Remove EXIF Data – Strip GPS and Metadata From Photos

Q: Why is my photo sideways after removing metadata with another tool?

That tool deleted the orientation tag. Keep Keep the orientation tag ticked here, or use re encoding, which rotates the pixels themselves.

EXIF Remover

Remove EXIF data and GPS location from photos before sharing. Lossless for JPEG and PNG, batch processing, and nothing is uploaded.

Drop your photos here or click to choose them Your files stay on your device: they are never uploaded.

Method Re-encoding quality (92 %) Only used when a file is re-encoded as JPG or WebP.

Keep the orientation tag Keep the color profile (ICC)

These two options apply to the lossless method. Re-encoding rotates the pixels upright and drops every tag.

How to remove EXIF data from photos

Drop one or more photos on the drop zone, or click it to choose them. Each file gets a row that lists what it contains, for example “Found: GPS location, camera make and model, date taken, EXIF data, XMP”.
Choose the Method. Lossless when possible (JPEG, PNG) removes the metadata without touching the image data; other formats are re-encoded. Always re-encode the pixels decodes and saves every file again.
Decide what to keep. Keep the orientation tag (on by default) keeps photos the right way up. Keep the color profile (ICC) preserves exact colors for wide-gamut photos, such as Display P3 pictures from recent phones; the profile holds no personal information.
Click Remove metadata. Each row then shows what was removed and what was kept, plus the size before and after. Download each file with its own button, or use Download all.

Lossless removal: how it works

A JPEG file is a sequence of segments. The compressed picture lives in the frame and scan segments; metadata lives in “application” segments: APP1 holds EXIF (and the GPS block, the thumbnail and the camera details) or XMP, APP13 holds IPTC and Photoshop data, APP2 holds the ICC color profile or the multi-picture index, and COM holds comments. This tool reads the markers one by one, copies the image segments byte for byte and drops the metadata segments. Extra data that some phones append after the end-of-image marker is dropped as well. The pixels are therefore identical to the original: no quality is lost, and the file only gets smaller.

For PNG, the same idea applies to chunks: text chunks (tEXt, zTXt, iTXt, which may contain XMP), the eXIf chunk and the modification time are removed, while the image data is copied untouched.

Keeping photos the right way up

Cameras often save pictures in the sensor’s orientation and add an EXIF tag telling viewers to rotate them. Deleting the whole EXIF block would make those photos appear sideways. With Keep the orientation tag, this tool writes a new, minimal EXIF block that contains only the orientation value and nothing else. With the re-encoding method, the rotation is applied to the pixels instead, so no tag is needed.

Lossless or re-encode?

Lossless is faster, keeps full quality and never changes a pixel. It is the best choice for JPEG and PNG.
Re-encoding works for any image your browser can open (WebP, HEIC in Safari, AVIF, GIF, BMP). HEIC and AVIF photos are saved as JPG, other formats as PNG. Re-encoding a JPEG loses a little quality, controlled by Re-encoding quality, and replaces the photo’s own ICC profile with the browser’s generic sRGB one.

Everything runs in your browser: your photos are never uploaded, which matters for a privacy tool.

Frequently asked questions

What metadata does a phone photo contain?

Usually the phone make and model, lens, exposure settings, the date and time, the software version, often the GPS position and altitude, and sometimes a small thumbnail of the original picture, which can reveal content you later cropped out.

Does removing EXIF reduce image quality?

Not with the lossless method: the compressed image data is copied byte for byte. Only re-encoding recompresses the picture.

Why is my photo sideways after removing metadata with another tool?

That tool deleted the orientation tag. Keep Keep the orientation tag ticked here, or use re-encoding, which rotates the pixels themselves.

Do social networks remove EXIF data?

Most large networks strip it from the images they publish, but not always from the file they keep, and email, cloud links and many messaging “send as file” options keep everything. Removing it yourself is the only way to be sure.

How can I check that the location is gone?

Open the cleaned file in the EXIF Viewer: the location section should say that there is no GPS location in the file.