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Pattie-F
Pattie-F
Legend
July 12, 2021
Question

🔎 Quick Tip: Remove backgrounds with a simple click

  • July 12, 2021
  • 12 replies
  • 77294 views

 

How to remove a background quickly

 

Did you know there’s a Remove Background Quick Action that removes the background from your image in one click? Head over to Photoshop and give it a try!

 

 

 

 

❶ Open an image in Photoshop 

 

 

 

❷ Open the Discover Panel

Open the Discover Panel by clicking the magnifying glass icon at the upper right of the app workspace, selecting Help > Photoshop Help from the main menu, or by typing the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + F.

 

 

❸ Choose the Remove Background Quick Action

Navigate to the Browse section, expand the Quick Actions list, and select Remove background.

 

 

❹ Optional: Edit the layer mask

 

You should now see your image on a transparent background. If you are happy with the selection, you can skip this part.  However, if you want to bring back some areas of the image or hide other areas, you can modify the layer mask.

 

 

 

  • Click on the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers Panel.

 

 

 

  • Use the brush tool to paint black on any additional areas of the image that you want to hide. Then, paint white on any additional areas of the image that you wish to reveal.

 

 

 

Remove Background is also available for Photoshop on the iPad. Check it out:
Remove Background in Ps on iPad

 

 

Related links:

Quick action - Remove the background from your image

Discover one-click workflows and more

How to remove a background in Adobe Photoshop

Learn how to search faster with the Photoshop Discover Panel
Refine a selection in the Select And Mask workspace

Quickly select people or objects

Selection tools gallery

Mask layers

Adjust pixel selections

Photoshop User Guide

Check out other Photoshop Quick Tips

 

 

    12 replies

    M
    Megan_Medals
    Participating Frequently
    April 24, 2025

    I have been using the 'Remove Background' tool in Adobe Express (online) to create black backgrounds for medal images for my website and it's been working great - until tonight. It's suddenly started putting up an error message of 'minimum image size is 10*10' and then doing nothing... even with an image it worked with fine 2 days ago? What is going on?

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 24, 2025

    @Megan_Medals  You need to ask in the Adobe Express forum.

     

    M
    Megan_Medals
    Participating Frequently
    April 25, 2025

    Thank you but I found out what the issue was - offspring downloading a massive game had hogged so much bandwidth that the poor AI couldn't run properly!

    B
    Blenda
    Participant
    December 31, 2023

    I really wish this feature wasn't so complicated and difficult to use. It took me forever to figure out that the "quick action" of "background remover" wasn't showing up on the properties panel when the layer is locked. *rolls eyes*

    J
    jamesp54820129
    Participant
    November 2, 2023

    There needs to be a quick key to remove background.  Clicking the button when you're dealing with 1500 images takes WAY too long.  I tried to make it an action, but clicking 'remove background' doesn't record.  Plus the remove background feature is only ok, at best.  If the subject color doesn't contrast woth the background well enough, you have to clean it up manually.

    Trevor.Dennis
    Community Expert
    Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 3, 2023

    The problem with the Properties panel is that it is intensely context sensitive, which I am guessing would make it difficult to make provision for shortcuts.

     

    OK, I am surprised this worked, but I was able to make an Action for Remove Background.  If you do this you can either assign a shortcut to trigger the action (I use the Function keys because their default shortcuts are redundent) or you can use Image Processor to go through a folder full of images remove the background and re-save the image. 

     

    You'll need to save to PSD if you want to retain the transparency of course.  I always maximise compatability because some things won't work otherwise (Displace, for instance) and you never know whether you might need that later.

     

     

    Image Processor is under Photoshop > File > Scripts >

     

    G
    Gretchen27068051znf4
    Participant
    November 10, 2022

     

    ❷ Ensure you are not editing a background layer

     

    • If the image is the background layer, double click on "Background" to make it a normal pixel layer.

     

    The demo of this feature in Photoshop has only one layer, and it's a background layer.

     

    Pattie-F
    Pattie-FAuthor
    Legend
    April 25, 2023

    When you apply the Remove Background Quick Action from the Discover Panel, the layer is renamed automatically

    M
    Mary25316578vqo0
    Participant
    October 10, 2022

    Very clear and useful tips for me to remove or change the image's background in Photoshop. Before, I don't know how to make the bg transparent. I always seperate the bg and the objects/people by using tools such as Lassol tool or Magic tool. The process is complicated and a little bit stupid. Thanks for your share. Very impressive. Besides, now I think removing bg is a simple work that can also be done by some online tools, such as remove.bg and bgeraser. 

      A
      Ahabwe25278673x822
      Participant
      July 17, 2022

      still my photoshop 2019 is not bringing the quick actions in the properties . what should i do

       

      Pattie-F
      Pattie-FAuthor
      Legend
      July 21, 2022

      Have you tried updating the app? There have been lots of updates since 2019 with lots of cool features. Many of the features we posts about have been added in the last year or so. Check out this article on keeping Photoshop up to date.
      You can see what all was added here: What's new in Photoshop.

      N
      NancyF1
      Participant
      April 27, 2022

      I followed the instructions, but did not get a transparent background. I got a white background. Please help.

      Sahil.Chawla
      Adobe Employee
      Sahil.Chawla
      Adobe Employee
      April 28, 2022

      Hi there,

      Could you please share your image here?
      Did you follow the exact steps mentioned in the post above?

      Regards,
      Sahil

      P
      Prustam24075609kf8o
      Participant
      April 17, 2022

      Sab kuchh edit de do

       

       

      J
      juliamarygrey
      Participant
      September 2, 2021

      Hi there,

       

      I have downloaded the latest Photoshop through my CC account but I'm still not seeing the enhanced properties panel despite layers being unlocked and/or duplicated. There is not even a 'quick actions' drop down menu.

       

      Please advise as to why I might not have received the new properties panel features with my latest download. I am in particular looking for the 'remove background'quick action.

       

      Thanks so much

      Julia

       

       

      Pattie-F
      Pattie-FAuthor
      Legend
      February 28, 2022

      Hi Julia -

       

      Another way to get to the Quick Actions is from the Discover panel. Try any of these choice and then pick Quick Actions from the Browse section:

      •  Cmd/Ctrl  F (keyboard shortcut)
      • Click the Search icon (magnifying glass) at the upper-right of the interface
      • Choose Help > Photoshop Help from the main menu bar

      If you are not seeing Quick Actions in your properties panel, check to see if you are using the latest version of Photoshop. You may be using an older version that does not have this feature. Updating should fix this issue.

       

      Once you are able to see the Quick actions section in the Properties panel, you will need to select a layer before the Remove Background Quick Action will show.

       

      Pattie

       

        S
        salem5C9C
        Participant
        July 29, 2021

        Thanks Pattie.

         

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