EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is hidden information that cameras and smartphones automatically embed in every photo. It can include the GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken, the date and time, the camera model and serial number, the lens used, exposure settings, the editing software, and even the photographer's name. Most people don't realize this data is there — and that it travels with the photo when shared by email, social media, or messenger.

Why should I remove EXIF data before sharing a photo?

EXIF metadata can reveal your home address through GPS coordinates, your daily routine through timestamps, the device you own, and even the software you use. Stalkers, advertisers, and curious strangers can extract this information from any photo you post publicly. Removing EXIF data before sharing is a basic privacy precaution — comparable to not sending personal documents in unsealed envelopes.

Which file formats are supported?

JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) — full EXIF, IPTC, XMP and Photoshop metadata read and stripped. PNG (.png) — tEXt, iTXt, zTXt and eXIf chunks. WebP (.webp) — EXIF and XMP chunks. TIFF (.tif, .tiff) — full EXIF tag tree. HEIC/HEIF (.heic) — read-only viewing of EXIF (stripping requires re-encoding which is browser-limited).

Can I process multiple photos at once?

Yes. Drop or select multiple files. Each photo is shown in the list with its metadata. Click 'Remove all & download ZIP' to get all cleaned files in a single archive.

What about social media — don't they remove EXIF anyway?

Some platforms strip EXIF, others keep parts. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter remove most EXIF on public posts but retain some internally. WhatsApp, Telegram (when 'send as file'), email attachments, forums, blogs, eBay, Discord and most messengers keep EXIF intact. The safest assumption is that EXIF travels with your photo unless you remove it yourself.

Will the GPS map I see leak my location?

We do NOT load any map tiles for your GPS coordinates. We only show the latitude and longitude as plain text. If you want to see the location on a map, you can copy the coordinates and paste them into OpenStreetMap or Google Maps yourself — but only when you choose to. The tool itself never sends your coordinates to any third party.

What's the difference between EXIF, IPTC and XMP?

EXIF is the camera-generated technical metadata (model, exposure, GPS). IPTC is editorial metadata (caption, author, copyright, keywords) historically used by news agencies. XMP is Adobe's modern XML-based metadata format used by Photoshop, Lightroom and many other tools — it can contain edits, ratings, location, and more. This tool reads and removes all three types when you select 'Remove all metadata'.

Why are there famous cases of EXIF data exposing people?

The most cited case is John McAfee in 2012: while a fugitive in Central America, a Vice journalist photographed him with an iPhone and uploaded the photo with intact GPS metadata, revealing his exact location in Guatemala within hours. Other cases include anonymous bloggers being deanonymized, stalking victims locating fleeing partners through children's photos, and military personnel inadvertently revealing base coordinates. Removing EXIF before sharing is a low-effort, high-impact safety habit.

Is this tool really free? What's the catch?

It is genuinely free, with no ads, no tracking pixels, no account, no email, no upload limits, no premium tier. The tool is provided by Midgard MUD as a free service alongside our other browser-based tools. Our 'business model' is simply that some visitors then explore Midgard MUD — a free Norse-mythology online role-playing game. You're under no obligation to do so.

Free EXIF Remover — Strip GPS Metadata from Photos, Videos & PDFs

Q: Is my photo really not uploaded?

Correct. This tool runs entirely in your browser using the JavaScript File API. The photo is read locally, parsed locally, modified locally, and downloaded locally. No server, no upload, no logs, no cookies, no analytics on your file. You can verify this by opening your browser's Network tab — you will see no request that contains your image. The source code is openly readable and can be audited.

Q: Does removing EXIF reduce image quality?

No. EXIF is a separate metadata segment inside the file — removing it does not touch the actual pixel data. The cleaned image has the same dimensions, the same pixels, and the same compression quality as the original. The file is typically a few kilobytes smaller because the metadata block is gone.

📷

Drop photos here, click to select, or paste with Ctrl-V

JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, MP4, PDF · Multiple files · Drag from any webpage · Paste from clipboard

No photo handy?

Sample image credit & license

The sample image is based on Cat03.jpg by Alvesgaspar via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0, with synthetic EXIF/GPS metadata added for demonstration purposes. The GPS coordinates point to the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin.

