PowerPoint removed the much-needed tool for pixel-level erasing of an image.

David Naiditch 0 Reputation points
2026-05-23T03:18:45.7133333+00:00

PowerPoint removed its tool for pixel-level erasing of an image that I've regularly used for years. The recently added AI enabled "Remove Background" and "Erase" tools don't provide the fine pixel-by-pixel control that I need. I'm hoping this tool will be restored. I contacted Microsoft for help and they verified the tool was removed and inaccessible.

I'm using PowerPoint version 16.109.1 that came with my Microsoft 365 Subscription. I'm running PowerPoint on a MacBook Air with Tahoe 26.5.

Microsoft 365 and Office | PowerPoint | For education | MacOS
0 comments

3 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest

  1. AI answer

    2026-05-23T03:18:54.4+00:00

    The legacy pixel-level background removal editor in PowerPoint has been replaced by the newer AI-based Remove Background experience. In current Microsoft 365 builds (including PowerPoint for Mac), that older tool is no longer available and cannot be re-enabled from within the app.

    The current workflow on Mac is:

    1. Select the picture.
    2. Go to Picture Format > Remove Background.
    3. PowerPoint automatically detects the background (magenta area).
    4. Use Mark Areas to Keep and Mark Areas to Remove with the free-form pencil to refine the result.
    5. Choose Keep Changes when finished.

    This newer tool supports free-form drawing for keep/remove regions, but it does not provide true pixel-by-pixel erasing like the previous implementation. There is no supported setting or toggle in the documented Mac builds to restore the old pixel-level eraser.

    For scenarios that require precise pixel editing, the documented guidance is to use an external image editor (for example, the Microsoft Photos app or another dedicated graphics tool), save the image with transparency (such as PNG), and then insert it back into PowerPoint.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?

  2. Anonymous
    2026-05-23T09:17:25.43+00:00

    Hi David Naiditch

    Based on my research, the pixel-level background removal tool you’re referring to was part of the older manual background editing experience. In recent versions of PowerPoint for Mac (including Microsoft 365 builds like 16.109.1), the image editing experience has been updated, and the newer AI-powered Remove Background and Erase/Mark Areas tools are now used instead. At this time, the previous pixel-by-pixel erasing workflow is no longer available in the current PowerPoint for Mac interface, and there isn’t a setting to restore that exact legacy behavior.

    As a workaround, you may consider:

    • Using the “Mark Areas to Keep/Remove” options for more precise control within the current tool
    • Checking whether the same workflow meets your needs in PowerPoint on Windows, where some editing behaviors may differ

    If this functionality is important to your workflow, submitting feedback directly to the product team can help influence future improvements. You can do this in PowerPoint via: Help > Feedback > Send Feedback

    (Please understand that we're not Microsoft support, this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators have no backend access and cannot directly intervene in Microsoft products. We provide only technical guidance and best-practice recommendations based on reported issues)

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    Was this answer helpful?

  3. John Korchok 236K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-05-23T16:25:14.0466667+00:00

    This is an issue only in Microsoft 365 subscriptions. In one-time purchases of Office 2024, PowerPoint still has the old Remove Background tool.

    To work around this in Microsoft 365, click on the three-dot icon at the right end of the Quick Access Toolbar and choose More Commands. The Ribbon & Toolbar dialog opens.

    Change the Choose commands from dropdown to All Commands.

    Scroll down the list and select Remove Background.

    Click on the Add button, then OK out. The Remove Background tool is added to the right end of the QAT. Click on it when you need to use the old version of this tool.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.