Frustrated trying to crop out a picture in Paint? — Just crop, not cut pieces out of it and move them around and suddenly have holes and… oh my! Find out here how to crop images cleanly in Microsoft Paint ⤓.
On This Page
How to Crop Images in Microsoft Paint on Windows (without Leaving Holes)
Using Paint 3D? How to crop in Paint 3D
Time needed: 7 minutes
To crop an image in Microsoft Paint (into a rectangle, say 2X2 or 4x6):
- Click Color 1 in the MS Paint toolbar.
Here’s why: We are selecting the foreground color to draw the outline of the image; drawing an outline makes it easier to crop because one cannot easily re-expand a cropped area in Paint.
- Under Colors, choose the color you want to use for the background.
Which color to pick: Typically, choose white, black, cyan or another color that contrasts with the edges of your cropped image and can easily be removed if needed.
- Click Rectangle under Shapes.
- Under Shape fill (or Fill), make sure No fill is selected
- Under Shape outline (or just Outline), choose Solid color.
- Optionally, pick a stroke size under Size.
Paint keyboard shortcut: You can increase and decrease stroke size quickly using Ctrl + and Ctrl -.
- Draw the outline of your crop on the image.
- Adjust the outline for cropping as desired.
Edit the crop: Yes, you can drag around and resize the rectangle.
Cropping dimensions: With the Paint status bar enabled, you can see the dimensions of your crop near the lower left corner (do subtract the stroke width for precision). - When you are satisfied, click somewhere outside the crop outline.
- Zoom in to your cropping area.
- Select Rectangular selection and Transparent selection from the Select drop-down menu.
- Draw the selection at the inner edge of your rectangular outline.
Here’s how: Start in the top left corner and drag to lower right.
- Now click Crop under Image in the toolbar.
Keyboard shortcut: You can also press Ctrl Shift X to crop.
- Save the newly cropped image or continue editing it.
Image cropped to size?
Tips help fuel these email and tech how-tos.
How to Crop Images in Microsoft Paint on Windows: FAQ
Can I crop rounded edges in Paint?
Yes.
To round the corners of your cropped image in Microsoft Paint:
- Follow the steps above, but
- choose Rounded rectangle instead of Rectangle when you draw the outline and
- fill in the edges with your background color if any remain
Here’s how: See How to crop a circle in Paint for the technique.
Can I crop a circle in Paint?
Yes.
Using a technique similar to the one employed for cropping rounded corners, you can also crop in a circle shape using MS Paint.
(Tested with Microsoft Paint 11.2302–11.2511; first published July 2020, last updated July 2026)