The Photoshop Remove Tool: The Future of Image Editing

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1. 0:00 Introduction
2. 0:30 Remove Tool Setup
3. 2:40 Remove the Purse and Its Shadow
4. 3:35 Fix Seams with Generative AI On
5. 4:33 Related Elements in the Photoshop Beta
6. 5:52 Enhance vs Done and Generative Credits
7. 7:07 Mask the Related Elements Result
8. 7:36 Remove the Car
9. 8:54 Generative Fill with Nano Banana 2
10. 9:52 Mask Around the Subject
11. 11:16 Final Thoughts

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The Photoshop Remove Tool erases an unwanted object with a brush stroke and rebuilds the background behind it.

Loop around a trash can, a purse, or a person, release the mouse, and Photoshop fills the gap with pixels that match the scene.

It is the tool I reach for first on every professional retouching job, and it has grown since it shipped in 2023. It now chooses between on-device and generative AI processing on its own. A new Related Elements option in the Photoshop Beta also removes the shadows, reflections, and lens flares an object leaves behind.

This guide covers the settings that matter, the three removal modes, and the masking fix that saves a result when the AI changes too much.

The Remove Tool itself needs Photoshop 2023 (version 24.5) or the current version. Related Elements needs the Photoshop Beta, October 2026 or later.

What You Will Learn

• How to set up the Remove Tool so every edit lands on its own blank layer
• What Auto, Generative AI On, Cloud, and Device actually change
• How to remove a large object and its shadow in one pass
• How Related Elements removes a sun flare, and why it can soften a face
• How to mask a generated layer so only the good pixels show
• What to do when the Remove Tool is the wrong tool for the job

Requirements

Keyboard Shortcuts

What Is the Photoshop Remove Tool?

The Remove Tool is an AI-powered brush that removes anything from a photo in Photoshop. Paint over a water bottle, a purse, or a person in the background, and Photoshop rebuilds what was behind it.

It needs no selection and no text prompt. You loop around the object, release, and the removal runs.

Since 2023 the tool has picked up a Mode dropdown, a choice between cloud and on-device processing, and the Related Elements option covered later in this guide.

What Makes the Remove Tool Different?

You might wonder what sets the Remove Tool apart from the Spot Healing Brush Tool or Content-Aware Fill. The answer is machine learning.

Content-Aware Fill samples the pixels around the area and blends them in. It does a great job on consistent backgrounds like sand, sky, or a plain wall.

The Remove Tool is built for harder jobs. It handles complex backgrounds and edges, and it keeps the depth of the scene.

How to Set Up the Photoshop Remove Tool

From the Layers Panel, create a new blank layer. Every removal lands on this layer, so the original pixels stay untouched.

Then select the Remove Tool from the toolbar. It is nested under the Spot Healing Brush Tool. If you do not see it, click the three-dot icon and reset the toolbar to default.

With the tool active, check these settings in the Options Bar.

Remove After Each Stroke also appears in the Contextual Taskbar. Both switches do the same thing.

Step 1: Remove Small Objects with Auto

Start with a trash can in the background. Click and loop around it, and make sure the loop includes its shadow. When you come back to where you started and release, Photoshop fills the loop and starts the removal.

Watch the Options Bar. A progress bar means Photoshop sent the area to the cloud for generative processing.

Now paint short strokes over small bits of trash on the pavement. These disappear almost instantly, with no progress bar, because Auto handled them on your computer.

That is the point of Auto. You brush, and Photoshop picks the processing method for each stroke. Spend as long as you like on the ground, the oil stains, and the rest of the clutter. All of it lands on the blank layer you created at the start.

Step 2: Turn Off Remove After Each Stroke for Larger Objects

For a purse hanging from a shoulder, you need more than one stroke. In the Options Bar, turn off Remove After Each Stroke.

Paint over the strap. When you release, nothing happens. That is the setting doing its job.

Next, loop around the purse itself. Leave the fingers holding it alone if you can. Fingers are where generative AI gets weird, so the less you ask it to rebuild there, the more realistic the hand stays.

Then loop around the shadow the purse casts. A removed object with its shadow still on the ground looks wrong every time, so the shadow goes into the same pass.

Click Remove in the Contextual Taskbar, or press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS). Photoshop processes every painted area together. Click the eye icon on your blank layer to compare the original and the edit.

Step 3: Fix a Seam with Generative AI On

Look closely after a big removal. A faint shadow may remain, and a second pass with Auto sometimes leaves a visible seam where the fill meets the original pixels.

When that happens, undo the removal with CtrlZ (Windows) or CommandZ (macOS). Then change Mode from Auto to Generative AI On.

This forces the Remove Tool to use generative AI instead of letting Auto pick the processing method. For blending a patch into textured pixels, the generative path usually wins.

Loop around the seam again and press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS). Repeat on any leftover trace, such as a mark where the strap used to be, until the area reads clean. Double-click the Hand Tool to fit the image on screen and check the whole frame.

The Remove Tool Works Great on Edges

One of the strengths of the Remove Tool is how well it handles the edge of the frame.

To remove an object that touches the edge of your photo, paint over it the same way. If the result is not perfect, paint over the imperfections again until the edge is rebuilt the way you want it.

Short strokes and single clicks beat one long drag, and a small brush keeps the result precise. If the first pass misses, paint the spot again. The tool often needs a second try on tricky areas.

Remove Related Elements in the Photoshop Beta

Related Elements is the new option in the Remove dropdown. It searches the entire image for the traces an object left behind and removes those too.

