Remove EXIF and metadata from images
Strip EXIF, GPS, IPTC and XMP metadata from photos before sharing. See exactly what was hidden inside, then remove it and verify the result.
- Runs in your browser
- Files are never uploaded
- Free, no account
How to remove EXIF and other metadata
- Drop in the photos you are about to share. Each one is parsed immediately and the tool lists every tag it found.
- Expand a file to read the full inventory — camera body, lens, serial number, exposure, timestamps, captions, and GPS coordinates if present.
- Press Remove metadata. Each image is decoded to raw pixels and re-encoded from scratch, which is the only way to be certain nothing is carried over.
- The cleaned file is parsed a second time and the tag count is shown. A green “verified clean” badge means the re-parse found nothing at all.
What is actually hiding in a photo
| Block | Typical contents | Privacy risk |
|---|---|---|
| EXIF — camera | Make, model, body and lens serial numbers, firmware | Links every photo you have ever posted to the same physical camera |
| EXIF — exposure | Shutter, aperture, ISO, focal length, flash | Low, but reveals your gear and habits |
| EXIF — timestamps | Original, digitised and modified dates, timezone offset | Places you at a location at a specific minute |
| GPS IFD | Latitude, longitude, altitude, heading, accuracy | High — the exact spot the shutter fired, to a few metres |
| IPTC | Caption, headline, byline, credit, city, country, keywords | Names, employers and locations added by editing software |
| XMP | Editing history, software used, ratings, catalogue IDs | Reveals workflow and sometimes local file paths |
| Maker note | Vendor-specific data, sometimes face-detection results | Undocumented and unpredictable |
| Thumbnail | A small JPEG preview embedded in the file | Can still show the uncropped original image |
That last row catches people out regularly. Some editors update the main image but leave the embedded thumbnail alone, so a photo you carefully cropped can still carry a miniature of what you cropped out. Re-encoding from pixels removes the thumbnail along with everything else.
Why re-encoding is the reliable method
There are two ways to strip metadata. One is to walk the file structure and delete the segments you recognise — fast, and it preserves the compressed data exactly, but it only removes what the parser knows about. Vendor extensions, unusual XMP packets and application-specific segments can slip through.
The other is to decode the image to a raw pixel buffer and write a brand-new file from it. Only pixels cross that boundary, so nothing else can survive by construction. That is what this tool does, and it is why the cost is one re-compression pass for JPEG output. At quality 95 that generation loss is invisible; choose PNG output and the copy is mathematically pixel-perfect, just larger.
Who strips metadata for you, and who does not
| Channel | Metadata removed? |
|---|---|
| Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn posts | Yes — images are re-encoded on upload |
| WhatsApp / Signal / Telegram “photo” mode | Usually yes (the image is recompressed) |
| WhatsApp / Telegram “document” or “file” mode | No — the original file is sent intact |
| Email attachments | No |
| Cloud drive share links | No |
| AirDrop and Bluetooth transfer | No (unless location is disabled in the share sheet) |
| Marketplace and classified-ad listings | Varies — do not rely on it |
| Your own website or CMS upload | Depends entirely on the software |
When you should keep the metadata
Metadata is not the enemy — it is only a problem when it travels further than you intended. Keep it for your own archive: dates and camera settings make a library searchable, GPS makes a map view possible, and IPTC credit fields are how photographers get paid. The right workflow is to keep full metadata on the master copy and strip it from the copy you publish. Use the metadata viewer first if you want to read everything before deciding.
Turning geotagging off at the source
- iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera → Never. Or, when sharing, tap Options at the top of the share sheet and switch off Location.
- Android: open the Camera app → Settings → turn off “Save location” or “Location tags”.
- Dedicated cameras: disable the built-in GPS, and unpair any phone-based location logging in the companion app.
Those settings only affect photos taken afterwards. Anything already in your library still carries its coordinates — which is exactly what this tool is for.
Questions
What exactly is removed?
Everything except the pixels: EXIF (camera, lens, exposure, serial numbers), GPS coordinates, IPTC captions and credits, XMP blocks, JFIF headers, embedded colour profiles and camera thumbnails. The image is rebuilt from raw pixel data, so nothing can survive by accident.
How do I know it actually worked?
Every cleaned file is parsed a second time after encoding and the tag count is shown next to it. A green "verified clean" badge means the re-parse found zero tags — not a promise, a measurement you can see.
Why does GPS in a photo matter?
A geotagged photo records where it was taken to within a few metres. Posting one from home, from a child’s school or from a hotel discloses that address to anyone who downloads the original file. Most social networks strip EXIF on upload, but email attachments, cloud links and messaging apps in "document" mode do not.
Does stripping metadata reduce image quality?
Re-encoding a JPEG costs one generation of compression, which is why the quality defaults to 95 — visually indistinguishable. Choose PNG output for a mathematically pixel-perfect copy at the cost of a larger file.
Is the file uploaded to check it?
No. Parsing and re-encoding both happen in this page. Nothing is transmitted, which is the only sane way to handle a file you are cleaning precisely because it is sensitive.