How to Remove the Background From a Screenshot on Mac
Sometimes you want the thing in the picture and none of what's behind it. macOS can do this without installing anything.
Dropping a capture into a deck or a doc, the background gets in the way. A white box on a white slide shows its edges; a coloured one shouts.
With Preview
macOS Preview has background removal built in.
- Open the image in Preview.
- Choose Tools → Instant Alpha, or the Remove Background button in the markup toolbar.
- Save as PNG — JPEG has no transparency.
Photos can do it too: press and hold the subject to copy it out. Both, though, start from a file, so a capture you just took has to be saved and reopened first.
With Floatie
Floatie does it on the floating shot. One press of a corner button lifts the subject and makes everything else transparent, on-device through Apple Vision; press again and the background comes back.
The cut-out shot drags straight into Keynote, Slack or a document, transparency intact.
What cuts cleanly
It’s automatic, so some pictures work far better than others.
- Strong contrast between subject and background gives the cleanest edge. Grey on grey struggles.
- Hair, glass and soft edges smear.
- Overlapping objects come out as one blob rather than the one you wanted.
- If it misses, capture just that part again and try on the smaller picture — usually quicker than fighting it.
Marking up or resizing afterwards keeps the transparency. Getting it right while it’s still a floating shot saves a round trip through the document.
Background removal is open during the 14-day trial.
Ready to float?
Free for 14 days with everything unlocked. After that, a one-time purchase keeps Floatie Pro for good, or a monthly or yearly plan does the same and adds Floatie Link Pro.