Products
  • Wolfram|One

    The definitive Wolfram Language and notebook experience

  • Mathematica

    The original technical computing environment

  • Notebook Assistant + LLM Kit

    All-in-one AI assistance for your Wolfram experience

  • Compute Services
  • System Modeler
  • Finance Platform
  • Wolfram|Alpha Notebook Edition
  • Application Server
  • Enterprise Private Cloud
  • Wolfram Engine
  • Wolfram Player
  • Wolfram Cloud App
  • Wolfram Player App

More mobile apps

Core Technologies of Wolfram Products

  • Wolfram Language
  • Computable Data
  • Wolfram Notebooks
  • AI & Linguistic Understanding

Deployment Options

  • Wolfram Cloud
  • wolframscript
  • Wolfram Engine Community Edition
  • Wolfram LLM API
  • WSTPServer
  • Wolfram|Alpha APIs

From the Community

  • Function Repository
  • Community Paclet Repository
  • Example Repository
  • Neural Net Repository
  • Prompt Repository
  • Wolfram Demonstrations
  • Data Repository
  • Group & Organizational Licensing
  • All Products
Consulting & Solutions

We deliver solutions for the AI era—combining symbolic computation, data-driven insights and deep technical expertise

  • Data & Computational Intelligence
  • Model-Based Design
  • Algorithm Development
  • Wolfram|Alpha for Business
  • Blockchain Technology
  • Education Technology
  • Quantum Computation

Wolfram Consulting

Wolfram Solutions

  • Data Science
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Biosciences
  • Healthcare Intelligence
  • Sustainable Energy
  • Control Systems
  • Enterprise Wolfram|Alpha
  • Blockchain Labs

More Wolfram Solutions

Wolfram Solutions For Education

  • Research Universities
  • Colleges & Teaching Universities
  • Junior & Community Colleges
  • High Schools
  • Educational Technology
  • Computer-Based Math

More Solutions for Education

  • Contact Us
Learning & Support

Get Started

  • Wolfram Language Introduction
  • Fast Intro for Programmers
  • Fast Intro for Math Students
  • Wolfram Language Documentation

More Learning

  • Highlighted Core Areas
  • Demonstrations
  • YouTube
  • Daily Study Groups
  • Wolfram Schools and Programs
  • Books

Grow Your Skills

  • Wolfram U

    Courses in computing, science, life and more

  • Community

    Learn, solve problems and share ideas.

  • Blog

    News, views and insights from Wolfram

  • Resources for

    Software Developers

Tech Support

  • Contact Us
  • Support FAQs
  • Support FAQs
  • Contact Us
Company
  • About Wolfram
  • Career Center
  • All Sites & Resources
  • Connect & Follow
  • Contact Us

Work with Us

  • Student Ambassador Initiative
  • Wolfram for Startups
  • Student Opportunities
  • Jobs Using Wolfram Language

Educational Programs for Adults

  • Summer School
  • Winter School

Educational Programs for Youth

  • Middle School Camp
  • High School Research Program
  • Computational Adventures

Read

  • Stephen Wolfram's Writings
  • Wolfram Blog
  • Wolfram Tech | Books
  • Wolfram Media
  • Complex Systems

Educational Resources

  • Wolfram MathWorld
  • Wolfram in STEM/STEAM
  • Wolfram Challenges
  • Wolfram Problem Generator

Wolfram Initiatives

  • Wolfram Science
  • Wolfram Foundation
  • History of Mathematics Project

Events

  • Stephen Wolfram Livestreams
  • Online & In-Person Events
  • Contact Us
  • Connect & Follow
Wolfram|Alpha
  • Your Account
  • User Portal
  • Wolfram Cloud
  • Products
    • Wolfram|One
    • Mathematica
    • Notebook Assistant + LLM Kit
    • Compute Services
    • System Modeler
    • Finance Platform
    • Wolfram|Alpha Notebook Edition
    • Application Server
    • Enterprise Private Cloud
    • Wolfram Engine
    • Wolfram Player
    • Wolfram Cloud App
    • Wolfram Player App

