How to remove an image background in Figma

To remove an image's background in Figma, select the image and click Remove background in the secondary toolbar. Figma AI removes the background, and you can export the result as a PNG that keeps the transparency. The button is part of Figma AI, which Figma's help lists for paid plans; it needs edit access to the file and uses AI credits. If you relied on the remove.bg plugin, read the section on December 1 below.

Remove a background with Figma's built-in tool

1. Select one or more images on the canvas.
2. Find Remove background:
   • In Figma Design, Figma Slides and Figma Sites, click it in the secondary toolbar.
   • In FigJam, open the inline toolbar and select AI tools, then Remove background.
   • In Figma Buzz, open the inline toolbar and select Edit, then Remove background.
3. Check the result before you build on it.

You can select several images at once, and Figma removes the background from each of them.

Figma describes the tool as handy for layering an image over a design or isolating the main object. For fine hair or fur, check the edges closely on the colors your design uses: a fringe that disappears on white can show up on a dark background.

What it costs in AI credits

Figma AI runs on credits shared across its AI features. As of September 2026, Figma's credit table lists 1 to 5 credits per image for Remove background. Each seat includes a monthly allowance: a Full seat gets 3,000 credits a month on the Professional plan, and Dev, Collab and View seats get 500. Credits reset every month and don't roll over; the AI balance option in the Figma menu shows what you have left.

When the credits run out, the paid AI features stop until the next reset or until an admin adds more. An admin can also turn AI off for a whole plan, and then image tools like this one aren't available.

If you used the remove.bg plugin

The Figma Community's Remove BG plugin removes backgrounds through the remove.bg API; its listing says you need a remove.bg account.

That changes on December 1, 2026. remove.bg's FAQ says its standalone website is no longer available from that day, its self-service API stops accepting requests, and its other integrations and plugins are discontinued. A plugin that sends your images to that API can't remove backgrounds after that, unless its developer moves it to another service. Before then:

• Switch to Figma's own button if your plan includes Figma AI. It works on the canvas, with no plugin or separate account.
• Check other Community plugins carefully. Several remove backgrounds, but each has its own pricing and its own way of processing images, so read the listing before sending client work through it.
• Export your remove.bg records. remove.bg asks users to download their credit usage report and invoices from the Account page before December 1. Our remove.bg checklist covers credits, plans and API code.

Developers who wrote their own tools on the remove.bg API can point them at our remove.bg-compatible API by changing the host and the key.

Export a transparent PNG from Figma

1. Select the layer with the cutout.
2. In the Export section, toward the bottom of the right sidebar, click the plus to add an export setting.
3. Choose PNG as the format. JPG can't store transparency and fills empty areas with a solid color.
4. Click Export. In the browser the file goes to your downloads folder; the desktop app asks where to save it.

If you export a frame that has a fill, such as white, the PNG includes it. Deselect Show in exports in the frame's Fill section, or select and export the image layer by itself. To paste the result into another app without saving a file, right-click the layer, hover over Copy/Paste as and select Copy as PNG.

Without Figma AI: remove it here, then import the PNG

On a plan without Figma AI, or when you've used up your credits, you can make the cutout in your browser and bring it back to Figma:

1. In Figma, right-click the image, choose Copy/Paste as, then Copy as PNG.
2. Paste it into the background remover on this site with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. A preview PNG up to 0.25 megapixels is free without signup or a watermark; larger Max downloads use one credit.
3. Check the edges with the before/after slider. The cutout keeps soft, partly transparent edges, and the erase and restore brushes fix leftovers.
4. Download the PNG and drag it onto the Figma canvas, or use Place image/video: Shift Command K on a Mac, Shift Ctrl K on Windows.

Figma scales any image larger than 4096 × 4096 pixels down so its longest side is 4096 pixels, so a larger file gains nothing inside Figma. For a whole set of product shots or headshots, the bulk background remover processes up to 50 images and downloads them as a ZIP; unzip it and Place image/video brings several files into Figma at once.

Other design apps have their own tools: the Photoshop guide covers Remove Background and Select Subject, and the Canva guide covers BG Remover.