This Hidden Photo Editing Tool for iPhone Removes the Background from Any Image Without the Need for a Third-Party App

Have you ever wanted to quickly remove the background of an image on your iPhone without downloading an expensive third-party app? There’s a hidden editing tool built into one of your iPhone’s apps that can do just that.

In the Files app, you’ll find a hidden editing tool that magically removes the background from any selected image. From there, you can import the edited image into any app of your choice.

Here’s how to quickly remove the background from photos on iPhone.

Remove backgrounds in seconds

Hidden away in the Files app is a fantastic feature that makes photo editing a little easier. Found in the Quick Actions tab, the ability to remove backgrounds from photos simply rips the subject out of the photo and saves it as an additional file:

Select image from inside Files
Long press on image
To obtain Fast actions
To choose Remove background

It’s that simple, and it’s all from a file manager app that many don’t even use. This trick works not only on the top-of-the-line iPhones like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but also on all devices that can run iOS 17.

In iOS 18, Apple Intelligence will let you remove elements from the background of images, so you don’t have to remove the entire background. Until then, just follow this quick trick.

If you’re looking to try out iOS 18 and everything it has to offer, you can download the iOS 18 beta right now, and it’s really easy to install. Be warned, though, we don’t recommend using the beta software on your primary device, as it may impact performance and battery life.

iOS 18 is scheduled to launch at the end of this year, alongside the launch of iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.