Short answer
To make a background transparent in Paint on Windows 11, open the picture and click Remove background in the toolbar. The background turns into a grey and white checkerboard, which means transparent. Then File > Save as > PNG picture: PNG keeps the transparency, JPEG fills it with white. The old Transparent selection option never saved a transparent file; it only affects moving a selection inside Paint. Paint 3D was removed from the Microsoft Store in 2024.
To make a background transparent in Paint, you need the Paint that ships with Windows 11: open the picture, click Remove background, and save the result as a PNG. For years the honest answer to this question was “you cannot”, and a lot of advice still floating around dates from then. The Transparent selection option that older guides point to never saved a transparent file, and Paint 3D, which could, is gone from the Microsoft Store.
This guide covers the Windows 11 steps, how to save a PNG that keeps its transparency, what Transparent selection actually does, and what to use when Paint is not enough. Steps checked against Microsoft’s Paint pages and Windows Insider announcements in September 2026.
Which Paint do you have?
There are three different programs called Paint, and the answer depends entirely on which one is in front of you.
| Program | Remove background | Saves transparency | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paint on Windows 11 (updated) | Yes, one click | Yes, as PNG | Current |
| Paint on Windows 10, or classic Paint | No | No | Unchanged for years |
| Paint 3D | Yes (Magic select) | Yes | Removed from the Microsoft Store in November 2024 |
The Windows 11 Paint changed a lot in the autumn of 2023. Microsoft announced background removal to Windows Insiders on 7 September 2023, and two weeks later added layers and transparency: a checkerboard on the canvas for transparent areas, an eraser that truly erases, and the ability to open and save transparent PNGs. Both have since rolled out to Windows 11 generally.
If your Paint does not have a Layers button in the toolbar, it is out of date. Open the Microsoft Store, go to Downloads (called Library in some versions), and click Get updates.
How to make a background transparent in Paint on Windows 11
- Open the picture. File > Open, or paste a picture straight onto the canvas with Ctrl + V.
- Click Remove background. The button sits in the Image group of the toolbar, next to the selection and crop tools. Microsoft’s announcement describes it as one click that leaves a smooth cutout of the subject.
- Or remove it from one area. If the picture has several things in it, or a lot of empty space, draw a rectangle with the Selection tool around the subject first, then click Remove background. Microsoft notes that the tool detects the subject either in the whole canvas or inside a selection.
- Look at the checkerboard. Everything that was removed now shows a grey and white checkerboard. That pattern is not part of the picture: it is how Paint draws “nothing here”. The same convention is used by almost every image editor, and what a transparent PNG is explains it in more detail.
- Tidy up. If a patch of background survived, choose the Eraser and rub it out. Since the transparency update, the eraser removes pixels rather than painting them white, so erased areas become checkerboard too.
- Save as PNG. File > Save as > PNG picture. Give it a new name so you keep the original.
If the subject lost a piece it should have kept, there is no brush to paint it back. Press Ctrl + Z, then try again with a tighter rectangle selection around the subject.
Why it has to be PNG
The file format decides whether the transparency survives, not Paint. PNG stores an alpha channel, a transparency value for every pixel, so the checkerboard areas are saved as transparent. JPEG has no alpha channel at all, so when you save a cutout as JPEG, every transparent pixel has to become a colour, and it becomes white. BMP and GIF from Paint are no better for a photo cutout.
The trap is that Paint remembers the format of the file you opened. Open a JPEG, remove the background, press Ctrl + S, and it can save straight back to JPEG, with white where the background was. Always use Save as and pick PNG.
Check the PNG really kept its transparency
- Close the picture, then open the PNG you saved with File > Open.
- Look at the area where the background was.
You should see: the grey and white checkerboard around the subject, exactly as before you saved.
If you do not: if the area is white, the file was saved as JPEG or a filled layer sat underneath. Open the original, remove the background again, open the Layers panel to check that no layer below has a colour, and use Save as with PNG picture.
Layers can bring the background back
Microsoft’s own wording for when transparency is saved is precise: when the transparency persists through all visible layers and the picture is saved as PNG. If you add a new layer below the cutout and fill it with a colour, or your canvas has a coloured base layer, the saved PNG is not transparent where that colour shows. Open Layers in the toolbar, and hide (the eye icon) or delete any layer with a fill before saving.
What Transparent selection actually does
Most old answers to “how do I make a background transparent in Paint” say: Select, then tick Transparent selection. It is a real option, and it does not do what those answers imply.
Transparent selection changes how a selection behaves while you move or paste it inside Paint. With it on, pixels in the current background colour (Color 2, white by default) are left out of the selection, so when you drag a white-backed logo over a photo, the photo shows through where the white was. It is a pasting aid.
It never touched the file. The white pixels are still in the picture, and a saved file has solid pixels everywhere, because classic Paint had no way to store transparency. That is why people followed the steps, saved, and found the white background still there when they put the image in Word or on a website.
On Windows 11, forget this option for this job. Remove background, the Eraser and PNG are what make a saved file transparent.
Where did Paint 3D go?
Paint 3D had Magic select, which cut a subject out of a photo and could put it on a transparent canvas. Many guides still recommend it. Microsoft’s deprecated features list says Paint 3D was deprecated in August 2024 and removed from the Microsoft Store on 4 November 2024. Installed copies keep working, but if you uninstall it or move to a new computer, it cannot be downloaded again. It was never preinstalled on Windows 11. Microsoft names Paint and Photos as the alternatives, and for this job the updated Paint is the direct replacement.
