Google’s Gemini image editor has attracted a lot of attention for its powerful AI image editing capabilities. Naturally, this has led to a simple but important question: can Google Gemini really remove watermarks from photos?
This review takes an honest look at what Gemini can and cannot do when it comes to watermark removal. We’ll separate technical capability from product policy, examine real-world reliability, and explain why Gemini behaves differently from dedicated watermark removal tools.
What is Google’s Gemini image editor?
Google’s Gemini image editor is part of Google’s broader Gemini AI ecosystem, which combines text, image, and multimodal generation capabilities into a single AI system. Image editing is one of Gemini’s many functions, alongside writing assistance, coding, search-related tasks, and content generation.
Gemini’s image editing features are primarily designed for general-purpose visual modifications, such as removing objects, extending backgrounds, or making contextual changes to images through natural language prompts. These capabilities are powered by advanced generative models that analyze an image, understand its structure, and predict what edited areas should look like after changes are applied.
Understanding Gemini as a general AI image editor rather than a specialized watermark removal solution is essential before evaluating its real-world performance. This context helps explain both its impressive technical potential and its practical limitations.
Can Gemini actually remove watermarks from photos?
The most accurate answer is that Gemini can remove watermarks technically, but it usually isn’t allowed to do so in practice. This distinction explains much of the confusion surrounding Gemini’s watermark removal capabilities.
From a technical standpoint, Gemini’s image models are capable of removing objects from photos and reconstructing the background behind them. This process is similar to AI inpainting, where the model analyzes surrounding pixels and predicts what should exist in the edited area. Because a watermark is visually just another object layered on top of an image, Gemini can theoretically remove it in the same way it removes unwanted elements.
However, technical capability does not equal official support. In consumer-facing versions of Gemini, requests to remove watermarks are often blocked or refused. Users may see warnings related to copyright, content ownership, or ethical use. In some cases, Gemini simply declines the request without explanation. This behavior is intentional and reflects Google’s policies rather than a limitation of the underlying AI.
Where watermark removal has been demonstrated successfully is mostly in experimental or developer-oriented environments, where policy enforcement may be less strict or applied differently. These environments are not designed for everyday users and are typically labeled as experimental, meaning results are inconsistent and not guaranteed.
This creates a gap between what users see in demonstrations and what they can reliably do themselves. While Gemini’s AI models can reconstruct areas covered by watermarks, Google does not position Gemini as a tool for watermark removal, nor does it provide a stable workflow for that purpose.
Gemini’s watermark removal capability exists at a technical level, but policy restrictions make it unreliable and inaccessible for most users. This is an important distinction to keep in mind when comparing Gemini to dedicated watermark removal tools that are explicitly designed and permitted to perform this task.
How to remove watermarks from images by Gemini
It's not difficult to remove watermarks, you follow these steps to do:
Step 1: Open Gemini chat at https://gemini.google.com/
Step 2: Upload watermarked images with a prompt. We use a simple prompt, as in the above picture: " Remove watermarks from this image. Based on your requirements, you can make a better prompt. Eg: Remove watermarks from this image. Try to make it look natural. Don't reposition objects in the picture."
Step 3: Wait for Gemini return the results, then you can download a watermark-free image to your device.
Note: You should be a paid subscriber of Gemini to remove watermark faster with the Banana model. Free users can edit images too, but with limitations.
Understanding Gemini’s watermark removal restrictions
Google’s restrictions around watermark removal are primarily driven by copyright, licensing, and responsible AI use. Watermarks are commonly used to protect intellectual property, signal ownership, or indicate that an image requires licensing. Allowing unrestricted watermark removal in a consumer AI product could encourage misuse and expose the platform to legal and ethical risks.
This is why Gemini’s behavior can seem inconsistent. If a user asks Gemini to “remove text” or “clean up part of an image,” the request may sometimes succeed if the system does not clearly interpret the content as a watermark. However, direct requests to remove logos, brand marks, or watermarks are far more likely to trigger refusals or warnings.
Even if you buy a Plus plan on Gemini, your images after removing the original watermarks would still be watermarked by Google. You can see the icon at the bottom right corner. ( See from our before-and-after pictures).
Another factor is scale. Google’s AI products serve a massive global audience, which requires conservative policy enforcement. Even if watermark removal could be technically justified in certain legitimate cases, such as editing your own images, automated systems cannot reliably verify ownership or intent. As a result, policies are applied broadly rather than on a case-by-case basis.
This cautious approach explains why watermark removal appears in experimental demonstrations but not as a supported feature. Google prioritizes safety and compliance over flexibility, even if that means limiting what its AI models are allowed to do in public-facing tools.
Gemini vs dedicated AI watermark removal tools
Comparing Google’s Gemini image editor with dedicated AI watermark removal tools highlights an important distinction: Gemini is a powerful general-purpose AI, while watermark removal tools are designed specifically for this single task.
Gemini’s biggest advantage lies in the sophistication of its underlying AI models. Google’s image systems demonstrate strong visual understanding, allowing Gemini to interpret complex scenes, recognize objects, and generate realistic edits. When Gemini can perform image modifications, the results can be visually impressive.
Despite its technical capabilities, Gemini has clear limitations when it comes to watermark removal. Most importantly, it does not offer an official or supported feature for removing watermarks. Requests related to watermark removal are often blocked or refused due to policy restrictions, making outcomes unpredictable.
Dedicated AI watermark removal tools take a very different approach. Platforms like DrWatermark are purpose-built specifically for detecting and removing watermarks, which makes their behavior more predictable and consistent.
Unlike general AI systems, these tools are designed around clear workflows for watermark removal. Users know what to expect, whether they are removing a logo from a photo or cleaning watermarks from AI-generated videos. Many dedicated tools also support both images and videos, something Gemini does not reliably offer.
Should you rely on Gemini to remove watermarks?
Google’s Gemini image editor demonstrates just how advanced modern AI image models have become. Gemini works best as a general AI image editor and a tool for experimentation. It can be useful for exploring AI-driven image edits or understanding what generative models are capable of. But when the goal is to consistently remove watermarks from photos or videos, Gemini’s limitations become clear.
Gemini is powerful, but it is not designed to be a watermark remover. For users who value consistency, control, and trust, purpose-built watermark removal tools remain the more dependable choice.
