Can you uncrop a screenshot?

Usually not. When you crop a screenshot and save it, the new file normally contains only the area you kept, so there is nothing more to recover. The well-known exception is aCropalypse, a pair of bugs disclosed in 2023 that made the screenshot editors on Google Pixel phones and on Windows leave part of the original image inside the cropped file. If a screenshot was edited with one of those tools before they were fixed, part of the cut-off area may still be in it.

What aCropalypse is

The bug was in how the tools saved an edited image. Instead of replacing the original file, they wrote the smaller, cropped image over the start of it and did not shorten the file, so the rest of the original stayed at the end (David Buchanan). Image viewers stop reading where the new image ends, so the file looks normal. A special tool, however, can decode some of the leftover data. The National Vulnerability Database describes the Pixel bug as a possible failure to truncate images, caused by a logic error in the code (NVD).

Recovery is partial. Microsoft’s advisory says that when an existing image is partly overwritten, an attacker “may be able to recover parts of the original image” (Microsoft). That can still be enough to expose a name, an address or an account number you meant to crop out.

Which tools were affected

Three screenshot apps on two platforms had the bug, tracked as CVE-2023-21036 for Pixel Markup and CVE-2023-28303 for the Windows tools.

	Google Pixel Markup	Windows Snipping Tool	Windows Snip & Sketch
Bug ID	CVE-2023-21036	CVE-2023-28303	CVE-2023-28303
Affected	Pixel phones since Android 10 (September 2019)	Snipping Tool on Windows 11	Snip & Sketch on Windows 10
Fixed in	Security patch level 2023-03-01	App version 11.2302.20.0	App version 10.2008.3001.0

Google fixed Markup in the March 2023 Pixel update, so devices on security patch level 2023-03-01 or later have the fix (Android). Pixel phones were affected from Android 10, released in September 2019 (Wikipedia).

Microsoft delivered its fixes through the Microsoft Store, which updates the apps automatically unless store updates are turned off. The older default Snipping Tool in Windows 10 was not affected (Microsoft). Tests by BleepingComputer showed that Snipping Tool also left data behind in JPG files, not only in PNG (BleepingComputer).

Which screenshots may still hold hidden data

The fixes stopped new files from being affected, but they did not change files that were already saved. A screenshot can still carry leftover data when all three of these are true:

1. It was cropped or marked up with Pixel Markup before the March 2023 patch, or with Snipping Tool or Snip & Sketch before Microsoft’s update.
2. The edited version was saved over the original file. Microsoft says the problem needed an image that was saved, edited and then saved again to the same location. Copying the image out of Snipping Tool, or editing it before the first save, was not affected (Microsoft).
3. The complete file was kept or shared unchanged.

The third point matters most for screenshots you sent. Discord began stripping this trailing data from uploads on January 17, 2023 (Android Police), and Twitter truncated uploaded images (Wikipedia). A file kept in a backup or sent as an attachment, on the other hand, is the complete file.

How to check a screenshot

Run it through our cropped photo checker. It reads the file in your browser, so the screenshot is not uploaded, and it looks for data left after the end of the image as well as old EXIF thumbnails. It can only show what is still inside the file.

Check the file exactly as it was saved or received. A copy that passed through a service that strips the extra data will look clean even if the original was not. If you prefer a second opinion, acropalypse.app, the web version of the researchers’ tool, also processes images on your device (David Buchanan).

How to crop screenshots safely now

1. Keep the tools updated. On a Pixel, check that the security patch level is 2023-03-01 or later. On Windows, Snipping Tool should be version 11.2302.20.0 or later and Snip & Sketch 10.2008.3001.0 or later (Microsoft).
2. Save edits as a new file. The bug only affected images written over the original file, so saving the cropped version under a new name is a sensible habit with any editor.
3. Deal with the full capture. Snipping Tool saves every capture to your Screenshots folder automatically, as soon as you take it (Microsoft). If the uncropped capture shows something private, delete it from that folder too.
4. Clean old sensitive screenshots. BleepingComputer found that opening an affected PNG in another editor, such as Photoshop, and saving it as a new file drops the unused data (BleepingComputer). Then delete the old version.
5. Capture only what you need. For anything sensitive, a fresh screenshot of just the area you want to share is safer than cropping a full one.

Other places a screenshot may keep the full picture

• Office documents. A screenshot pasted into Word or PowerPoint and cropped there keeps its hidden part in the file (Microsoft). See how to uncrop a picture in Word and PowerPoint.
• Google Photos. A screenshot edited and saved with Save can be reverted, and Save as copy leaves the original in place (Google). See how to uncrop a photo on Android.
• Windows. The auto-saved Snipping Tool capture may still be uncropped. See how to uncrop a photo on Windows 11.

When the crop cannot be undone

If the checker finds nothing and no uncropped copy exists, the cut-off area is gone. For screenshots of text, numbers or app screens, an uncrop tool cannot help: it would invent content that was never there. Go back to the source instead. Reopen the page, chat or app and take a new screenshot, or ask the person who sent it for the uncropped file.

If the screenshot shows a photo and you only need more room around it, you can extend it for free at uncrop.si. That adds new, generated pixels around the picture; it does not restore the cropped ones. For the full decision tree, including files that keep cropped data by design, read can you uncrop a photo?.