Does Paint send the picture anywhere?
Microsoft’s pages about Paint describe the background removal as AI-powered, and do not say whether it runs on your computer or online. Independent write-ups report that it works with no connection. Rather than take anyone’s word for it, test it on your own machine; it takes a minute.
Check whether Remove background works offline
- Turn off Wi-Fi (or unplug the network cable) and wait until the network icon shows no connection.
- Open Paint, open a photo saved on the computer, and click Remove background.
You should see: the background removed as usual, which means the picture was processed on your computer and nothing was sent.
If you do not: if Paint shows an error or the button does nothing until you reconnect, the feature needs a connection on your version, and you should assume the picture leaves the computer.
On a Copilot+ PC there is also a shortcut: Click to Do can hand an image on screen to Paint with the action Remove background with Paint. Microsoft says Click to Do analyses the screen locally, and that its image actions are not currently available in the European Economic Area. The same offline check is a good way to find out for any tool, and how to check a website is not uploading your photos shows the equivalent test for browser tools.
When Paint is not enough
Paint’s Remove background is a good free tool for a clear subject on a plain background. It has no controls beyond the eraser, and these are the cases where that shows.
Hair, fur and soft edges. The cutout may shave off loose hair or keep a haze of background in it. There is no refine edge, feather or edge adjustment in Paint.
A light fringe around the subject. When the old background was bright, a thin pale line can stay around the edge, invisible on white and obvious on a dark page. The white halo around a cutout explains why it happens and how to remove it.
The transparency is lost later. The PNG is fine in Paint, and turns white or black in an email, a chat app or a document. That is the other program flattening it, and why a PNG shows a black or white background lists the usual culprits.
Windows 10. Paint on Windows 10 cannot do any of this. If you have Microsoft Office, PowerPoint and Word have a Remove Background tool that saves a transparent PNG: see removing a background in PowerPoint.
You need the subject on a colour, not transparent. You can add a layer below and fill it in Paint, which works, but gets fiddly if you need exact brand colours or a pure white for a marketplace.
The free way
A transparent PNG from your browser, on Windows 10 or 11
Drop the photo on getPNG and download a transparent PNG at the full resolution of the original, with the edge refined against the full-size picture. Edge shift grows or shrinks the outline by up to five pixels to lose a pale fringe, Feather softens it, and the compare view shows the original next to the cutout. Pick white or any colour instead, and it saves a JPG, PNG or WebP on that colour. After the first picture it works offline, so you can run the same Wi-Fi test.
Paint compared with the other free options on Windows
| Tool | Cost | Adjust the edge | Saves transparent PNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paint (Windows 11) | Free, built in | Eraser only | Yes |
| PowerPoint or Word | Included with Office | Mark areas to keep and remove | Yes, with Save as Picture |
| getPNG in a browser | Free | Edge shift and Feather | Yes, at full resolution |
| GIMP | Free download | Full selection and mask tools | Yes |
For every other app, from Photoshop to Canva, removing a background in any app has the full comparison.
The steps, in short
- Update Paint. Open the Microsoft Store, go to Downloads (or Library), and get updates, so Paint has the Remove background button and transparency support.
- Open the picture. In Paint, File > Open and choose the photo, or paste a picture onto the canvas with Ctrl + V.
- Click Remove background. Click Remove background in the Image group of the toolbar. To limit it to one area, draw a rectangle selection around the subject first.
- Check the checkerboard. The removed area shows a grey and white checkerboard: that is transparency. Clean up leftovers with the Eraser, which now erases to transparent.
- Save as PNG. File > Save as > PNG picture. Do not choose JPEG, which has no transparency and fills the checkerboard with white.
Questions
Does Paint have a remove background tool?
Yes, Paint on Windows 11 does. Microsoft added a one-click Remove background button in 2023, together with layers and support for transparent PNGs. Paint on Windows 10 does not have it. If you do not see the button, update Paint from the Microsoft Store.
Why is my Paint picture not transparent when I save it?
Either it was saved as JPEG, which cannot hold transparency, or a layer below the picture has a colour. Save as PNG picture, and open the Layers panel to hide or delete any filled background layer. Microsoft says transparency is kept when it runs through all visible layers and the file is saved as PNG.
What does Transparent selection do in Paint?
It changes how a selection behaves while you move or paste it inside Paint: pixels in the background colour (usually white) are left out, so what is underneath shows through. It never made a saved file transparent. The saved picture still has solid pixels everywhere.
Is Paint 3D still available?
No. Microsoft deprecated Paint 3D in August 2024 and removed it from the Microsoft Store on 4 November 2024. Copies already installed keep working, but it cannot be downloaded again. Microsoft points to Paint and Photos as the alternatives.
Does Paint's remove background work offline?
Microsoft's pages about Paint do not say where the background removal runs. You can check on your own computer: turn off Wi-Fi, open a picture in Paint and click Remove background. If it works with no connection, the picture was not sent anywhere.
How do I make a white background transparent in Paint on Windows 10?
Paint on Windows 10 has no remove background button and cannot save transparency, so it cannot do it. Use a tool that saves a transparent PNG, or the Remove Background tool in PowerPoint or Word if you have Office.