How to Get Rid of the Black Background when Viewing Facebook Photos

Last Updated: July 24, 2018 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to view Facebook photos without the black background that blocks zooming and editing. Due to recent changes in Facebook’s interface, viewing a photo on its own now requires opening it outside of Facebook, such as in a web browser or by saving it to your mobile device.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:
Using the iOS App

1
Tap a photo in the Facebook app. To view a photo without a black background, you’ll have to save it to your iPhone or iPad.
2
Tap …. It’s at the top right corner of the screen.

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3
Tap Save Photo.
4
Press the Home button to return to the home screen. This is the large round button below the screen.
5
Open the Photos app. It’s an app on your home screen with a multicolored flower-like icon.
6
Tap Albums. It’s at the bottom right corner of the screen.
7
Select the “All Photos” album.
8
Tap the photo. Now you can pinch (or reverse-pinch) the photo to zoom, share it with another app, or edit it in your favorite image editor.

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Method 2

Method 2 of 4:
Using the Android App

1
Tap a photo in the Facebook app. You can save any Facebook photo to your Android to view it without a black background.
2
Tap …. It’s at the top right corner of the screen.
3
Tap Save Photo.
4
Press the Home button to return to the home screen. It’s the circle icon at the bottom center area of the screen.
5
Open the Photos app. You’ll find it in the app drawer (or on your home screen). Its icon is a 4-color geometric design.
- If you use a different Android app to manage your photos (such as the Gallery app that came with your device), you can use that.
6
Tap the photo. Now you can pinch (or reverse-pinch) the photo to zoom, share it with another app, or edit it in your favorite image editor.

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Method 3

Method 3 of 4:
Using a macOS Web Browser

1
Click a photo on Facebook. The photo will open with its usual black background.
2
Press Ctrl as you click the photo.
3
Click Copy image address.
- If you don’t see this option, press Ctrl while clicking on a different part of the photo.
4
Press ⌘ Command+T to open a new browser tab.
5
Click in the address bar. This is the bar at the top of the screen where you type web addresses.
6
Press ⌘ Command+V. The direct URL to the photo will appear in the box.
7
Press ⏎ Return. You will now see the picture without a black background.
- To save the image to your Mac, hold down Ctrl as you click the image, then select Save Image As.
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Method 4

Method 4 of 4:
Using a Windows Web Browser

1
Click a photo in on Facebook.
2
Right-click the photo.
3
Click Copy Image Address.
- If you don’t see this option, try right-clicking on a different area of the photo.
4
Press Ctrl+T to open a new browser tab.
5
Click in the address bar. This is the bar at the top of the screen where you type web addresses.
6
Press Ctrl+V. A long URL will appear in the box.
7
Press ↵ Enter. The picture will now appear without a black background.
- To save it to your computer, right-click the image and select Save Image As.
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Community Q&A

Question

I have a black background on my inbox with white lettering, how do I change it back?

Community Answer

It sounds like you may have accidentally inverted the colors in your device's screen settings. The steps to correct this vary by device, but that should give you a good starting point.
Question

Can I turn off black in theater on my iPhone or only on a laptop? How did I add this anyway? Even the comments under the pictures are in black!

Community Answer

You can view the image without the black background on any device.
Question

How do I do this on my phone in the Facebook app?

Community Answer

Select the "View the version for web" option in your phone's browser and it will work just fine.