How Do I Crop an Image With Microsoft Paint?

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.
Use Paint or other image editors to crop digital photos.
Image Credit: scanrail/iStock/Getty Images

To crop an image in Paint, you simply grab the part of the image you want and remove the rest. On the Home tab of ribbon, click the "Select" tool, drag the mouse in the image area to select the part you want to keep, and then click "Crop" in the ribbon.

Advertisement

Crop a Large Image

Video of the Day

Cropping large images such as photos can be tricky because they may not fit on your computer screen without scrolling. You typically won't want to resize the image as you'll want to retain its resolution, especially if it's a photo. As a solution, you can view a scaled-down version of the image. On the View tab, click "Zoom Out" until the image is small enough to fit on your screen. Now you can go ahead and crop the image as needed.

Advertisement

Video of the Day

Choose a Selection Tool Before Cropping

With Paint, you can crop a rectangular section of an image or, for unusual cases, a free-form section. To switch between selection tools, click the "Select" drop-down menu and then click the selection tool you want.

Advertisement

Use a Different Program for Cropping Images

Paint might provide everything you need for cropping images, and you already have it installed if you're running Windows. But there's also a wide range of other free programs, many of which offer a more robust set of cropping features. For example, you can try Pixlr, PicMonkey, LunaPic, or GooEdit, or even a specific cropping program called Cropp.me. You can visit the download sites for these programs to read about their features and decide what's best for you.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

references & resources