Digital photo for US online passport renewal

Updated November 1, 2026

By Passport Photo at Home · Rules checked October 9, 2026 against the State Department's Upload a Digital Photo page (last updated May 4, 2026) and its passport photo page · How we check (updated Oct 31, 2026)

Check that you can renew online first

The State Department decides who can renew online, and the conditions depend on your current passport and your situation. Read the current conditions on travel.state.gov before you start. If you can't renew online, you'll apply on a paper form with a printed 2×2 photo, which you can make with the US passport photo maker.

Digital photo rules for online renewal

What "bottom of the frame at the edge of the shoulders" means

The upload page describes the framing by where the photo ends: at the edge of your shoulders, near where they connect to your arms. In practice, the photo shows your whole head, your neck and the top of your shoulders, not your chest or a wide view of the room. If you're not sure, the page says to leave a little extra room around your face, because you can crop the photo when you upload it.

File types and this tool

The application accepts JPG, PNG, HEIC and HEIF files. This tool opens HEIC photos in Safari, and in other browsers you can choose a JPG or PNG instead. Whichever you start with, the file you save from the tool is a JPG, one of the accepted types.

How the photo is reviewed

You upload the photo inside the renewal application, and you can reposition and crop it there. The application's photo tool checks the basic requirements and tells you what to change if the photo isn't acceptable. After your application arrives, an employee reviews the photo. Getting past the upload step doesn't mean the photo has been approved.

Don't confuse the application's photo tool with the State Department's separate Photo Tool at tsg.phototool.state.gov. That tool only crops a photo to 600×600 pixels and doesn't check its quality, and its own page says not to use it for online renewal.

Online renewal photo rejected? What to do

A photo can be turned back at two points, and the fix is the same: a new photo, not an edited one.

1. While you upload it. If the application's photo tool says the photo isn't acceptable, it tells you what to change, and you can try again with a different photo. Retake the photo to fix what it names, check the new one on this page, and upload it.
2. After you apply. An employee reviews the photo. If there's an issue, you get a letter or email asking for a new photo, and your online status shows Additional Information Needed. The State Department needs the new photo within 90 days of the date on the letter.

Reply the way the letter or email says. The State Department's page on responding says some letters and emails let you reply by email, and anything you mail goes to the address in Sterling, VA exactly as it's printed on your letter. If you're unsure what to send, call the number on the letter with your application number ready. For the usual causes, see why passport photos get rejected, and how to fix them.

Make the file with this tool

1. Check that the document above the buttons says US passport online renewal. It's already selected on this page.
2. Take the photo with a helper about 4 feet away and the phone at your eye level, or choose one you've just taken. Stand several feet in front of a plain white or off-white wall, facing a window or two evenly placed lamps.
3. Let the tool crop the photo. The square crop keeps the top of your shoulders in the frame. If you want more room, use the head-size slider and the arrows.
4. Look at the checks and fix anything that failed, usually by tapping Retake. For phone photos, the usual trouble spots are uneven light and a background that looks gray.
5. Read the reminder next to the save button: no glasses or hat, a recent photo, and no filters or edits.
6. Save the JPG with the main button. It's sized to fit the 54 KB to 10 MB range. Upload it in your renewal application, then adjust the position there if the application asks you to.

What not to do with a digital photo

Online renewal is strict about changes to the image, and phones make changes without asking. Watch for these:

• Portrait mode. It blurs the background with software, so switch to the regular photo mode.
• Beauty and skin-smoothing settings. Some front cameras turn them on by default. Turn them off before you shoot.
• "Enhance" and touch-up tools in gallery apps. Auto-enhance, relighting, background removal and automatic touch-ups are edits. Use the photo as the camera took it.
• A replaced background. That's an edit too, and online renewal photos are checked closely. Cover a non-white wall with a plain white sheet or poster board and retake the photo. This tool's Fix it for me button can whiten the background, but only when you tap it, and an edited photo can be rejected.
• Fixing red eye. The State Department asks for a retake instead. Avoid the flash and use daylight.
• A photo of a print. Don't scan or photograph a printed photo to make the file. Start from an original digital photo.
• Text messages, screenshots and forwarded copies. They reduce quality, and the State Department says not to send the image by text message. Use the original file.
• ID badges and lanyards. Take them off for the photo.
• Cropping yourself out of a group photo. These crops are usually small, the light is rarely right, and part of another person often stays in the frame.
• An old favorite. Check the date in the photo's details. If it's older than 6 months, take a new one.
• A big smile. A natural smile is allowed, but the page asks you to avoid showing your teeth.

What's different from a printed US passport photo

The basics are shared: a white or off-white background, no glasses, a recent unedited picture, both eyes open. The US passport photo requirements cover the printed photo rule by rule.

Applying in person with Form DS-11 instead? It also takes a photocopy of the front and back of your ID on white 8.5 × 11 in paper.

Before you upload

• Taken today with the regular camera, not portrait or beauty mode.
• Glasses, hat, earbuds and ID badge off.
• Plain white wall, even light, no shadow behind your head.
• Shoulders at the bottom of the frame, room above your head.
• Mouth closed or a small smile without teeth.
• The saved JPG from this page, not a screenshot or texted copy.

Digital copy from Walgreens, CVS or another store

If a store takes your photo, you can ask for a digital copy to upload. This is what each store's own website said:

• Walgreens: a digital copy by email is free with the $16.99 passport photo; a USB copy costs extra (photo.walgreens.com, read Oct 7, 2026).
• CVS: $3.99 by email at select stores; $10.99 on USB, on top of the $17.99 photo (cvs.com, read Oct 7, 2026).
• FedEx Office: $15.95 for a digital copy instead of prints (office.fedex.com, read Oct 7, 2026).
• Staples: USB: $21.99 alone, $24.99 with prints (staples.com, read Oct 7, 2026).
• USPS and Walmart: a digital photo on a USB drive, at a price they don't publish (usps.com, read Oct 7, 2026; photos3.walmart.com, read Oct 7, 2026).

A store's file has to meet the same upload rules. Upload the file you received, not a photo or scan of the print, and look at it first (you can check the photo you already have on this site): shoulders in the frame, a plain background, no glasses. Making the file here is free, and you can retake it until it's right. For prices and retake policies side by side, see passport photo prices and digital copies at each store.

Questions