Remove metadata from photos

Metadata is information saved inside a photo file alongside the picture itself. Most of it is EXIF data, a standard that phones and cameras use to record how and where a photo was taken. You don't see it when you look at the photo, but anyone who has the file can read it with a few clicks.

Photos can also carry XMP and IPTC data added by editing apps, an embedded thumbnail preview, and on some phones a short video clip or depth map hidden after the image.

• Your location: Phones save GPS coordinates accurate to a few meters, which can point straight to your home, school or workplace.
• When it was taken: The date and time down to the second, which can reveal your routine.
• Your device: The phone or camera model, lens and sometimes a serial number that links photos back to the same camera.
• Your name: Some cameras and editing apps store an owner, artist or copyright name.
• Edits you made: Editing apps can record the software used, and the embedded thumbnail can still show the photo from before you cropped it.

The tool reads your photo in your browser, finds the sections of the file that hold metadata, and removes them. Nothing is sent to our servers, and no account is needed.

No quality loss

Many metadata removers redraw the photo and save it again, which compresses it a second time. This tool copies the image data untouched, so the clean photo looks exactly like the original.

What gets removed and what's kept

We remove GPS location, EXIF data, XMP and IPTC data, comments, embedded thumbnails, Content Credentials and any hidden data after the image. We keep only the color profile and the rotation flag, so the photo still looks and displays correctly.

It works with JPG, PNG and WebP photos, and you can clean as many as you like at once.

Some social networks strip location data from photos you post publicly, but many ways of sending photos deliver the original file exactly as it is, metadata included:

• Email attachments
• Cloud storage links like Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud
• Messaging apps when you send a photo as a file or document instead of as a photo
• File transfer services

VeilShare is one of them too. Files are end-to-end encrypted, so we never touch what you send, and your recipient gets it byte for byte. If you don't want someone to know where a photo was taken, clean it first, then share it.

The tool above works in any modern browser, on phones too. If you'd rather use what's built into your device, here's how.

iPhone

To send a photo without its location, tap Share, tap Options at the top of the share sheet and turn off Location. To remove the location from the photo itself, open it in Photos, swipe up to see its details, tap Adjust next to the location and choose No Location.

HEIC photos aren't supported by this tool yet. To have your iPhone take JPG photos instead, go to Settings > Camera > Formats and choose Most Compatible.

Android

Most Android phones don't have a built-in way to remove all metadata from a photo. To stop new photos from being tagged with your location, open your Camera app's settings and turn off location tags (sometimes called Save location). For photos you've already taken, open this page in your phone's browser and use the tool above.

Windows

Right-click the photo in File Explorer, choose Properties, open the Details tab and click Remove Properties and Personal Information. Then choose to create a copy with all possible properties removed. It works for JPG files but doesn't always remove everything, such as XMP data.

Mac

Open the photo in Preview, choose Tools > Show Inspector, then open the info tab. If the photo has a location, you'll see a GPS tab with a Remove Location Info button. This only removes the location, not the camera details or date.

Removing metadata hides what's stored in the file, not what's in the picture. Before you share a photo, also check for:

• Street signs, house numbers, landmarks or views from your window
• Faces, name tags, documents or screens in the background
• Reflections in windows, mirrors and sunglasses
• The file name, which we keep as it is. Rename the file if it gives something away