Adobe’s list of traces is longer than the three the video shows. In the beta announcement, Adobe names shadows, reflections, footprints, splashes, ripples and wakes, lens flare, smoke, and steam.

To turn it on, go to the Options Bar, open the Remove dropdown, and choose Related Elements. The same option sits in the Contextual Taskbar.

If Related Elements is grayed out, check three things. You need an internet connection, Mode set to Generative AI On, and Generative AI Processing set to Cloud.

Related Elements uses generative credits, and so does the Enhance button you will meet in the next step. The standard Remove Tool with Selected Area Only and on-device processing costs nothing.

Step 4: Remove a Sun Flare with Related Elements

In the video, the sun sits above a row of palm trees and throws flare streaks across them. The sun is the source. The streaks are the related elements.

With Related Elements active, loop around the sun and press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS). Photoshop analyzes the whole image, including the edits already on your blank layer, and removes the sun and the streaks together.

A blue notice tells you Photoshop created a new layer. Close it and look at the Layers Panel. The result sits on a layer named Remove tool edits, above everything else.

The Contextual Taskbar now offers two buttons. Done applies the result as it is. Enhance runs the result through a customized upscaler to sharpen it, and that sharpening is baked into the layer. There is no separate sharpening layer to toggle later.

Enhance spends additional credits, so treat it as optional. Zoom in, judge the result, and click it only if the detail needs help.

Step 5: Mask the Remove Tool Result

Select the Zoom Tool and zoom in on the person in the photo. Her face has lost detail. The regenerated layer is smoother than the original, because the whole frame was regenerated, not only the sky.

Related Elements is in beta, and I expect this to improve. For now, use what it does well and throw away the rest. In this case it removed the flare over the palm trees, and that was the job.

With the Remove tool edits layer active, hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel. That adds a black mask, which hides the entire layer.

Select the Brush Tool, set white as your foreground color, and paint over the palm trees. White on the mask reveals the generated pixels only where you paint.

In other words, you keep the flare correction over the trees while the rest of the image, including her face, comes from the layers underneath.

Step 6: When the Remove Tool Fails, Try a Partner Model

Now try the same feature on a car parked behind the subject. Click the layer thumbnail of the Remove tool edits layer, not its mask thumbnail, so the Remove Tool paints on pixels.

With Remove After Each Stroke off, loop around the visible part of the car on each side of her and click Remove. Both areas process together, and a new generated layer appears without the car.

This time the pavement does not look realistic, and her face changes again. The tool was not the tool for this job. Hide that layer and try a different model.

With the Rectangular Marquee Tool, draw a perfect square selection around her body and the car. Depending on your settings, you may need to hold Shift (Windows) or Shift (macOS) to lock the proportions.

Click Generative Fill. Under the Model dropdown, choose Partner Models, then Gemini 3.1 with Nano Banana 2. Type the prompt and press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS).

Why a square? In my tests, the Gemini models align their generation with the background better inside a perfect square. The further the selection is from a square, the more likely the generation drifts off the content below it.

For this image, Nano Banana 2 gives a better car removal. It still changes the details in her face, so the mask fix comes back one more time. For more on these models, see the Partner AI Models guide.

Step 7: Mask Around the Subject in Photoshop

With the generated layer active, delete the mask Generative Fill created. Then hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the Layer Mask icon again to add a fresh black mask.

Click the layer thumbnail, then go to Select > Subject. This selects her, and you want everything except her, so check that the selection covers her entire body first.

Anything the selection misses will be replaced by generated pixels when you paint. If it looks good, press CtrlShiftI (Windows) or CommandShiftI (macOS) to invert the selection.

Make sure the mask thumbnail has the white focus outline, then paint white with the Brush Tool to hide the car. The inverted selection protects her body, so you are only revealing the generated background. When you are done, click Deselect.

Zoom in for remnants of the car near her edges. With the mask still active and white as your foreground color, paint over them to reveal more of the generated background. You are changing the mask, never the original pixels.

To compare with the original, select the top layer. Hold Shift (Windows) or Shift (macOS) and click the layer above the Background layer, then press CtrlG (Windows) or CommandG (macOS) to group them. Toggle the group’s eye icon for a before and after.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Future of Image Editing

As a member of the Advisory Team who worked with Adobe on the Remove Tool, I can tell you this is still just the beginning. The tool that shipped in 2023 as a single brush now routes strokes between your computer and the cloud. Related Elements is the first version that understands an object’s shadow and flare belong to it.

Whether you are a professional retoucher or someone who loves to take photos, the Remove Tool changes how much time a cleanup takes. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

Conclusion

The Remove Tool turns most cleanup jobs into a loop and a click. Keep Auto on for everyday clutter and switch to Generative AI On when a seam shows. Turn off Remove After Each Stroke when an object and its shadow need one pass.

Related Elements is powerful and still in beta. Let it do the part it is good at, then mask out the rest. When even that fails, a partner model through Generative Fill and one more mask will get you there.

That is what Photoshop has always been about: combining tools and techniques to get the result the project needs. Watch the video above for every step in real time, and comment on the video if you have a question.

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Related Links

• How to Remove Anything From a Photo in Photoshop
• Photoshop Partner AI Models – The Ultimate Guide
• Generative Fill in Photoshop – The Ultimate Guide!
• Remove Reflections in Photoshop with the New AI Tool
• The New Content-Aware Fill in Photoshop 2019 – Complete Guide

Final Image

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