How to fix photos on your phone and in other apps
Step-by-step instructions for the tools you may already have, from Samsung Remaster to Photoshop, with an honest note on where each one stops.
On your phone
How to unblur a photo on a Samsung phone
Open the photo in Samsung Gallery, tap the three-dot menu and choose Remaster picture. It improves blur, brightness and noise in one tap, for free. For old scans, small faces and images flattened by chat apps, a dedicated app goes further.
Open →How to restore old photos on iPhone
Photograph the print with the iPhone camera in soft daylight, use the Photos editor for quick tone fixes, and use a restoration app for fading, damage and resolution, which the built-in editor cannot rebuild.
Open →How to restore old photos on Android
Capture the print carefully, use Google Photos for free quick fixes, and switch to a restoration app for scratches, tears, fading and faces, which Google Photos is not built to repair.
Open →How to restore old photos on a Samsung phone
Galaxy phones give you two free starting points: Remaster picture in Gallery and the Galaxy Enhance-X app. Both help with softness and noise; neither is built for torn, cracked or badly faded prints.
Open →In other apps
How to unblur a photo in Canva
Canva gives you two routes: an AI unblur tool, and Sharpness and Clarity sliders in its photo editor. The AI tool is the better start for a soft photo; the sliders only firm up edges that are already there.
Open →How to unblur a photo in Photoshop
Photoshop’s Shake Reduction filter was removed in version 23.3, so current versions rely on Smart Sharpen and the high pass method for blur, and on the Photo Restoration neural filter for old prints. They work, with practice.
Open →How to unblur a photo in CapCut
CapCut is a video editor, but its web tools include an AI image upscaler that sharpens soft and low-resolution photos at 2x or 4x. It suits pictures that are small or compressed better than pictures that are genuinely out of focus.
Open →How to unblur a photo in Google Photos
Open the photo in Google Photos, tap Edit, go to Tools and choose Unblur. Since May 2024 Google has offered it free on devices that meet its minimum requirements, not only on Pixel phones.
Open →