    More mobile apps

    • Core Technologies
      • Wolfram Language
      • Computable Data
      • Wolfram Notebooks
      • AI & Linguistic Understanding
    • Deployment Options
      • Wolfram Cloud
      • wolframscript
      • Wolfram Engine Community Edition
      • Wolfram LLM API
      • WSTPServer
      • Wolfram|Alpha APIs
    • From the Community
      • Function Repository
      • Community Paclet Repository
      • Example Repository
      • Neural Net Repository
      • Prompt Repository
      • Wolfram Demonstrations
      • Data Repository
    • Group & Organizational Licensing
    • All Products
  • Consulting & Solutions

    We deliver solutions for the AI era—combining symbolic computation, data-driven insights and deep technical expertise

    WolframConsulting.com

    Wolfram Solutions

    • Data Science
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Biosciences
    • Healthcare Intelligence
    • Sustainable Energy
    • Control Systems
    • Enterprise Wolfram|Alpha
    • Blockchain Labs

    More Wolfram Solutions

    Wolfram Solutions For Education

    • Research Universities
    • Colleges & Teaching Universities
    • Junior & Community Colleges
    • High Schools
    • Educational Technology
    • Computer-Based Math

    More Solutions for Education

    • Contact Us
  • Learning & Support

    Get Started

    • Wolfram Language Introduction
    • Fast Intro for Programmers
    • Fast Intro for Math Students
    • Wolfram Language Documentation

    Grow Your Skills

    • Wolfram U

      Courses in computing, science, life and more

    • Community

      Learn, solve problems and share ideas.

    • Blog

      News, views and insights from Wolfram

    • Resources for

      Software Developers
    • Tech Support
      • Contact Us
      • Support FAQs
    • More Learning
      • Highlighted Core Areas
      • Demonstrations
      • YouTube
      • Daily Study Groups
      • Wolfram Schools and Programs
      • Books
    • Support FAQs
    • Contact Us
  • Company
    • About Wolfram
    • Career Center
    • All Sites & Resources
    • Connect & Follow
    • Contact Us

    Work with Us

    • Student Ambassador Initiative
    • Wolfram for Startups
    • Student Opportunities
    • Jobs Using Wolfram Language

    Educational Programs for Adults

    • Summer School
    • Winter School

    Educational Programs for Youth

    • Middle School Camp
    • High School Research Program
    • Computational Adventures

    Read

    • Stephen Wolfram's Writings
    • Wolfram Blog
    • Wolfram Tech | Books
    • Wolfram Media
    • Complex Systems
    • Educational Resources
      • Wolfram MathWorld
      • Wolfram in STEM/STEAM
      • Wolfram Challenges
      • Wolfram Problem Generator
    • Wolfram Initiatives
      • Wolfram Science
      • Wolfram Foundation
      • History of Mathematics Project
    • Events
      • Stephen Wolfram Livestreams
      • Online & In-Person Events
    • Contact Us
    • Connect & Follow
  • Wolfram|Alpha
  • Wolfram Cloud
  • Your Account
  • User Portal
Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center
FindFaces
  • See Also
    • FacialFeatures
    • FaceAlign
    • FaceRecognize
    • ImageIdentify
    • ImageContents
    • ImageBoundingBoxes
    • HighlightImage
    • HighlightVideo
    • Classify
    • CurrentImage
    • ImageKeypoints

    • Classifiers
    • FacialAge
    • FacialGender
    • FacialExpression
    • NotablePerson
  • Related Guides
    • Computer Vision
    • Feature Detection
    • Video Analysis
    • Image Processing & Analysis
    • Machine Learning
    • Video Computation: Update History
    • Computational Photography
    • Video Processing
    • Signal Visualization & Analysis
    • See Also
      • FacialFeatures
      • FaceAlign
      • FaceRecognize
      • ImageIdentify
      • ImageContents
      • ImageBoundingBoxes
      • HighlightImage
      • HighlightVideo
      • Classify
      • CurrentImage
      • ImageKeypoints

