How to Cut Out Part of a Picture in PowerPoint (Microsoft 365)

To cut out part of a picture in PowerPoint, select the picture and open the Picture Format tab. Use Crop to trim straight edges, Crop > Crop to Shape to cut the picture into a circle, star or other shape, or Remove Background to keep only the subject. For an outline of your own, draw a freeform shape over the picture, select the picture and then the shape, and choose Shape Format > Merge Shapes > Intersect.

Applies to: PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac, PowerPoint 2024 and 2021 (Windows and Mac) and PowerPoint 2019 for Windows. PowerPoint for the web has some of these tools; see Mac and the web for what’s missing there. The steps follow Microsoft’s Cut out part of a picture and Crop a picture in Office help pages.

Which tool should you use?

You want to	Use	Can you undo it later?
Trim the edges, or keep a rectangle from the middle	Crop (or Crop > Aspect Ratio)	Yes, until you delete cropped areas
Show the picture inside a circle, heart, arrow or other preset shape	Crop to Shape	Yes, pick another shape any time
Keep a person or object and drop everything around it	Remove Background	Yes, with Reset Picture
Keep an irregular area you trace yourself, or punch a hole in a picture	Merge Shapes (Intersect, Subtract or Fragment)	Only with Undo, right away

If you’re not sure, start with Crop or Crop to Shape. They hide parts of the picture rather than changing it, so nothing is lost if you change your mind.

Before you start

• Find the Picture Format tab. It appears on the ribbon only while a picture is selected. If you don’t see it, click the picture once (or double-click it).
• Work on a copy. Select the picture and press Ctrl + D to duplicate it, then experiment on the copy. Pressing Ctrl + D with a slide thumbnail selected copies the whole slide instead, which is another safe way to try things, as described in duplicating a slide in PowerPoint.
• Check the picture type. Crop and Remove Background work on photos and other bitmap images (JPG, PNG and similar). Microsoft notes that vector files such as SVG icons don’t support background removal, so Remove Background is grayed out for them.

Method 1: Crop the edges

1. Click the picture.
2. Select Picture Format > Crop (the top half of the button, in the Size group). Black crop handles appear on the edges and corners.
3. Drag a side handle inward to crop one side, or a corner handle to crop two sides at once. The part being removed turns gray.
4. To crop two opposite sides evenly, hold Ctrl while you drag a side handle.
5. Drag the picture itself (not a handle) to slide it around inside the crop frame until the right part shows.
6. Press Esc, click outside the picture, or click Crop again to finish.

Dragging a handle outward adds empty space around the picture instead of removing any.

Crop to an exact proportion

For a square profile photo or a picture that fills a widescreen slide, select the arrow under Crop, choose Aspect Ratio, and pick a ratio such as 1:1, 4:3 or 16:9. A crop frame with that shape appears. Drag the picture to position it, then press Esc. If you drag a crop handle afterward, the frame stops matching the ratio, so resize with the white circular handles at the corners instead.

Method 2: Crop to a shape

1. Click the picture. To give several pictures the same shape, hold Shift and click each one.
2. Select the arrow under Crop, then point to Crop to Shape.

3. Pick a shape from the gallery, such as Oval, Rounded Rectangle, a star or an arrow. The picture changes shape immediately.
4. To change what shows inside the shape, select the arrow under Crop again and choose Fill or Fit:
   • Fill covers the whole shape. Some outer edges of the picture may be cut off.
   • Fit squeezes the whole picture into the shape. You may see empty space at the margins.
5. Drag the picture to center the important part, then press Esc.

Crop to Shape on its own turns a rectangular photo into an oval, not a circle. For a true circle, crop to Aspect Ratio > 1:1 first, then choose Crop to Shape > Oval. Word uses the same commands, which is why the steps to crop a picture into a circle in Word look almost identical.

You can also go the other way: insert a shape first with Insert > Shapes, then choose Shape Format > Shape Fill > Picture and pick your image. This is handy when several shapes must be exactly the same size.

