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PDF & Image ToolsGoogle Workspace add-on

Remove Image Background

Instantly remove backgrounds from images and insert clean PNG cutouts into Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Create professional-looking graphics directly inside Google Workspace. This tool allows you to isolate subjects from photos, removing distracting backgrounds to create transparent cutouts for your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Common Use Cases#

  • Professional Presentations: Remove white boxes from logos or graphics so they "float" cleanly on your Google Slides™ themes.
  • Product Catalogs: Isolate items from their surroundings to create consistent, clean product images for inventory lists in Google Sheets™.
  • Social Media Content: Use the 9:16 (Stories) or 1:1 (Post) aspect ratios to prepare images for Instagram or TikTok directly from your Drive.
  • Team Directories: Create uniform employee headshots for resumes or "Meet the Team" slides by removing busy office backgrounds.

How to Access#

You can access the background remover through the add-on sidebar or the extensions menu:

  • Sidebar: Open PDF & Image Tools, then under Images click Remove Image Background.
  • Menu: Go to Extensions > Text To Table Converter > PDF & Image Tools > Remove Background from Image.

Step-by-Step Guide#

  1. Launch the Tool

Open Remove Image Background using one of the access methods listed above.

  1. Select Your Image

You have three ways to load images:

  • Load from Selection: Select one or more images in your document first, then click this button.
  • Upload Image(s): Choose files from your computer.
  • Paste image here (Ctrl+V / Cmd+V): Paste an image from your clipboard.

Images from Google Drive are not supported as a source. The add-on loads up to 8 MB of images per batch, and larger images may be resized before processing.

If you select images in your document before opening the tool, it loads them and starts removing backgrounds automatically.

  1. Refine & Process

(Optional) Click Enable Crop to focus on your subject, then Apply Crop. Click Remove Background to process the current image, or Process All to process every image in the queue. The queue shows each image as Queued, Processing, Done, or Failed. Click Retry Failed to run the failed ones again.

  1. Insert or Download

Preview the result and click Insert into Document to add it, or Download (PNG or JPG) to save it locally. With several images, Download all saves every result. Inserted images wider than 500 px are scaled down to 500 px.

Advanced Options#

Click Options on the right side of the window to open the advanced settings drawer.

1. Canvas & Sizing#

Control the dimensions of your final image.

Set Canvas Size to Original or Custom.

  • Original: Keeps the original image dimensions. Useful if you plan to overlay the cutout onto the original background later.
  • Custom: Lets you pick an Aspect Preset or enter a Custom Size (px). The presets are:
    • 1:1: Square, for profile avatars and standard Instagram posts.
    • 4:5: Portrait, for the Instagram feed.
    • 9:16: Stories, Reels, and TikTok.
    • 16:9: Landscape, for Google Slides™, YouTube thumbnails, or headers.
    • 1.91:1: Landscape, for Instagram and Facebook.
    • 3:4 and 2:3: Portrait photo ratios.
    • 4:3 and 3:2: Classic and landscape photo ratios.

2. Visualization & Backgrounds#

Change how the preview looks to ensure your edges are clean.

  • Preview Background: Switch between a checkerboard (transparent), white, black, or a custom color.
    • Tip: Use a black background to check for white "halos" or jagged edges around your subject.
    • Note: If you download as a JPG, the selected background color will be saved with the image.

3. Output Behavior#

Decide how the image is placed in your document.

  • Insert New: Adds the cutout as a new image.
  • Replace Selected: Replaces the image selected in your document with the new cutout. It applies only to a single image that you started from a selection. Otherwise the add-on inserts a new image instead.

4. File Format#

  • PNG: Best for transparency (cutouts).
  • JPG: Smaller file size, but no transparency (solid background).

Privacy & Security#

We prioritize your data privacy with a client-side approach:

  • Local Processing: The images stay in your browser while the background is removed.
  • No External Uploads: Your images are not sent to a server for background removal. On first use, the tool downloads the open-source model files it needs, which can take a while. After that, the images themselves are processed locally.