Unpixelate image files free, in your browser
OpenPixels (openpixels.app) is a free, open source photo enhancer that runs on your own device. To unpixelate an image, it enlarges a small, blocky picture with an AI model and clears up the square edges that heavy compression leaves. The image is never uploaded.
Free, open source, no account, no watermark. Works offline once its model has downloaded.
Unpixelate image: what it can and cannot fix.
“Pixelated” means three different things, and only two of them can be fixed. Find yours before you unpixelate image files:
Too small, then stretched
Fixable. An old profile picture or a thumbnail blown up to fill a screen. To unpixelate image files like this, enlarge them with a model instead of stretching: that gives smooth edges and real-looking texture.
Blocky from compression
Fixable. A photo saved and re-shared many times shows 8×8 squares in skies and skin. Noise and grain clears them up.
Pixelated on purpose
Not fixable. A mosaic over a face, a number plate or a password hid that detail by throwing it away. Nothing can unpixelate an image like that honestly.
Unpixelate image in five steps.
- Open the app and press Choose a photo, or drop the image anywhere on the page. Use the smallest original you have rather than a stretched copy.
- Under Size, choose 2×, 4× or 8×. The smaller and blockier the image, the larger the multiplier.
- Under Noise and grain, choose Remove for a heavily compressed image, or Reduce for a lighter touch.
- Under What is it, keep Photograph, or choose Drawing or anime for a logo, an illustration or a screenshot of flat colour.
- Press Enhance, drag the slider to compare Original with Result, then press Save the photo.
To unpixelate image files in bulk, open Several at once: the same settings are applied to every image, and Download all as a ZIP gives you the results in one file.
It checks that the detail is real.
Many tools that unpixelate image files paint in detail that was never there. OpenPixels shrinks each result back to the size you started with and compares it with your image. When the two still match, the panel under the result says Faithful to the original: the image was enlarged, not invented.
Before you unpixelate image files.
Pixel art. The models smooth edges, so pixel art comes out soft rather than as larger squares. There is no setting that keeps the blocks.
Tiny text. Letters only a few pixels high are already gone. Enlarging makes them smoother, not readable.
Size. The web app holds the result near 40 megapixels and says so before anything runs. A blurred, out-of-focus photo is a different problem: try the image sharpener.
Unpixelate image files now.
It also enlarges photos in the browser, takes them to 4K, clears noise and grain, and comes as software for Windows, Mac and Android.
Open OpenPixels →Before you open it.
Can I unpixelate image files for free?
Yes. OpenPixels is free, with no account, no watermark and no limit on how many images you process. The work is done in your browser, on your own device, and the image is never uploaded.
What kind of pixelated image can it fix?
Two kinds: an image that is pixelated because it is small and has been stretched, and an image that is blocky because it was saved with heavy compression. OpenPixels enlarges the image 2×, 4× or 8× with an AI model, and the Noise and grain setting also clears up the blocky edges left by heavy compression.
Can it remove a mosaic or a censor blur from a face or a number plate?
No. When part of an image has been pixelated on purpose, the detail under it was thrown away. No tool can bring it back; one that shows a face or text there has made it up. OpenPixels checks its own results against the original for this reason.
Does it keep the hard edges of pixel art?
No. The models smooth edges, so pixel art comes out soft rather than as larger square pixels. There is no setting that keeps the blocks.
Will small text become readable?
Sometimes. Text that is a few pixels high has lost its letters, and enlarging cannot recover them. Text that is soft but still readable usually comes out cleaner.
Can I unpixelate image files in bulk?
Yes. Several at once applies the same settings to any number of images and gives you a ZIP of the results and a CSV of the measurements for each one.