Open the photo in Google Photos, tap Edit, then Tools or Enhance – red-eye usually clears in one tap, free, on your phone or computer.
What you need
- A digital copy of the photo, scanned or photographed, saved to your phone or a folder on your computer
- A free Google Account signed in to Google Photos (photos.google.com or the phone app)
- About two minutes
Editing without risk to the original
Google Photos edits don’t touch your original – it keeps a separate copy of every change, so there’s no risk in experimenting.
How to remove red-eye
- Open the photo in Google Photos and tap Edit.
- Look for Tools and choose Red eye. If you can’t see it, tap the automatic Enhance suggestion first – on many photos it clears red-eye as part of the general fix.
- Google Photos will usually circle each eye it has detected as red. Tap each circle to confirm the fix.
- Tap the tick, then Save copy, to keep the corrected version alongside your original.
Check the eyes look natural
Open the saved copy and zoom in on the eyes. You should see a natural dark pupil instead of a red glow, with the rest of the face unchanged.
If the red-eye tool doesn’t work
If Google Photos doesn’t offer a red-eye tool on your version, or it misses one eye, use the manual spot or brush tool and gently darken just the red area – don’t paint over the whole eye. For a print that’s especially faded or damaged as well, a dedicated program such as Photoshop Elements has a Red Eye Removal tool built for exactly this job.
Next step
Once the eyes look right, check whether the rest of the photo needs brightening too – see Brighten a dark photo without losing detail.
Sources and date checked
Google Photos Help Centre, checked 22 September 2026.