Why we built this — and why it's truly anonymous

We built this tool because most online EXIF removers do exactly what you should avoid: they ask you to upload your private photos to a server you don't control. That's the opposite of privacy. Even when those services promise to delete your file afterwards, you have no way to verify it — and your image already passed through their network, log files, error monitors, and possibly backups.

This tool is different. Your photo never leaves your computer. When you drop a file, the browser opens it locally, parses the metadata locally, removes what you choose locally, and lets you save the cleaned file locally. There is no upload step at any point.

You can verify this yourself: press F12, open the Network tab, and drop a 50 MB photo into the tool. You will see no upload request. The tool only loads its own JavaScript and CSS files once — after that, it works fully offline.

No upload — files are read with the browser File API, never sent anywhere
No tracking pixels on your file — your image data is not part of any analytics
No account, no email, no cookies for the tool — your language preference is stored locally, that's all
No GPS lookup — we never query a map service with your coordinates; we only display them as text
Auditable — view-source on this page shows exactly what runs
Works offline — once the page is loaded, you can disconnect from the internet

What is EXIF data?

EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is hidden information that cameras and smartphones automatically embed in every photo you take. It can include:

GPS coordinates — the exact location where the photo was taken, often accurate to within a few meters
Date and time — when the photo was taken, sometimes with timezone
Camera model and serial number — the device that took the photo
Lens, exposure, ISO, aperture — full technical settings
Editing software — the program used to modify the photo, sometimes with version
Author / Owner — name or copyright info, if configured in the camera
Direction, altitude, speed — on smartphones with motion sensors

This information travels with the photo wherever it goes — by email, messenger, forum, or website upload — unless someone removes it.

Why does this matter?

Most people are unaware that their photos contain this data. Real-world consequences include:

Home address exposure — a single photo of your living room reveals where you live
Stalking and abuse — fleeing victims have been located through children's photos posted publicly
Anonymous sources deanonymized — bloggers, whistleblowers, journalists exposed by metadata
Pattern of life — timestamps show when you are home, at work, on vacation
Device fingerprinting — camera serial number identifies you across all your photos

The famous case: software pioneer John McAfee was fugitive in 2012. A journalist photographed him with an iPhone and posted it online with intact GPS metadata, revealing his exact hideout in Guatemala within hours of publication.

How to use this tool

Drop your photos — Drag one or more files into the upload area, or click to browse. JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF are all supported.
Review what's inside — For each file, the tool lists every metadata tag found, grouped by category. GPS coordinates are highlighted at the top.
Choose what to remove — Click 'Remove all' for a fully anonymous photo, or use category buttons to keep some metadata (e.g. keep camera info, strip GPS).
Save the cleaned photo — The download contains the same image at the same quality, just without metadata. Use the ZIP download for batches.

Features

100% Private No upload — your photo is processed entirely in your browser using the File API

All major formats JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF and HEIC support — covering virtually all camera and phone photos

GPS detection Latitude and longitude shown in degrees, with optional one-click conversion to decimal

Batch processing Drop multiple files at once, review individually, download all as a single ZIP

Selective stripping Remove only GPS, only date, only software — or everything in one click

Lossless Removing metadata does not re-encode your image — pixels and quality are unchanged

Smaller files Cleaned photos are typically a few kilobytes smaller — useful for email and uploads

Truly free No ads, no tracking, no account, no email, no upload limits, no premium tier

How does this compare to other EXIF tools?

Most online EXIF tools fall into two camps: server-based services that ask you to upload your private photos, and browser-based tools with limited features or aggressive monetisation. Here is how this tool stacks up:

	This tool	Server-based tools	Other browser tools
File leaves device	✗ no	✓ yes	✗ no
Source auditable	✓ yes	✗ no	usually
Multilingual	✓ 4 languages	EN only	EN only
Works offline	✓ yes (PWA)	✗ no	rarely
JPG / PNG / WebP / HEIC	✓ all four	most	usually JPG only
Batch processing	✓ ZIP download	often paywalled	often missing
Ads / Tracking	✗ none	✓ heavy	often present
Account required	✗ none	often	rarely
GPS map call (leak risk)	✗ never	often	often
Cost	free	freemium	free

Auditable means: open the .js files directly in your browser and read what they do. No minification, no obfuscation, no remote code execution.

