Check what your photos reveal, like where they were taken, then save clean copies without changing a single pixel.
Phones and cameras tuck extra information into every photo. The most common kind is EXIF (camera make and model, lens, exposure, the date and time the photo was taken, and often the exact GPS position and altitude). Editing apps add XMP and IPTC blocks with edit history, names or copyright notes, and some files carry text comments or small preview images that hold their own copy of all that. Share the original file and you may be sharing your home address.
This tool first reads the metadata with the open-source exifr library so you can see what is there. It then cleans the file by working directly on its structure instead of redrawing the picture. A JPEG is a list of segments; the tool copies the image data segments byte for byte and leaves out the APP1 (EXIF and XMP), APP13 (IPTC/Photoshop), comment and other application segments. It keeps the ICC color profile so colors look the same, and anything stored after the end of the image is dropped. PNG files are handled chunk by chunk (text, eXIf and time chunks are removed), and WebP files lose their EXIF and XMP chunks. Because the compressed image data is untouched, the pixels are exactly identical and there is no quality loss.
One field needs care: orientation. Many phones store a photo sideways and add a flag saying "rotate 90°". Removing that flag would make the photo appear sideways, so by default the tool writes back a tiny new EXIF block containing only the orientation number and nothing else. If you'd rather have no EXIF at all, choose to rotate the pixels; the photo is then redrawn upright and re-saved at 95% quality, which is visually the same but no longer bit-identical. Example: a 3.1 MB phone photo with GPS, camera and date tags typically comes out a few kilobytes smaller, looks identical, and has only "Orientation: 6" left.
Do social networks remove location data anyway?
Many large platforms strip EXIF from public uploads, but not all of them, and files sent by email, messaging apps set to "original quality", cloud links or marketplaces often keep it. Cleaning the photo yourself means you don't have to rely on someone else.
Will removing metadata reduce the quality?
No, with the default setting. The compressed image data is copied byte for byte, so the picture is pixel-for-pixel identical. Only the optional "rotate the pixels" setting re-saves a JPEG, at a high 95% quality.
Can I remove metadata from HEIC photos from an iPhone?
Not directly here. Convert them with our HEIC to JPG tool first, then open the JPG copies here to check and clean them. You can also set the iPhone camera to "Most Compatible" to save JPEGs.
Why keep the color profile?
The ICC profile tells apps how to display colors, especially for wide-gamut photos from newer phones. It contains no personal information, and removing it can make colors look dull. A profile only names the color space, not you or your device.
Does this hide what is visible in the photo?
No. Metadata is hidden data. Faces, house numbers, license plates or a street sign in the picture itself are still visible. Use our Blur Image tool to cover those before sharing.