Corrupted photos are more common than people think. An interrupted file transfer, a dying memory card, a laptop that stop working mid-save — any of these can leave you staring at a grey box where a photo used to be is now corrupted. The good news: you don’t need to install anything to fix most of them. These six browser-based tools handle the heavy lifting.
1. Stellar Online Photo Repair — Best All-Around Pick
Stellar’s online repair tool does what most competitors struggle with: it actually fixes file-level corruption, not just cosmetic damage. You upload the broken image, it runs its repair engine, and you can preview the result before downloading a thing.
Where it stands out is format support. Beyond the usual JPG and JPEG, it handles HEIC, TIFF, DNG, NEF, ARW, CR2, RAF, and a long list of other RAW formats from major camera brands. That makes it genuinely useful for videographers or photographers, not just casual phone users.
Stellar free online photo repair covers up to three JPEG/JPG files, with a 20 MB cap per file. It tackles the usual corruptions — blurry images, pixelated output, greyed-out previews, color loss, and files that refuse to open at all.
Best for: Files that are actually broken at the data level, not just faded or scratched.
2. GoStudio AI Photo Restoration
GoStudio takes a different angle. Rather than repairing corrupted files, it focuses on old printed photos — the kind with scratches across someone’s face, stains from decades in a box, or colours so faded they’re barely there. The AI fills in what’s missing and sharpens what remains.
No credit card is needed, and it works with JPG, PNG, WEBP, and HEIC. It won’t save a file that won’t open, but for restoring a scan of a grandmother’s wedding photo, it’s hard to beat.
Best for: Old family photos and archival restoration projects.
3. Pict AI Photo Restoration
Pict AI keeps things simple. Upload a photo, get a restored version — no settings to fiddle with, no account to create. It sharpens details, lifts colours, and reduces noise, all through the browser. Works on mobile too, which is a genuine plus if you’re restoring photos straight from your phone.
Best for: Quick fixes on faded or torn photographs.
4. AI Photo Free Restoration
What sets this one apart is the zero-friction setup — no signup, no trial limits. You upload, it repairs, you download. The restoration quality is solid for a free tool, particularly for colour correction and detail recovery. It won’t outperform dedicated software on heavily damaged images, but for most everyday restoration jobs, it gets the work done.
Best for: Anyone who wants fast results without creating an account.
5. Flux Kontext
Flux Kontext has built up a solid following among people who regularly work on photo restoration. It uses generative AI to reconstruct damaged areas rather than just applying filters, which means it can handle more complex damage — provided the original photo is still recognisable enough to work from. Results depend heavily on how bad the damage is, but on moderate restoration jobs, the output can be genuinely impressive.
Best for: Restoration enthusiasts comfortable experimenting with AI-generated reconstruction.
6. FixaPix
FixaPix is newer to the space but has gained traction as a no-fuss alternative for browser-based restoration. It handles the basics well — cleaning up damage, improving clarity, recovering some detail — and is worth trying if the more established tools haven’t delivered what you need.
Best for: Exploring newer options when mainstream tools fall short.
Which one should you use?
It depends on the problem. If the image file itself is corrupted — it won’t open, shows grey patches, or looks like a glitched mess — Stellar Online Photo Repair is the one to start with. It’s built specifically for file-level damage and supports more formats than anything else on this list.
If the image opens fine but looks rough — old, scratched, faded, torn — then GoStudio, Pict AI, or Flux Kontext will serve you better. Those tools are built for visual restoration, not file recovery, and that distinction matters.