Method 3: Remove the background

Use this to lift a person, product or animal out of its surroundings.

1. Click the picture and select Picture Format > Remove Background. A Background Removal tab opens.
2. Look at the colors. PowerPoint tints the parts it plans to remove in magenta. The parts it plans to keep show their normal colors.

3. If part of your subject is magenta, select Mark Areas to Keep and draw over it with the pencil pointer.
4. If some background still shows in normal colors, select Mark Areas to Remove and draw over it.
5. Select Keep Changes. The magenta areas become transparent, so the slide shows through.

Short strokes work better than outlining the whole subject, and zooming in (bottom-right slider) helps with hair, fur and thin edges. If the result is a mess, choose Discard All Changes on the Background Removal tab and start again. Remove Background works best when the subject clearly contrasts with what’s behind it.

Remove one solid color instead

For a logo or clip art on a plain white background, Picture Format > Color > Set Transparent Color is quicker. Click the background color and every pixel of exactly that color becomes see-through. It handles only one color per picture, and photos rarely have a truly single-color background, so use Remove Background for photos.

Method 4: Cut a custom outline with Merge Shapes

Merge Shapes lets you keep any area you can trace, such as one building in a skyline, a country on a map or one product from a group photo.

Step 1: Draw the outline

1. Select Insert > Shapes. Under Lines, choose Freeform: Shape. (For a simple rectangle or oval, pick that shape instead.)
2. Click around the area you want to keep. Each click adds a corner. Hold the mouse button and drag to draw a curve.
3. Click near your starting point to close the shape. A closed shape is required for the next steps.
4. Optional: to see the picture underneath while you adjust, select Shape Format > Shape Fill > No Fill. To fine-tune the outline, select Shape Format > Edit Shape > Edit Points and drag the black points.

Step 2: Merge the picture with the outline

Warning: the merge replaces the picture with a new object. Press Ctrl + Z right away if you don’t like the result, and duplicate the picture first if you might want the original later.

1. Click the picture first.
2. Hold Shift (or Ctrl) and click the shape. If the shape has no fill, click its outline.
3. Select Shape Format > Merge Shapes (in the Insert Shapes group) > Intersect.

Only the part of the picture inside your outline remains. Selection order matters: the object you select first generally supplies the fill, so selecting the shape first gives you a plain colored shape instead of the photo.

Other Merge Shapes options

• Subtract: removes the area where the shape overlaps the picture, so it cuts a hole. Select the picture first, then the shape.
• Fragment: splits the picture into separate pieces along the shape’s outline. Click away, then select and delete or move each piece.
• Combine: keeps both but leaves a gap where they overlap.
• Union: joins everything into one object.

Hover over each option to preview it before you click. Microsoft explains each one, with diagrams, in Draw a picture by combining and merging shapes.

Combine the tools: a subject that pops out of its frame

A popular effect has someone, say Jordan in a team photo, appearing to step out of a framed picture.

1. Select the picture and press Ctrl + D to make a copy.
2. On the first copy, use Crop or Crop to Shape to make the frame, keeping part of Jordan outside its edge.
3. On the second copy, use Remove Background so only Jordan is left.
4. Line the second copy up exactly over the first. Use Picture Format > Bring Forward if Jordan ends up behind the frame.
5. Select both and press Ctrl + G to group them so they move together.

Make the cut permanent and shrink the file

Cropping only hides parts of the picture. According to Microsoft, cropped parts “are not removed from the file, and can potentially be seen by others,” and anyone who clicks Crop can drag them back into view. If the hidden area contains anything private, such as a name, address or license plate, delete it before you share the presentation.

Warning: this can’t be reversed once you save the file.

1. Click a cropped picture and select Picture Format > Compress Pictures (in the Adjust group).
2. Check Delete cropped areas of pictures.
3. Leave Apply only to this picture checked to change just this one, or clear it to clean up every picture in the presentation.

