Almost every photo taken on a phone or camera carries a hidden layer of data called EXIF metadata. It's invisible when you look at the picture, but it can include the precise GPS coordinates where the shot was taken, the make and model of your device, the exact date and time, and camera settings. When you post that photo online or send it to someone, all of that travels with it — which means a holiday snap can reveal your hotel, and a picture sold on a marketplace can reveal your home address down to the doorstep.
Most big social networks strip this data automatically when you upload, but plenty of places don't: photos sent over email or chat, images posted to forums and marketplaces, files shared in cloud drives, and pictures attached to listings often keep their full metadata. Stalkers, scammers, and data brokers know this, and location data pulled from photos has been used to find people who thought they were anonymous. Removing the metadata before you share is a simple, powerful habit that closes that gap.
This tool does it the careful way. For JPG and PNG photos it edits the file at the byte level — surgically removing only the metadata blocks (EXIF, GPS, XMP, comments) while leaving every pixel of the actual image completely untouched. That means no re-compression and no quality loss: the cleaned photo is visually identical to the original, just without the hidden baggage. And because the whole process runs inside your browser, your photo — often a personal one — is never uploaded to any server. It stays on your device from start to finish.
EXIF is a set of hidden tags saved inside a photo file by your camera or phone. It commonly includes the GPS location where the photo was taken (often accurate to a few metres), your device's make and model, the date and time, and camera settings like shutter speed and ISO. None of it is visible in the picture itself, but anyone with the file can read it — which is why removing it before sharing protects your privacy.
No. For JPG and PNG files this tool removes only the metadata blocks and leaves the image data byte-for-byte identical — there is no re-compression, so the cleaned photo is exactly as sharp as the original. The file just gets slightly smaller because the hidden data is gone.
Never. The entire scan-and-clean process runs in your browser using JavaScript. Your photo is read locally, cleaned locally, and downloaded locally — it is never sent to us or anyone else, and nothing is stored. You can even use the tool with your internet disconnected. This is exactly why it's safe for personal and sensitive photos.
The big platforms usually strip EXIF on upload, but many other channels don't: photos sent by email or messaging apps, images posted to forums, classifieds, and marketplaces, and files shared through cloud storage frequently keep their full metadata. If you share photos anywhere beyond the major social networks, cleaning them first is the only way to be sure.
If no GPS data was found, that particular photo isn't leaking your location, which is good. But other metadata like your device model and timestamps may still be present, and this tool removes those too. Keep in mind that whether a photo is geotagged depends on your camera's location setting at the time — so it's worth checking each photo you plan to share publicly.