The AI-powered Remove tool makes it easy to erase distractions from any photo. Brush over what you want gone and Photoshop Elements fills in the space automatically. It even detects and removes people for you. No complicated editing required.
The Remove tool is an AI-powered feature in Photoshop Elements that erases unwanted objects, people, or distractions from your photos and fills in the area naturally. You simply paint over whatever you want gone, and Photoshop Elements figures out what should be in its place based on the surrounding area of your photo.
The Remove tool also includes automatic people detection. If there are strangers or bystanders in the background of your photo, Photoshop Elements can find them and offer to remove them for you — no manual brushing needed.
Time required: About 3–7 minutes. Skill level: Beginner-friendly.
Before you begin, make sure you have:
Open your photo in Photoshop Elements. You can work in any editing mode, but Advanced mode gives you the most control. To find your photo, drag and drop it into the editor window or go to File > Open and browse for your file.
In the toolbar on the left, click the Remove tool. It looks like a band-aid with a sparkle symbol next to it. If you’re not sure which one it is, hover over the tools and a label will appear with the name.
Before you start brushing, take a moment to set the brush size. You want it to be roughly the same size as the object you're removing — big enough to cover it in a few strokes, but not so large that you’re painting over areas you want to keep.
You can adjust the brush size using the size slider in the options bar at the bottom of the screen. You can also use the bracket keys on your keyboard: [ to make the brush smaller, ] to make it larger.
Click and drag to paint over the object or person you want to remove. A colored overlay will appear as you brush, showing Photoshop Elements what to erase. When you release the mouse, the tool gets to work and the object disappears, replaced by the surrounding area of your photo.
Photoshop Elements can automatically detect people in the background of your photo and offer to remove them for you. When you select the Remove tool, look for the “Find people in the background” in the tool bin at the bottom. Click it and Photoshop Elements will scan your photo, highlight people it finds, and let you remove them with a single click.
This is especially useful for photos taken in busy public places, where bystanders may have walked through the background. Instead of painting over each person individually, the automatic detection handles the whole process for you.
Once you're happy with how the photo looks, go to File > Save As and give the edited version a new name. This keeps your original photo safe and untouched on your computer.
If your photo was taken somewhere public, like a park, beach, or street, the automatic people detection can save you a lot of time. Let Photoshop Elements find the people in the background first, then use the brush to clean up anything it missed.
For a large object like a car or a building, try removing it in sections rather than painting over the whole thing at once. Working in smaller overlapping strokes often gives a cleaner, more natural result than one big sweep.
For small or detailed areas, zoom into your photo first using Ctrl++ on a PC or Command++ on a Mac. Working at a larger zoom level makes it much easier to brush accurately around edges and fine details.
Press Ctrl+Z on a PC or Command+Z on a Mac to undo any step. Photoshop Elements keeps a full history of your edits, so you’re never stuck with a result you’re not happy with.
Yes. Photoshop Elements includes automatic people detection in the Remove tool. It scans your photo for people in the background and lets you remove them with a single click. You can also use the brush manually for anything the automatic detection doesn’t catch.
You can remove almost anything — people, vehicles, signs, litter, power lines, shadows, and more. The tool works by filling in the removed area with surrounding pixels, so it works best when the background around the object is relatively consistent.
Try brushing over the area again — a second pass often cleans up any imperfections. If the result still isn’t right, press Ctrl+Z (PC) or Command+Z (Mac) to undo and try a slightly different brushstroke. Adjusting your brush size can also help.
Yes. The Remove tool works on photos taken with any device, including smartphones. JPEG and PNG formats are both supported. Just open your photo the same way you would any other file.
Not unless you save over it. Use File > Save As to save your edited version with a new name and your original will stay exactly as it was.
The eraser tool simply deletes pixels, leaving a blank or transparent area. The Remove tool uses AI to intelligently fill in the space where the object was, making it look like the object was never there. The result is far more natural and requires no manual retouching.
