BlurMe is a lightweight, real-time screen blurring tool that protects your privacy during presentations, streaming, or screen sharing. With customizable blur intensity, grayscale conversion, and opacity control, BlurMe creates a soft-focus overlay over your entire screen — activated instantly with global hotkeys.
📦 Latest Release: v1.1.0 — Pre-built binaries available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Important Notes:
- 🔧 Run from source for the latest features. Pre-built binaries are available for each OS under Releases, but running from source ensures you have the newest updates.
📋 For detailed version history, see CHANGELOG.md
Grab the latest release for your operating system from the Releases page:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
Run the executable — no installation required, make sure to read the release notes!
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/BlurMe.git
cd BlurMe
# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Launch BlurMe
python src/blurme.py- Real-time Screen Blur — Applies a Gaussian blur to your entire screen with adjustable radius.
- Grayscale Mode — Convert the blurred image to grayscale with configurable intensity.
- Opacity Control — Fine-tune the overlay transparency.
- Global Hotkeys — Toggle, adjust settings, and close without ever touching the mouse.
- Cross-Platform — Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux (X11).
- Low CPU Usage — Optimized capture and processing; uses OpenCV acceleration when available.
- Persistent Settings — Your preferences are saved automatically to
blur.conf. - Extra Privacy (Sound Mute) — Optionally mute system audio when blur is active for complete privacy.
BlurMe stores settings in blur.conf next to the executable:
blur = colored # or "grayscale"
blurness = 50 # blur intensity (1-100)
opacity = 255 # overlay opacity (0-255)
grayness = 128 # grayscale intensity (0-255)
sound = 0 # 0 = mute audio when blur active, 1 = keep audioSet sound = 0 (default) to automatically mute system audio when the blur overlay is active. This provides complete privacy during presentations or screen sharing — no unexpected sounds will play from your computer.
Set sound = 1 to keep audio normal.
BlurMe responds to the following global hotkeys (press simultaneously where noted):
| Key Combination | Action |
|---|---|
F1 |
Switch to colored blur mode |
F2 |
Switch to grayscale blur mode |
F3 |
Decrease grayscale intensity |
F4 |
Increase grayscale intensity |
- (minus) |
Decrease overlay opacity |
+ (plus) |
Increase overlay opacity |
/ (slash) |
Decrease blur radius |
* (asterisk) |
Increase blur radius |
Ctrl + Alt + B |
Toggle BlurMe on/off |
Ctrl + Alt + C |
Close BlurMe completely |
On some keyboards, + and * may require the Shift key or be located on the numeric keypad.
BlurMe transforms your screen in real-time. Here are some examples:
| Original | Colored Blur | Grayscale Blur |
|---|---|---|
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– |
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Left: original screen content. Middle/Right: with BlurMe overlay active.
- Python 3.12 or higher
- pip package manager
- Linux users: X11 session required (Wayland not supported)
To create a standalone executable for your platform:
pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --icon=src/blurme.ico src/blurme.py- Multi-Backend Processing: Automatically selects the fastest available image processing library (OpenCV → Pillow).
- Efficient Screen Capture: Uses
mss(Multi-Screen Screenshot) for low-latency, high-performance screen grabbing. - Global Hotkeys: Reliable key detection via
pynput, with special handling for numpad keys and modifiers. - Persistent Configuration: Settings stored in plain-text
blur.confnext to the executable or script. - Overlay Window: A frameless, click-through, always-on-top window that paints the processed screen image with adjustable opacity.
- X11 Specifics: On Linux, uses
xpropto enforce fullscreen and docking window properties for reliable overlay behavior. - Windows DPI Awareness: Applies display affinity to ensure the overlay stays on top even in high‑DPI scenarios.
| Setting | CPU Usage (approx) |
|---|---|
| No blur (radius 0) | < 1% |
| Light blur (radius 10) | 2–5% |
| Heavy blur (radius 50) | 5–10% |
Measured on a 4‑core CPU at 30 FPS. Enabling OpenCV can reduce load by up to 50%.
BlurMe is open-source (MIT License) and welcomes contributions:
- New features (e.g., region selection, multiple monitors)
- Performance improvements
- Bug fixes and platform compatibility enhancements
- Documentation and translations
Please submit pull requests or issues via GitHub.
MIT License — See LICENSE for full details.
Built with appreciation for the open-source Python community and the developers of mss, pynput, and PyQt5. Inspired by the need for simple, effective screen privacy tools.