      • Classifiers
      • FacialAge
      • FacialGender
      • FacialExpression
      • NotablePerson
    • Related Guides
      • Computer Vision
      • Feature Detection
      • Video Analysis
      • Image Processing & Analysis
      • Machine Learning
      • Video Computation: Update History
      • Computational Photography
      • Video Processing
      • Signal Visualization & Analysis

FindFaces[image]

attempts to find human faces in image and returns a list of bounding boxes.

FindFaces[image,prop]

returns the specified property prop for each detected face.

FindFaces[image,crit,prop]

finds faces that satisfy the criterion crit.

FindFaces[video,…]

finds faces in frames of video.

Details and Options
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Data  
Properties  
Criteria  
Options  
AcceptanceThreshold  
MaxFeatures  
MaxOverlapFraction  
Show More Show More
Method  
Padding  
PaddingSize  
PerformanceGoal  
SortedBy  
Applications  
Properties & Relations  
Possible Issues  
See Also
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page
BUILT-IN SYMBOL
  • See Also
    • FacialFeatures
    • FaceAlign
    • FaceRecognize
    • ImageIdentify
    • ImageContents
    • ImageBoundingBoxes
    • HighlightImage
    • HighlightVideo
    • Classify
    • CurrentImage
    • ImageKeypoints

    • Classifiers
    • FacialAge
    • FacialGender
    • FacialExpression
    • NotablePerson
  • Related Guides
    • Computer Vision
    • Feature Detection
    • Video Analysis
    • Image Processing & Analysis
    • Machine Learning
    • Video Computation: Update History
    • Computational Photography
    • Video Processing
    • Signal Visualization & Analysis
    • See Also
      • FacialFeatures
      • FaceAlign
      • FaceRecognize
      • ImageIdentify
      • ImageContents
      • ImageBoundingBoxes
      • HighlightImage
      • HighlightVideo
      • Classify
      • CurrentImage
      • ImageKeypoints

      • Classifiers
      • FacialAge
      • FacialGender
      • FacialExpression
      • NotablePerson
    • Related Guides
      • Computer Vision
      • Feature Detection
      • Video Analysis
      • Image Processing & Analysis
      • Machine Learning
      • Video Computation: Update History
      • Computational Photography
      • Video Processing
      • Signal Visualization & Analysis

FindFaces

FindFaces[image]

attempts to find human faces in image and returns a list of bounding boxes.

FindFaces[image,prop]

returns the specified property prop for each detected face.

FindFaces[image,crit,prop]

finds faces that satisfy the criterion crit.

FindFaces[video,…]

finds faces in frames of video.

