How to Crop an Image on Windows
Photos, Paint and Snipping Tool can all crop on Windows, and each suits a different job. Here is which to open, and how to keep the uncropped original.
To crop an image on Windows, open it in the Photos app, select Edit image (Ctrl + E), choose Crop, drag the frame over the part you want to keep, then save the edit. Paint does the same with its Select tool and Crop button, and Snipping Tool crops a screenshot right after you take it. To crop to an exact pixel size, or to crop a whole folder the same way, Crop Image runs in Edge, Chrome or Firefox, and nothing is uploaded.
How to crop a photo in the Photos app
Microsoft's support page Edit photos and videos in Windows describes the route:
- Open the photo in Photos. If the app isn't open, type Photos in the search box on the taskbar, open it and select the picture.
- Select Edit image at the top of the window, or press Ctrl + E.
- Choose Crop.
- Drag the frame to trim the parts you don't want, or pick one of the preset aspect ratios.
Microsoft's page stops at the edit and doesn't describe saving, so use the app's save option when you're done. Before you save, Reset at the top left cancels every edit you've made. Microsoft's page doesn't say whether saving a cropped photo replaces the original file, so if you want to keep the uncropped picture, copy it in File Explorer first (Ctrl + C, then Ctrl + V) and crop the copy.
The Photos app is also being redesigned. Microsoft's October 2026 announcement says the new editor groups its tools under Crop, Enhance, Repair and Stylize, adds crop templates for social media, and reaches Windows Insiders first, with all Windows 11 users to follow later this year. If your buttons don't match the steps above, that is the likely reason.
How to crop an image in Paint
Paint suits a screenshot, a download or a graphic, wherever the file lives. Per Microsoft's Paint page:
- Open the image in Paint.
- Use the Select tool to drag a rectangle over the part you want to keep.
- Select Crop on the Home tab.
- Save. Paint lets you choose the format, including PNG, JPEG, BMP and GIF.
To keep the original, use Save as and give the cropped picture a new name.
How to crop a screenshot in Snipping Tool
If the picture is a screenshot you just took, you don't need another app. Microsoft's Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots page says that on Windows 11 you crop a snip by selecting the Image crop button. Dragging a tighter area when you take the snip leaves less to cut away afterwards.
How to crop an image to exact pixels on Windows
Photos and Paint are built for dragging, which works until a form asks for an image exactly 1200 pixels wide. For a typed size, or for many files at once:
- Open Crop Image in Edge, Chrome or Firefox and drop in one image, or up to 50.
- Leave "Aspect ratio" on Free, or lock the box to Square (1:1), Standard (4:3), Widescreen (16:9) or Photo (3:2).
- Drag the box, or type into the X, Y, W and H fields. The values are pixels of your original image, and the box and the numbers follow each other.
- Click Crop, then Download. One image saves as a single file; several arrive as one zip, which you can open in File Explorer with Extract All.
Whatever size the preview shows on screen, the tool cuts from every pixel of your original. JPG and WebP files keep their format and are re-saved at quality 0.92; PNG, BMP and the other formats come back as PNG. Each new file is named after the old one with -cropped on the end, so holiday.jpg becomes holiday-cropped.jpg and the file on your PC is never changed.
In a batch, the box you draw on the first image is applied to every file in the same proportions, from the same relative position. That suits a set of screenshots or photos that are all the same shape. Run portrait and landscape pictures as separate batches.
After the crop
Crop first, then resize. Resizing an image on Windows covers Paint's Resize and PowerToys for that second step, and Resize Image sets a final pixel size in the browser. For what to cut and which shape to pick, read how to crop a photo without wrecking it and what aspect ratio means. A profile picture usually wants Crop to Square, which locks the box to 1:1. On other devices, see cropping on a Mac and cropping a photo on iPhone.
FAQ
Can I crop to an exact size in Paint or Photos?
Microsoft's instructions for both cover dragging a selection, plus preset aspect ratios in Photos; they don't describe entering a width and height. If you'd rather type the numbers, Crop Image has X, Y, W and H fields.
Can I crop several images at once on Windows?
Microsoft's steps for Photos and Paint work on one open picture. Crop Image takes up to 50 files and applies the same crop to each.
Does cropping reduce quality?
The pixels you keep are unchanged, but there are fewer of them, so the picture can't be enlarged as far. Crop Image also re-saves a JPG or WebP at quality 0.92, a small extra loss; a PNG comes back as a lossless PNG.