How to Crop a Picture on iPhone & iPad

By Rheanne Taylor Updated 01/16/2024

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The Photos app makes it easy to rotate or crop images. If you want to crop a square or rectangular photo on your iPhone or iPad, the Photos app has all the functionality you'll need. If you want to crop an image into a round photo, we've found a free third-party app for this. Let's cover how to crop a picture on your iPad and iPhone.

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How to Crop Photos on iPhone Using the Photos App

Cropping a photo allows you to move the frame of the picture to include only what you want. It’s not the same as resizing a photo, which leaves the full photo intact and changes the size. To learn more about using the Photos app, check out our Tip of the Day newsletter.

Here's how to crop an image on your iPad or iPhone using the Apple Photos app:

Open the Photos app.
Select the picture you want to crop.

Tap Edit.
Tap the Rotate-Crop icon.

Drag the white border from the edges of your image to crop out a portion of the photo.
You can also tap the preset crop icon to select ratios that offer various options for cropping.

If you decide you don’t like the cropping you just did, tap Reset to undo the changes.
Tap Done.

How to Crop a Picture into a Circle Using the Round Photo App

As we covered above, the Photos app cannot crop images into shapes other than rectangles or squares. But if you want to avoid upgrading to an expensive photo editing app, there is a free third-party app called Round Photo made specifically for this function. The free version is ad-supported, meaning you'll need to watch a five-second ad from time to time. It is also important to note that Round Photo only crops photos into circles, and does not allow you to adjust the shape into an oval. Now, here's how to crop a picture into a circle on your iPhone or iPad:

Open the Round Photo app.
Tap the Image icon to select photos from your library.

Select at least one photo to crop into a circle.
Tap Done.

Press and drag the photo to reorient the image in the frame.
Drag the slider to adjust the thickness of the image border or remove it entirely.

Tap the Save icon.

That's all there is to it! Your round image will now be saved in your Photos app.

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Author Details

Rheanne Taylor

Rheanne Taylor is the Video Production Manager of iPhone Life. In her 10+ years at the company, she has produced hundreds of educational videos showing people how to get the most out of their iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Macs. Rheanne holds a bachelor’s degree in Literature & Writing and has 11+ years of experience in photography and video work, which she enjoys utilizing in her how-to videos.

When she isn’t overseeing video content, Rheanne loves drinking tea, taking lots of photos, and hanging out with her Instagram famous cat Wesley (IG: wesley_the_pirate_cat)

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