FAQ

Each question has its own page — useful for bookmarking or sharing:

Is my photo really not uploaded?

Correct. Everything runs in your browser. You can verify it by opening the Network tab in your browser's developer tools (F12) and dropping a large photo — you will see no outgoing request that contains your file. After the page loads its own JavaScript and CSS once, the tool can run with the internet disconnected.

What metadata exactly is removed?

For JPEG: all APP1 (EXIF, XMP), APP2 (ICC, MPF), APP13 (Photoshop, IPTC) and APP14 (Adobe) segments. For PNG: tEXt, iTXt, zTXt, eXIf and Adobe XMP chunks. For WebP: the EXIF, XMP and ICCP chunks. The actual pixel data and compression are not touched.

Does removing EXIF reduce image quality?

No. EXIF is a separate metadata block inside the file. Removing it does not re-encode the image — the pixels and the JPEG/PNG/WebP compression are exactly as they were. The file becomes a few kilobytes smaller because the metadata is gone.

Can I keep some metadata and remove the rest?

Yes. Each file card has buttons to remove only specific categories — e.g. "Remove only GPS" keeps everything except location, "Remove only Camera info" keeps everything except make/model/serial. The default "Remove all" wipes the entire metadata block at once.

Do social networks already remove EXIF?

Some do, some don't, and the rules change without notice. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter strip most EXIF on public posts but keep some internally for moderation and analytics. WhatsApp, Telegram (when "send as file"), Discord, email attachments, blogs, forums, eBay listings, classifieds, cloud drives — almost all of these keep EXIF intact. The safe rule is: never assume any service removes EXIF for you.

Why don't you show the GPS location on a map?

Because loading a map tile would send your coordinates to a third-party service (Google, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox), which contradicts the privacy promise of this tool. Instead we show the latitude and longitude as plain text, and you can decide for yourself whether to copy them into a map elsewhere.

What about HEIC photos from iPhones?

EXIF can be read from HEIC files in this tool. Stripping HEIC requires re-encoding the image, which most browsers cannot do natively. For full stripping of HEIC, the safest path is to first convert to JPEG using your operating system or photo app, then strip with this tool.

Is the tool open source?

The code is delivered to your browser as plain JavaScript files and is fully readable. Right-click → View Source, or open the .js files directly. There is no minification or obfuscation that hides what the tool does.

What's the catch? Why is this free?

There is no catch. The tool is provided as a free service by Midgard MUD — a free Norse-mythology online role-playing game. Some visitors discover Midgard through this tool and try the game, but you are not asked to do so and the tool works fully without any account or interaction with the MUD.

Can I use this on my phone?

Yes. The tool works in any modern mobile browser — Safari on iOS, Chrome and Firefox on Android. On iOS you may have to choose "Files" instead of "Photos" in the picker to access HEIC originals.

Why does my photo still show some date/dimension info?

The image dimensions (width × height) and the file size are inherent to the image itself, not metadata — they cannot be hidden without re-encoding. The "Date Modified" timestamp on the downloaded file is set by your operating system at the moment of saving and is unrelated to EXIF. To control that, set the file's modification date manually in your file manager after download.

Are there any limits on file size or number of photos?

There is no hard limit. Practical limits are set only by your device's memory: a typical phone or laptop comfortably handles 50+ photos at 20 MB each. For very large batches (hundreds of files), processing in two or three runs is more responsive than one giant batch.

Does the tool also remove watermarks from photos?

It depends on what kind of watermark you mean. Visible watermarks (logos, text overlays, "Shutterstock"-style stamps) are baked into the image pixels and CANNOT be removed by metadata stripping — and removing them is often illegal under copyright law (e.g. § 95c German Copyright Act). This tool will not do that. However, "invisible" watermarks stored in metadata fields — IPTC Copyright, XMP dc:rights, Photoshop IRB markers, Stock-photo IDs in APP13 — ARE removed when you click "Remove all metadata". The same applies to camera serial numbers and editing-software fingerprints. The tool removes everything in the metadata block; it does not touch the pixels.