How to Remove EXIF Data and GPS Location from Photos
See the hidden metadata in your photos, including GPS location, camera and date, and remove it before sharing, with a free in-browser EXIF remover.
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Free tool: EXIF Viewer & RemoverEvery photo you take with a phone or camera carries hidden information: when it was taken, which device took it and, often, the exact GPS coordinates of where you were standing. That's handy for organizing your own pictures, but it can reveal more than you intend when you share them, such as where you live. This guide explains what photo metadata contains, when it matters and how to remove it with the free EXIF Viewer & Remover.
What's hidden in a photo
Most photo metadata is stored in a format called EXIF, with extra details sometimes kept as XMP or IPTC data. A typical phone photo can include:
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Location | GPS latitude, longitude and altitude |
| Date and time | When the photo was taken, sometimes to the second |
| Camera | Make, model and lens |
| Exposure | Shutter speed, aperture, ISO, flash |
| Image | Dimensions and orientation (which way is up) |
| Author and software | Editing apps used, sometimes an author name or copyright notice |
When removing metadata matters
- Selling items online. A photo of a bike taken in your garage can carry your home's coordinates.
- Sharing photos of children, which can reveal their school or the places they go regularly.
- Posting on forums, blogs and marketplaces that publish the original file.
- Sending files to people you don't know well, by email, file-sharing links or chat apps that send the original file.
- Protecting a source or your own identity, for journalists, activists and anyone reporting a problem.
Many large social networks remove most metadata from the images they show publicly, but you can't rely on every service doing so. Email attachments, cloud sharing links and websites that let people download your original file usually pass the metadata along untouched.
How to check a photo's metadata
You can view it on most devices: on Windows, right-click the file and open Properties, then Details; on a Mac, open the photo in Preview and choose Tools, then Show Inspector; in the iPhone Photos app, swipe up on a photo to see where and when it was taken. The EXIF Viewer & Remover shows everything in one place and flags photos that contain a GPS location.
How to remove metadata with Graph Maker
- Open the EXIF Viewer & Remover and drop your photos onto the page, or click to choose them. It works with JPG, PNG and WebP files, up to 50 at a time.
- Review what each photo contains. Open Show metadata to see the camera, date, location and other details, grouped by type. Photos with a location are marked GPS location, with a link to see the spot on a map, which is a quick way to understand what you'd be sharing.
- Decide about rotation. Keep photo rotation is on by default. Phones often save photos sideways with a note saying which way is up; keeping just that note means the cleaned photo still displays the right way round. It reveals nothing about you.
- Remove the metadata, one photo at a time with Remove metadata, or all at once with Remove metadata from all.
- Download the clean copies, individually or together with Download all (.zip). Each shows its new file size next to the original.
The photos are processed in your browser and never uploaded, which matters for a privacy tool. The tool removes the metadata by editing the file's structure without re-compressing the image, so the picture itself is untouched and loses no quality. iPhones save photos in the HEIC format by default, which the tool can't edit: convert them to JPG with the Image Converter first, which also removes their metadata, or have your iPhone save JPG files instead by going to Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choosing Most Compatible.
Stop location tags at the source
If you rarely need locations in your photos, turn them off on your phone:
- iPhone: go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services, then Camera, and choose Never. When sharing a single photo, you can also tap Options at the top of the share sheet and switch Location off.
- Android: open your camera app's settings and turn off the location tag option (the name varies by phone maker).
Turning it off only affects new photos, so clean the ones you've already taken before sharing them.
Frequently asked questions
Does removing EXIF data reduce image quality?
Not with this tool. It removes the metadata without re-encoding the image, so every pixel stays exactly the same. The file just gets slightly smaller.
Do screenshots contain metadata?
Usually very little: typically the dimensions and sometimes the date or the software used, but not a GPS location. Photos from a camera app are the ones to check.
Can removed metadata be recovered?
Not from the cleaned copy; the information is gone from that file. Your original photo still has it, so keep the originals private if they contain locations you don't want to share.