Remove EXIF Data
Strip location and camera data from a photo without recompressing it.
File
Result
Your converted file will appear here.
About the Remove EXIF Data converter
A photo straight off a phone records where it was taken, when, and which camera took it. Posting one publishes all of that alongside the picture.
This removes the metadata and leaves the image data exactly as it was — the same pixels, the same compression, just without the block that identifies you.
The image is not recompressed
Most tools strip metadata by drawing the photo onto a canvas and saving it again. That does remove the metadata, but it also throws away the original JPEG compression and re-encodes from scratch, losing quality every time.
Here the file is edited as bytes: the metadata segments are cut out and the compressed image data is copied across untouched. The result is bit-for-bit the same picture, and the tests assert exactly that.
Two tags worth keeping
Orientation says which way up the camera was held. Removing it is what makes a cleaned photo suddenly appear sideways, so by default it is rebuilt into a minimal block containing that one value and nothing else — no location, no serial number, no dates.
The ICC colour profile describes how the colours should be interpreted. Dropping it from a wide-gamut photo makes it look washed out on a good screen. Both are kept by default and can be turned off.
What gets removed
EXIF, including GPS coordinates, camera make and model, body and lens serial numbers, exposure settings and timestamps. XMP, which editing software uses for its own history. IPTC and Photoshop resource blocks. JPEG comments.
In a PNG: `tEXt`, `zTXt` and `iTXt` text chunks, the `eXIf` block and the `tIME` modification timestamp.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know it actually worked?
Run the cleaned file back through the EXIF viewer — it should report nothing but the orientation you chose to keep. The result panel also lists exactly which blocks were removed.
Does this stop a photo being traced entirely?
No. Metadata is the easy part. The picture itself can still identify a place, and some cameras leave faint sensor noise patterns that survive any metadata edit. This removes what is written down, not what is visible.
Why did it say there was nothing to remove?
The file already had no metadata. Screenshots usually have none, and images saved from most social platforms have already been stripped on upload.
Which formats are supported?
JPEG and PNG. Those are what cameras, phones and screenshots produce, and both store metadata in a documented structure that can be read without decoding the image. HEIC and RAW files use containers this does not parse.
Is my photo uploaded?
No, and on this page that matters more than anywhere else on the site. The whole point is to find or remove the location a photo records, and every tool that asks you to upload it first has already been given the thing you were trying to protect. This runs in your browser and works with the network off.