Details and Options

  • FindFaces is also known as face detection, which is a common computer vision technique that returns detected faces.
  • FindFaces returns faces as a list of bounding boxes, each given as a Rectangle object.
  • Coordinates {x,y} are assumed to be in the standard image coordinate system.
  • The property prop can be any of the following:
  • "BoundingBox"bounding boxes returned as Rectangle objects
    "BoundingBoxArea"pixel area of each face
    "Confidence"strength of the detected face
    "Image"subimages containing each face
    "Position"the position of each face given as {x,y}
    featureany feature available in FacialFeatures
    {prop1,prop2,…}a list of properties
  • The criterion crit can be any of the following:
  • {min,max}faces of size min through max in pixels
    {Scaled[amin],Scaled[amax]}faces of relative size amin to amax
    ffaces that satisfy f
  • When a pure function f is used, facial features such as age and gender can be accessed using #Age and #Gender. A face is returned if f returns True.
  • For the complete list of facial features, see the reference page for FacialFeatures.
  • The following options can be given:
  • AcceptanceThreshold Automaticdetection acceptance threshold
    MaxFeatures Allnumber of faces to return
    MaxOverlapFraction Automaticmaximum allowed overlap fraction
    Method Automaticmethod to use
    Padding "Fixed"padding scheme to use at image boundaries
    PaddingSize 0amount of padding around each detected face
    PerformanceGoal $PerformanceGoalwhat to optimize in the detection
    SortedBy Automaticfunction to use for sorting the result
    TargetDevice"CPU"the target device to use
  • With PaddingSize->x, each detected face is padded by x pixels on each side. Using PaddingSize->Scaled[s], each face is padded by a fraction s of its bounding box.
  • If available, faces are padded with image content. At the boundaries, the setting of Padding is used.
  • By default, detected faces are sorted based on their strength. Use SortedBy->f to specify a different sorting function. The function f can access available properties using the pattern #prop.
  • Possible settings for Method include:
  • "Haar"cascade detector based on Haar features
    "LocalBinaryPatterns"cascade detector based on LBP features
    "SingleShotDetector"neural network detector based on SSD architecture
    {method1,method2,…}aggregates the result of all methodi
  • For multichannel images, the "Haar" and "LocalBinaryPatterns" methods operate on grayscale intensities.
  • FindFaces uses machine learning. Its methods, training sets and biases included therein may change and yield varied results in different versions of the Wolfram Language.
  • FindFaces may download resources that will be stored in your local object store at $LocalBase, and that can be listed using LocalObjects[] and removed using ResourceRemove.

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (2)

Find coordinates of faces in an image:

Extract subimages that include faces:

Detect and highlight a face in an image:

Scope  (9)

Data  (2)

Find faces in an image:

Find faces in frames of a video:

Highlight detected faces on the video:

Properties  (4)

Compute the face bounding box:

Extract the portion of the image corresponding to the bounding box:

Extract multiple properties:

Extract features available in FacialFeatures:

Criteria  (3)

Use a computable property as a test argument:

Some test results can be used as shortcuts for the whole test:

Find faces of all sizes:

Specify a maximum face size in pixels:

Specify a minimum face size in pixels:

Use Scaled to specify the face size relative to the image dimensions:

Options  (10)

AcceptanceThreshold  (1)

By default, all the detected faces are returned:

Use AcceptanceThresholdt to return only detections with strength greater than t:

Use AcceptanceThreshold0 to return all the detected faces:

MaxFeatures  (1)

By default, all the detected faces are returned:

Use MaxFeaturesn to return only the n strongest detections:

MaxOverlapFraction  (1)

By default, all the detected faces are returned, regardless of their overlapping:

Find only non-overlapping faces:

Allow up to 2 percent of overlap:

Method  (2)

FindFaces automatically picks the detection method:

Specify the method to use:

Use the combined result from multiple methods:

The "LocalBinaryPatterns" method is a cascade classifier that works on a histogram of the gradients (HoG) features. It is a very fast and lightweight multiscale method:

The "Haar" method is a cascade classifier working on Haar features. It is more robust than "LocalBinaryPatterns" but generally slower:

The "SingleShotDetector" method is based on a single neural net evaluation, and it is very stable with respect to variations in pose, illumination, occlusion and subjects. It is slower compared to two other methods:

Padding  (1)

The bounding box of a detection can be padded beyond the image boundary:

Specify a custom padding specification:

PaddingSize  (2)

FindFaces by default returns a fairly tight crop around each face:

Specify a padding size to be added around each face:

Specify a negative padding to crop more:

Specify a scaled padding:

Compare detected faces using different paddings:

PerformanceGoal  (1)

Use PerformanceGoal"Quality" to emphasize the quality of the result:

Use PerformanceGoal"Speed" to emphasize the speed of computation:

SortedBy  (1)

By default, detections are sorted by "Confidence":

