How to Remove EXIF Data From Photos (Phone or Computer)
EXIF data embedded in photos can include GPS coordinates, camera serial numbers, and timestamps. Here's how to strip it before sharing — without uploading anything.
Every photo your phone or camera takes carries a hidden block of metadata called EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format). It includes the camera model, lens, ISO, shutter speed — useful for photographers — but it usually also includes the exact GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken and a timestamp accurate to the second.
If you post a photo to a forum, send it on Discord, or upload it to a marketplace, anyone who downloads the file can read that metadata with a free tool. Most large platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) strip EXIF on upload, but smaller sites, email attachments, and direct file shares pass it through untouched.
If you don't want strangers seeing your home address or daily routine pinned to a map, strip EXIF before sharing.
What EXIF actually contains
A typical phone photo carries:
- GPS latitude and longitude. Often accurate to 5 meters — that's "which room of the house" precision.
- Date and time the shutter fired, with timezone.
- Camera make, model, and unique serial number. The serial can identify the specific camera if it's been registered or sold before.
- Lens model. Useful for fingerprinting a photographer's gear.
- Software that processed the file (e.g., "Photoshop 25.1", "iOS 18 Camera").
- User comment fields that some apps populate with notes.
You can see all of it for any photo by right-clicking → Properties → Details on Windows, or Get Info → More Info on macOS.
How to strip it
You have three options depending on how many photos you're cleaning and how much you trust the platform doing the work.
Option 1 — Browser-based, single file or batch
Metadata Eraser processes the file entirely in your browser using OffscreenCanvas. Drop in JPEGs, PNGs, or HEICs and it strips EXIF, IPTC, and XMP metadata, then offers the cleaned file for download. Nothing uploads anywhere.
This is the right choice when you want to be sure the metadata is gone before you share — and you don't want to install software or trust an online uploader with the original.
Option 2 — On your phone, before sending
- iOS: Photos app → select the image → tap the share icon → at the top of the share sheet, tap "Options" → toggle "All Photos Data" off → "Location" off. Then send. iOS will strip GPS and most metadata for that send.
- Android: Google Photos → open image → share → there's no native EXIF strip on stock Android. Use a third-party app like Scrambled Exif (open source) or Dropvert's Metadata Eraser tool above.
Option 3 — Desktop tools
- macOS: Preview can save a copy without metadata: File → Export → uncheck "Include Location Information".
- Windows: Right-click the file → Properties → Details tab → "Remove Properties and Personal Information" link at the bottom → select "Create a copy with all possible properties removed".
- Adobe Lightroom / Photoshop: Export with "Metadata: Copyright Only" or "None".
What stripping does NOT remove
EXIF is metadata. It's stored in a header block that's separate from the actual image pixels. Stripping EXIF removes the metadata; it does not alter the image. If your photo accidentally includes identifying detail in the frame — a license plate, a street sign, a window with a recognizable view — those are still visible after EXIF strip. For those, you need to crop or blur the relevant region.
For face anonymization, see Blur Faces — automatic detection plus manual touch-up.
Verifying it worked
After stripping, drop the cleaned file back into Metadata Eraser and it will report "no metadata found", or run exiftool yourfile.jpg from the command line. If exiftool prints just file-system info (size, modification time) you're clean.
Why this matters
Researchers have shown that EXIF GPS data leaks have led to real-world stalking, doxxing, and operational compromise of journalists' sources. The 2018 case of fitness app Strava unintentionally publishing the locations of secret military bases through aggregated GPS metadata is the canonical example. The more careful posture is: strip metadata by default before sharing any photo with the public, and only re-enable it when there's a specific reason (e.g., you're contributing to a photo journalism archive that requires provenance data).
Tools mentioned in this guide
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