How to Crop a Picture into a Circle in PowerPoint

Quick Tips

• One easy way is to crop the image to a circular shape. Select the image > Crop > Crop to shape > Circle. Adjust as needed.
• Another way is to draw a circle and fit the image into it. Insert the shape > Fill > Picture > select picture and adjust as needed.
• You can also use Picture Layout feature to crop the picture into a circle. Select the image > Picture Layout > select circular shape.

Method 1. Using Crop to Shape

PowerPoint offers a native feature to change the shape of an image. Follow these steps to make a circular picture in PowerPoint:

Step 1: Open the PowerPoint presentation that contains the image you want to convert. Or insert the image in a PowerPoint slide.

Step 2: A Picture Format tab should show up at the top. If it does not, double-click the picture once.

Step 3: In the Picture Format tab, click the Crop button at the right end of the ribbon.

Step 4: Select Crop to Shape. A menu will show up with a variety of shapes to choose from. Select a circle or oval shape from the list.

Note: If your original picture was of the appropriate aspect ratio, your picture will be cropped into a perfect circle. If not, follow the instructions to convert it into a circle.

Step 5:Click the small arrow under the Crop icon again. Choose Aspect Ratio followed by 1:1.

Step 6: Now, move the desired portion of the image into the circle. You can increase the size of the circle by dragging it using the black angle bars at its corner.

Step 7: When done, click anywhere outside the picture and your picture will be converted to a circle shape in PowerPoint.

Tip: If the above trick doesn’t work, change the picture’s aspect ratio first and then use the Crop to shape option to crop the picture to fit the circle.

Method 2. Using the Circle Shape

Another way to crop an image into a circle is by starting with a circle shape and then inserting an image into the shape instead of doing the other way round.

Step 1: Open the PowerPoint presentation. Click the Insert option in the top bar.

Step 2: Click Shapes and choose a circle shape from the list.

Step 3: Draw a circle on your slide using the mouse. Once done, right-click the newly created shape and select Fill.

Step 4: Choose Picture from the menu.

Step 5: Select the image that you want to convert into a round shape.

That’s it. The picture will automatically be converted into the circular shape that you created. Notably, if your cropped picture has an outline around it and you don’t want that, right-click on the picture and select Outline. Choose No Outline.

Tip: You can also use the fit to shape tool in Google Slides, check out the link for further details.

Crop Multiple Images to Circle at Once 

Method 1: Use Crop to Shape

If you want to crop multiple pictures into a circular shape in PowerPoint, you can do it using the first method itself. You just need to select all the pictures first. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Insert the desired pictures into your slide.

Step 2: Now, double-click any one of the images to select it. Make sure you see the Picture Format menu at the top.

Step 3: Then, press and hold the Ctrl button and click other pictures to select them.

Step 4: Once you have selected multiple images, click the arrow icon under the Crop option. Select Crop to Shape followed by circle shape.

All of the selected pictures will be cropped into an oval or circular shape. Now, you can edit them individually to the desired results.

Pro Tip: Know how to add watermark to PowerPoint slides.

Method 2. Use Picture Layout

In this method, you need to select your images and use the Picture Layout feature to convert selected images into a round shape.

Step 1: In your PowerPoint presentation, click one of the images to select it. Next, press and hold the Ctrl button and select other pictures by clicking on them.

Step 2: Now, click the Picture Layout option in the Picture Format menu at the top. Select the circular shape layout from the list

Step 3: Your selected pictures will be turned into a circle shape.

However, if you try to move these circular images, you might notice that you cannot move them out of a certain range. To fix that, double-click the circular picture and click Convert in the SmartArt Design toolbar and select Convert to shape.

However, if your requirements aren’t met, you can crop pictures into shapes online or use Canva to crop a picture into a circle shape.

FAQs on Cropping Pictures to Circle in PowerPoint