How to blur your house on Google Street View, Apple Maps, and Bing

Updated September 9, 2026 · by HomeCloak

Street-level imagery is the one part of your home's online footprint you can make permanently disappear. Google, Apple, and Bing all accept blur requests from the homeowner or occupant, and once a blur is applied, it cannot be reversed. Here is the exact process for each, and what realistically happens afterward.

Google Street View (about 5 minutes)

Google only accepts the request from you, through its own report tool. No service can legitimately submit it on your behalf, which is why even paid removal services hand you this step.

Open maps.google.com, search your address, and drag the little yellow figure onto the street in front of your home to enter Street View.
Adjust the view until your house is centered, then click "Report a problem" in the bottom-right corner.
Drag the red box over your home. Under "Request blurring," choose "My home," and briefly state that you are the owner or resident requesting privacy.
Enter your email address and submit. Google may email a follow-up asking you to confirm which building; answer it promptly.
Check back in 2 to 6 weeks. The blur, once applied, covers every past and future capture of that spot and cannot be removed.

Apple Maps Look Around

Apple accepts blur and removal requests by email to its Maps image collection team, which means this one can be filed for you. Include your full address, a description of the building, and a statement that you own or occupy it. Apple typically acknowledges within a few days and applies the blur within a few weeks.

Bing Maps Streetside

Microsoft has no email option; you make the request inside Bing Maps. Open the Streetside view of your address, use the "Report a privacy concern" link at the bottom of the image, describe the building, and submit. Microsoft does not always confirm by email, so take a screenshot of the submission and re-check the imagery after a month.

What a blur does and doesn't do

A blur hides the street-level photograph of your house. It does not touch satellite or aerial views (no map service offers that), listing photos on Zillow or Redfin, or your address on people-search sites. Those are separate removals with separate processes.

Blurs are permanent. If you sell the home, the next owner inherits it. Google states plainly that a blur cannot be reversed, so be sure before you submit.

Common questions

Can I blur my house on Google Earth or satellite view?

No. Google, Apple, and Bing only blur street-level imagery. Satellite and aerial photography is licensed from imaging providers and is not blurred on request for private homes.

How do I know the blur went through?

Open Street View at your address after a few weeks. HomeCloak also checks the imagery automatically at 3 and 6 months and emails you when the blur is confirmed.

Can a removal service submit the Google request for me?

Not legitimately. Google requires the request to come from you, and the form has no option for an agent. A good service prepares everything so your own submission takes two minutes, then verifies the result.

Skip the 250 hours.

HomeCloak files verified removal requests with every listing site, people-search network, and registered data broker on our list, reads the replies, follows up on every silence, and re-files when something comes back — for $109.99 a year. We prepare the few steps only you can do.

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