menu below, tap Remove Background. If you want to remove other parts of your image instead of the background, choose Remove Object to use one of the Adobe Firefly AI tools in Express.
The background removal feature is fast and will isolate your subject on a plain white background. You can use another Express tool or convert your isolated subject into an asset to send to other Adobe software.
For a transparent background after you remove the image’s background, choose Background from the bottom menu and turn off Fill (the swatch with the red line). You can save your image as a PNG to keep the transparent background.