Hide personal information in a screenshot

A screenshot feels safer than forwarding the app itself. It is a flat picture, so it cannot be logged into. It can still carry a full name, a phone number, a partial card, a one-time code, a school portal, or the notification that happened to be on screen when you pressed the buttons. Hiding that information means the shared file no longer contains those pixels.

What usually leaks

• Names, usernames, and profile photos that identify someone who did not agree to be in the picture.
• Phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses, including the unit and postal code.
• Order numbers, tracking links, and the last digits of a card.
• One-time codes, recovery codes, boarding passes, and barcodes.
• Balances, medical details, school records, and message previews.
• Other pictures sitting in a photo grid or a notification shade. Those thumbnails are still readable.

A black box is not always a cover

In some editors a rectangle is a layer. If you share the working file, or export the wrong way, the layer can be removed and the text is still there. A scribble through the middle of a word is the same kind of mistake: the letters are damaged, not gone. Cropping the original is a different mistake. It throws away the frame and keeps whatever you left inside, and it does nothing about metadata that may still describe when and where the photo was taken.

A flattened cover replaces the samples. The next person only has the result. That is the standard My Private22 uses. Solid black is the cover to choose when the words must be unreadable. Pixelate and blur also rewrite the pixels inside the box and make them opaque, so they are not a transparent smear over a hidden original, but large type can survive them. There is a longer note in redacting text before you share.

A pass worth doing before you send it

Look at the picture the way a stranger would, starting at the status bar and ending at the smallest type. Cover every line of an address, not only the street. Cover the whole code, not a corner of a QR mark. Include a little margin around each line so a tall letter is not left outside the box. Overlapping boxes are fine. If you are unsure, use solid black.

Then export and read the check. When areas were marked and the checks pass, Redact says the redacted areas are permanently removed. That line is about the file you are about to download. It is not a claim about the original still sitting in your photos. Attach the PNG, and look at it once more before it goes out. The tool does not understand the picture. It will not notice the second number you missed.

This browser tool does not find the sensitive parts for you. You choose every box. Gallery on iPhone can suggest emails, phone numbers, cards, ID numbers, and faces when Pro is on, and you still confirm or reject each one. The same habit matters when the screenshot is of someone else: their address is not yours to leave in the frame.