Google Photos’ New Redact Pen Is the Screenshot Tool You Didn’t Know You Needed

How many times have you sent a screenshot of a receipt, a delivery confirmation or a group chat and then realized your home address, card digits or someone else’s phone number was sitting right there? Google Photos finally has a proper fix. This week Google began rolling out a Redact pen for Android, alongside a set of film-inspired Moods filters and a handful of other updates.

The Redact tool is the one that will earn a spot in your daily routine. Moods is the one you’ll show off.

Redact: a privacy tool hiding in Markup

Redact lives inside the upgraded Markup tools in the Photos editor. Instead of scribbling over a license plate with a thick black pen and hoping it’s opaque enough, you now paint over sensitive details with a pen built for the job. According to Android Authority, it offers three styles, Mosaic, Mosaic Light and Blur, and you can adjust the thickness to cover a single line of text or a whole block.

Google also tightened up the rest of Markup, adding “precise thickness sliders for the Pen and new fonts in the Text tool,” per 9to5Google. The Redact pen is “rolling out globally to Google Photos for Android,” so U.S. users should see it over the coming days if they haven’t already.

How to use it

1. Open a photo or screenshot in Google Photos and tap Edit.
2. Go to the Markup tools and select the Redact pen.
3. Pick Mosaic, Mosaic Light or Blur, then set the thickness.
4. Swipe over the details you want hidden, like an address, account number or face.
5. Save a copy so your original stays untouched, and share the redacted version.

One tip: zoom in before you share and double-check that every digit is truly unreadable. Light mosaic effects look tidy but may leave large text partially legible.

Moods: seven vintage looks, tuned by AI

Moods applies what Google calls a “nostalgic, vintage-inspired look” to your photos. There are seven presets, including Crisp 35mm for a film vibe, 2000’s night for that early digital-camera flash look, Retro contrast, Night light and Blue Haze. Each comes with a slider, and Google says the looks “intelligently adapt” to each image rather than slapping the same filter on everything.

It’s a clear nod to the digicam trend that has taken over social feeds. Whether AI-tuned nostalgia beats a real 2005 point-and-shoot is up to you, but it’s free, it’s on Android globally, and it’s a lot faster than recreating the look by hand.

What else is new, and who gets it

Wardrobe is the most unusual addition: it scans your photos for clothing and builds a digital closet you can use to plan outfits, but it’s locked to paid Google AI Pro and AI Ultra plans. The new Remix templates add red-carpet, birthday-card and photo-booth styles.

The verdict

Google Photos has spent the last two years piling on generative AI tricks, some delightful and some forgettable. Redact is different: it solves a real, everyday privacy problem with zero learning curve, and it’s free for every Android user. If you share screenshots even once a week, it’s the best thing in this update. Moods is the fun garnish on top.

Sources: 9to5Google, Android Authority, Dataconomy. Photo by Luciano Oliveira on Unsplash.