How to Fix Faded, Old, and Damaged Photos Instantly With Meta AI: Step-by-Step Guide

If you've got old family photos sitting around that have faded, yellowed, or just look worn out from age, Meta AI's new Muse Image model can restore them in a single tap, no editing software or photo restoration skills required.

Here's exactly how to do it.

What This Feature Actually Does

Muse Image, Meta's first image generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, powers a presets panel inside Meta AI built specifically for people who don't want to write out a detailed prompt every time. One of those presets is dedicated entirely to restoring old, faded photographs, cleaning up discoloration, fading, and general wear without you needing to describe any of it yourself.

How to Restore an Old Photo

1. Open Meta AI and upload the old or faded photo you want to fix.
2. Head to the presets panel, this is the section built specifically to help you get started without writing your own prompt.
3. Select the photo restoration preset.
4. Meta AI processes the image and returns a restored version, correcting fading, discoloration, and general wear in one pass.

Why This Is Different From a Manual Prompt

You could technically type out a detailed prompt asking Meta AI to fix a faded photo yourself, but the preset exists specifically to skip that step. Muse Image is built to understand complex requests through advanced reasoning, so even with just a tap instead of a written prompt, it's still working through the image contextually rather than applying a generic filter.

Sharing or Refining the Result

Once you've got your restored photo, you can download it or share it directly to your feed, story, or chat across Meta's apps. If the result isn't quite right, you don't have to start over from scratch. Tap the markup icon on the image, circle or sketch over the specific area you want changed, and Meta AI will refine it based on that annotation while remembering the context of what you've already done.

Where You Can Use This

This restoration preset is available now inside Meta AI. The same underlying Muse Image model also powers new AI effects on Instagram Stories and image generation inside WhatsApp chats in select countries, with more regions expected to get access soon.

Everyday use of this feature is free. Meta has positioned heavier, more frequent usage as part of its paid subscription plans.