How to remove a background in Canva

Canva's Background Remover is one of the quickest ways to cut a person or product out of a photo while you are already designing something. The catch is that it is part of Canva's paid plans, and downloading a PNG with a transparent background is a paid feature too. If you are on Canva Free, there are workarounds, covered at the end.

This guide walks through the current steps, the limits Canva documents, how to export a transparent PNG, and how to fix the most common problems.

Which Canva plans include Background Remover

According to Canva's own pages, checked in October 2026:

Canva's Pro page lists Background Remover among the premium features of Canva Pro, and its newsroom describes Canva Business as everything in Canva Pro plus team features. Canva's help center also says that removing a background through Canva AI, by asking for it in a prompt, is available on paid plans only. If you are unsure what your account includes, try the steps below: on a plan without the feature, Canva shows an upgrade prompt instead.

How to remove a background in the Canva editor

These are the steps on canva.com and in the desktop app:

1. Open a design, or create one, and add your photo. Upload it from the Uploads tab or drag it onto the page.
2. Click the photo once to select it. The editor toolbar appears above the page.
3. Click BG Remover in the toolbar. In some versions of the editor this sits under Edit or Edit photo as Background Remover; the label depends on your version.
4. Wait a few seconds while Canva processes the image. The background disappears and the subject stays on the page.
5. Check the edges. If parts are missing or background is left behind, use the brushes described below.

You can also remove backgrounds outside the editor: Canva's help center describes running it from the Projects tab and in Canva Sheets.

Fix the edges with Erase and Restore

Canva gives you two brushes after removal:

• Erase removes leftover background, such as a gap between an arm and a body that was kept.
• Restore brings back parts of the subject that were removed, such as a strap or the tip of an ear.

Use the Brush size slider to match the detail you are working on, and the Undo and Redo icons to step back a stroke. Canva notes that the Erase and Restore brushes are currently available only on canva.com and the desktop app, not in the mobile apps. Zoom in on the edges before you brush; problems that are invisible at full-page size are obvious at 200%.

Limits to know about

Canva documents these limits for Background Remover:

• Up to 500 images every 24 hours.
• Photos must be under 9 MB. Larger files need resizing or compressing first.
• No vector images. Background Remover works on photos, not on vector graphics or Canva elements.
• Videos must be under 90 seconds in their original length to remove the background. Trimming inside Canva does not count: Canva says you need to download and re-upload a trimmed clip.

If a photo will not process, the file size limit is the most common cause. Exporting a smaller copy from your phone or photo editor usually fixes it.

How to download a transparent PNG from Canva

Removing the background in the editor does not by itself give you a transparent file. Canva pages have a white background by default, and a normal download includes it. To get transparency:

1. Make sure nothing sits behind your subject. If you added a background color or image to the page, delete it or set the page background to none.
2. Click Share, then Download.
3. Choose PNG as the file type.
4. Tick Transparent background.
5. Download.

Canva lists transparent background downloads as a Canva Pro feature, so on Canva Free the option is locked. If the downloaded PNG still has a white background, the usual cause is a page background or a white rectangle that was never removed.

Two related tips:

• If you want the subject alone, not the whole page, resize the design to fit the subject first, or select only the cut-out element before downloading.
• If the image is going to a marketplace that wants white (Amazon, eBay, Walmart), you do not need transparency at all. Keep the white page and download as JPG. Etsy also does not support transparent PNGs, so a white or colored background is the safer choice there. See the product photo size reference for each platform's rules.

For why PNG keeps transparency and JPG cannot, see PNG vs JPEG vs WebP.

Troubleshooting

The BG Remover button is missing. Make sure you selected a photo, not a vector graphic, frame or Canva element. On Canva Free you will see an upgrade prompt instead of the tool.

The result cut off part of the subject. Use Restore and paint over the missing area. Thin details like bicycle spokes or jewelry chains may need patience at high zoom.

There is a colored fringe around hair. This is background color baked into the edge pixels. Use Erase with a small brush along the fringe, or use a different background color in your design that is close to the original background so the fringe is not visible.

The download still has a background. Check for a page background color and that Transparent background was ticked. The option only appears for PNG.

It worked on the web but the brushes are missing on my phone. The Erase and Restore brushes are only on canva.com and the desktop app.

Free alternatives if you are on Canva Free

If you do not want to pay for a plan just to cut out a few images, there are free options. You can then upload the cut-out PNG into a Canva design like any other image.

Inside Canva: Pixel Eraser

Canva's help center describes a Pixel Eraser that lets you erase parts of an image by hand. Canva lists it as available to all users, and it works on JPG and PNG files but not on vector graphics or Canva elements. It is manual work, fine for simple shapes, slow for hair. Note that a transparent download is still a Pro feature, so on Canva Free the erased areas will show the page background.

Tools you may already have

• iPhone or iPad: touch and hold the subject of a photo in the Photos app to lift it from the background, then copy it or add it as a sticker. Our iPhone guide covers saving it as a PNG.
• Mac: in Finder, Control-click an image, choose Quick Actions, click More, then Remove Background. Apple documents this in the macOS User Guide.
• PowerPoint: Picture Format, then Remove Background, works on Windows and Mac, and you can save the result with Save as Picture. See removing a background in PowerPoint.

A dedicated background remover

If you are processing a lot of images, or the built-in tools leave rough edges, a dedicated tool is quicker. removebackground.dev gives every new account 50 free credits, accepts JPG, PNG or WebP up to 25 MB (larger than Canva's 9 MB limit), and downloads a transparent PNG or WebP, or JPG on a solid color, ready to drop into a Canva design.

Quick reference