Specify a different property:

Applications  (3)

Find and highlight detected faces:

Find and blur all detected faces:

Dynamic detection of faces:

Find the number of faces in each video frame:

Plot the result:

Properties & Relations  (2)

Faces may be detected in spite of rotation in the image plane:

Faces may be detected in spite of intensity changes:

Possible Issues  (3)

Upright faces are usually better detected:

Other faces may be detected when rotating the image:

Faces turned away from the camera may not be detected:

Very small or low resolution faces may not be detected:

Resampling the image may improve the detection:

See Also

FacialFeatures  FaceAlign  FaceRecognize  ImageIdentify  ImageContents  ImageBoundingBoxes  HighlightImage  HighlightVideo  Classify  CurrentImage  ImageKeypoints

Classifiers: FacialAge  FacialGender  FacialExpression  NotablePerson

Function Repository: OccludeFaces

Related Guides

    ▪
  • Computer Vision
  • ▪
  • Feature Detection
  • ▪
  • Video Analysis
  • ▪
  • Image Processing & Analysis
  • ▪
  • Machine Learning
  • ▪
  • Video Computation: Update History
  • ▪
  • Computational Photography
  • ▪
  • Video Processing
  • ▪
  • Signal Visualization & Analysis

History

Introduced in 2012 (9.0) | Updated in 2018 (11.3) ▪ 2019 (12.0) ▪ 2020 (12.1) ▪ 2024 (14.1) ▪ 2025 (14.2)

Wolfram Research (2012), FindFaces, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindFaces.html (updated 2025).

Text

Wolfram Research (2012), FindFaces, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindFaces.html (updated 2025).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2012. "FindFaces." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2025. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindFaces.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2012). FindFaces. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindFaces.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_findfaces, author="Wolfram Research", title="{FindFaces}", year="2025", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindFaces.html}", note=[Accessed: 04-February-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_findfaces, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={FindFaces}, year={2025}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/FindFaces.html}, note=[Accessed: 04-February-2026]}

Top
Introduction for Programmers
Introductory Book
Wolfram Function Repository | Wolfram Data Repository | Wolfram Data Drop | Wolfram Language Products
Top
  • Products
  • Wolfram|One
  • Mathematica
  • Notebook Assistant + LLM Kit
  • Compute Services
  • System Modeler

  • Wolfram|Alpha Notebook Edition
  • Wolfram|Alpha Pro
  • Mobile Apps

  • Wolfram Engine
  • Wolfram Player

  • Volume & Site Licensing
  • Server Deployment Options
  • Consulting
  • Wolfram Consulting
  • Repositories
  • Data Repository
  • Function Repository
  • Community Paclet Repository
  • Neural Net Repository
  • Prompt Repository

  • Wolfram Language Example Repository
  • Notebook Archive
  • Wolfram GitHub
  • Learning
  • Wolfram U
  • Wolfram Language Documentation
  • Webinars & Training
  • Educational Programs

  • Wolfram Language Introduction
  • Fast Introduction for Programmers
  • Fast Introduction for Math Students
  • Books

  • Wolfram Community
  • Wolfram Blog
  • Public Resources
  • Wolfram|Alpha
  • Wolfram Problem Generator
  • Wolfram Challenges

  • Computer-Based Math
  • Computational Thinking
  • Computational Adventures

  • Demonstrations Project
  • Wolfram Data Drop
  • MathWorld
  • Wolfram Science
  • Wolfram Media Publishing
  • Customer Resources
  • Store
  • Product Downloads
  • User Portal
  • Your Account
  • Organization Access

  • Support FAQ
  • Contact Support
  • Company
  • About Wolfram
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Events
Wolfram Community Wolfram Blog
Legal & Privacy Policy
WolframAlpha.com | WolframCloud.com
© 2026 Wolfram
© 2026 Wolfram | Legal & Privacy Policy |
English