How to Blur a Check or Money Order Photo Before Posting It
A check photo carries a full bank routing and account number. Cover that strip before the JPEG goes on a post, in a group, or over text.
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Posting a photo of a check — proof of a refund, a paycheck stub attached to it, a rent reimbursement — is common in disputes, reviews, and receipts for side gigs. A check photo carries a full bank routing and account number, which is enough for someone to attempt fraudulent transactions if it's ever shared publicly without covering it.
Open the photo in this tab, black-box the routing and account number strip (and a money-order serial if it hasn't been cashed), and download a PNG. Processing stays on your device. If the leak is an account number on a statement rather than a paper check, use blur a bank account number. If the screenshot is a crypto wallet instead, blur a crypto wallet balance screenshot matches that UI. Stay here for a photographed check or money order.
Guide
The routing number and account number printed along the bottom of the check are the two fields that matter most. Together they are what someone would need to attempt to move money out of the account. The check number itself is far less sensitive and can usually stay visible so the photo still works as proof.
What to redact on a check or money order photo
Cover the routing number and account number strip along the bottom of the check. Cover both — covering only one still leaves half of the pair visible. On a money order, the serial number along the top or side is the equivalent field worth covering if the money order hasn't been cashed yet, since an uncashed money order's serial number can sometimes be used to inquire about or interfere with it.
You can leave the payee, amount, date, and check number visible when those are the proof. Cover a signature if the recipient does not need to see it.
How to cover the numbers in HideShot
- Open the photo in the browser tool. Drop the file on this page or paste with Ctrl+V / Cmd+V. The file stays on your device.
- Draw a box over the routing and account number strip along the bottom of the check (or the serial number on a money order).
- Apply a solid black box rather than a light blur since these are strings of digits that need to be fully unreadable. A light blur can sometimes still be read with basic image sharpening.
- Zoom to 100%. If any digit remains readable, enlarge the box.
- Download the result before posting or sending it anywhere. Do not post the unmarked original first and try to swap it later.
Scenarios
Someone posts a photo of a settlement or refund check in a class-action subreddit or Facebook group as proof it arrived, without covering the account number. Cover the routing and account number strip. The amount and payee can stay if that's the proof.
A landlord shares a photo of a security deposit refund check with a former tenant over text, and the same photo later gets forwarded somewhere else. Cover the numbers before the first send.
A person selling something on a marketplace app photographs a money order they received as proof of payment before depositing it. Cover the serial number until it has been cashed.
Common mistakes
Covering only the account number and leaving the routing number visible (or the reverse). Both are needed together to attempt a fraudulent transaction, so both need to be covered.
Using a light blur instead of a solid block on a string of digits, since a light blur can sometimes still be read with basic image sharpening.
Posting the photo before the check has cleared and before redacting it, then trying to delete or edit the post later after it's already been seen or saved by someone else.