4. Choose a Resolution if you also want to shrink the pictures, and select OK.
5. Save the presentation.

Until you save, Ctrl + Z brings the cropped areas back. The resolution settings and the “Discard editing data” option are covered in compressing pictures in PowerPoint.

Check your result and undo it

• Confirm transparency: drag the cut-out over a colored shape or a dark slide background. If you see white around the subject, the background wasn’t removed, only covered.
• Undo a crop: select the picture, click Crop, and drag the handles back out (this works until you delete cropped areas).
• Undo Remove Background or color changes: select Picture Format > Reset Picture. Choose Reset Picture & Size from its arrow to undo crops as well.
• Undo Merge Shapes: only Ctrl + Z works. If it’s too late, delete the result and insert the original picture again.

Save the cut-out as its own image

Right-click the finished picture, choose Save as Picture, and pick PNG as the file type. PNG keeps the transparent areas transparent, so you can reuse the cut-out in Word, an email signature or another presentation.

PowerPoint for Mac and PowerPoint for the web

Mac: PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac has the same tools on the Picture Format and Shape Format tabs: Crop, Crop to Shape, Aspect Ratio, Fill and Fit, Remove Background and Merge Shapes. Use Command instead of Ctrl for shortcuts such as undo (Command + Z), and hold Shift to select the picture and then the shape.

Web: Microsoft lists PowerPoint for the web for Remove Background, and you can crop pictures there. Two things are missing, though. Microsoft’s Merge Shapes page covers only the Windows and Mac apps, and Microsoft says the Compress Pictures features “aren’t available in Microsoft 365 for the web.” To use them, select Editing > Open in Desktop App, finish the job there, and save.

Troubleshooting

There’s no Picture Format tab

Nothing is selected, or you selected a placeholder or shape rather than a picture. Click the picture itself. If the picture is grouped with other objects, click it a second time to select just the picture inside the group.

Crop or Remove Background is grayed out

Crop doesn’t work on shapes (Microsoft suggests resizing them or using Edit Points), and Remove Background doesn’t work on SVG and other vector graphics. If an icon is the problem, use a PNG or JPG version of the image instead.

Merge Shapes is grayed out

You need at least two objects selected. Click the picture, then hold Shift and click the shape.

The result is a colored shape, not part of the photo

You selected the shape before the picture. Press Ctrl + Z, then select the picture first and the shape second.

Remove Background keeps removing parts of the subject

Draw short Mark Areas to Keep strokes across the missing parts, working in small sections. Busy backgrounds with colors close to the subject’s are hard for the tool; for those, Merge Shapes with a traced outline usually gives a cleaner edge.

The file is still large after cropping

The hidden areas are still stored. Run Compress Pictures with Delete cropped areas of pictures checked, then save, close and reopen the file to see the new size under File > Info.

FAQ

Is there an eraser for pictures in PowerPoint?

Not a freehand eraser like in a paint program. The closest thing is Remove Background with Mark Areas to Remove, which lets you draw over any part of the picture, not just the background, and make it transparent.

Can I cut out part of a picture and put it on another slide?

Yes. After you crop, remove the background or merge, select the result and press Ctrl + C, go to the other slide and press Ctrl + V. Crops and background removal travel with the picture, so a viewer could still restore the hidden parts unless you deleted cropped areas first.

How do I cut a hole in a picture, like a window?

Draw the hole as a shape on top of the picture, click the picture first, Shift-click the shape, and choose Merge Shapes > Subtract. Whatever is behind the picture on the slide then shows through the hole.

Can I cover part of a picture instead of cutting it?

Yes. Draw a shape over the area, set its fill to a matching color with Shape Format > Shape Fill, remove its outline, and group it with the picture. Microsoft’s Cover part of a picture page walks through it. A cover is easy to move aside, though, so don’t rely on it to hide private information.

Once you’ve cut out your first picture, try the pop-out frame effect on a title slide: it needs only Crop, Remove Background and a duplicate of the picture.