Crop a picture in Office

Crop the margins of a picture

1. Use **Insert** > **Picture** to add the image to a Microsoft 365 file (such as a Word document, PowerPoint presentation, or Excel workbook).

3. Select the picture, then from the Picture Format tab, select the  Crop button.

4. Black crop handles appear on the edges and corners of the picture.

   

5. Crop the image by doing one of the following:

   Description	Action
   Crop one side	Drag inward on the side cropping handle
   Crop two adjacent sides at the same time	Drag inward on the corner cropping handle
   Crop equally on two parallel sides at once	Press and hold Ctrl while dragging inward on the side cropping handle

   You can also outcrop, or add a margin around a picture, by dragging the cropping handles outward rather than inward.

6. (Optional) To reposition the crop area, either change the crop area by dragging the edges or corners of the crop rectangle or move the picture.

7. When you're finished, press Esc or click anywhere outside the picture within the document.

Crop to a shape, such as a circle

Go to Crop a picture to fit in a shape.

Other kinds of cropping

Select a heading below to open it and see the detailed instructions.

Crop to a common aspect ratio

Cropping a picture to a common photo size or aspect ratio lets it easily fit into a standard picture frame. You can also use this tool to preview how a picture will fit into a specific aspect ratio before cropping.

1. Use Insert > Picture to add the image to a Microsoft 365 file (such as a Word document, PowerPoint presentation, or an Excel workbook).
2. Select the picture.
3. Select Picture Format, and in the Size group, select the arrow under Crop.
4. From the menu that appears, select Aspect Ratio, then select the ratio that you want.
   A crop rectangle appears, showing you how the picture will appear when cropped to the selected aspect ratio.
5. If desired, adjust the crop area using the cropping handles.
6. When you're finished, press Esc or click anywhere outside the picture within the document.

Crop to fit or fill a shape

Go to Start with a shape and add an image to it.

Crop a picture without using Microsoft 365

Both the Paint (in several versions of Windows) and Paint 3D (in Windows 10) apps help you crop a picture. Open your picture in the app, and you'll see a Crop button on the toolbar. See this quick video overview about some features in the Paint 3D app.

Delete cropped areas of a picture

By default, after you crop a picture, the cropped areas remain part of the file, hidden from view. However, you can reduce file size by removing the cropped areas from the picture file. This also helps prevent other people from viewing the parts of the picture that you have removed.

To remove cropped areas from the picture file:

1. Select the picture or pictures from which you want to delete cropped areas.

2. Select Picture Format, and in the Adjust group, select Compress Pictures. A dialog box appears showing compression options.
   
   If you don't have the Picture Format tab, make sure that you've selected a picture. You might have to double-click the picture to select it and open the Picture Format tab.

3. Under Compression Options, be sure that the Delete cropped areas of pictures check box is selected.

   

   To remove croppings for the selected picture or pictures only and not all pictures in the file, select the Apply only to this picture check box.
   Select a Resolution option, if desired.

4. Select OK.

See Also

Cut out or cover part of a picture

Insert pictures

Add a drawing to a Word document

Reduce the file size of a picture

Use Word Layout Options to move pictures

Wrap text around pictures in Word

Crop the margins of a picture

1. Use **Insert** > **Pictures** to add the image to a Microsoft 365 file (such as a Word document, PowerPoint presentation, or Excel workbook).

3. Select the picture, then select the Picture Format tab on the toolbar ribbon.
   

4. On the Picture Format tab, select Crop.
   Black crop handles appear on the edges and corners of the picture.

   

5. Crop the image by dragging any crop handle inward. If you drag one of the corner handles, it crops two adjacent sides at the same time.

6. Click away from the picture to see the cropped image.

Crop to a specific shape

See Crop a picture to fit in a shape.

Delete cropped areas of a picture

By default, even after you crop parts of a picture, the cropped parts remain as part of the picture file. However, you can reduce the file size by removing the croppings from the picture file. This also helps prevent other people from viewing the parts of the picture that you have removed.

To remove cropped areas of a picture file:

1. Select the picture or pictures from which you want to delete cropped areas.
2. On the Picture Format tab, select Compress Pictures  .
   (If you don't see the Picture Format tab, make sure that you've selected a picture.)
3. Select the Delete cropped areas of pictures check box.
   To remove croppings for the selected picture or pictures only and not all of the pictures in the file, select Selected pictures only.

See Also

Insert pictures in Office for Mac

Move, rotate, or group a picture, text box, or other object in Office for Mac

Change the size of a picture, shape, text box, or WordArt

Control text wrapping around objects in Word for Mac

In Word for the web and PowerPoint for the web you can do basic picture cropping—trimming away unwanted margins of a picture. Only the desktop apps can delete the cropped areas from the image, however.

Crop a picture

1. Select the picture you want to crop.

2. On the Ribbon, select the Picture tab.

3. Select the downward pointing arrow next to the Crop option , then select Crop.
   Black crop handles appear on the edges of the picture.

   

4. With your mouse, point at a crop handle, then click and drag inward to trim the margin of the image. 

5. When you are finished cropping margins, click outside the boundary of the image to save the changes.

Crop a picture to fit in a shape

For details, see Fit a picture inside a shape.