Every photo you take carries hidden information. A picture from a phone usually records the exact GPS location where it was taken, the date and time, the phone or camera model, and sometimes its serial number or the owner’s name. Edited images can include the software used, and AI-generated images often carry the full prompt and settings. When you send the original file to someone or post it online, all of that can go with it.
The Image Metadata Remover shows you exactly what’s inside each photo, then removes it. It works entirely in your browser, so your photos are never uploaded, and it strips the data without re-compressing the image, so the picture looks exactly the same.
How to remove metadata from a photo
- Click “Choose photos” and select one or more JPG, PNG or WebP images.
- Check the report for each file. Risky items such as GPS location, serial numbers and owner names are highlighted.
- Click “Download clean file”, or “Download all as ZIP” for several photos.
What gets removed
- EXIF data: GPS coordinates, date and time, camera make and model, lens, serial numbers, owner and artist names, and editing software.
- XMP and IPTC: descriptions, keywords, author and copyright fields, and editing history added by Photoshop, Lightroom and other apps.
- Content Credentials (C2PA) and similar provenance records.
- AI generation data: prompts and settings that Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI and other generators write into PNG files.
- Comments and other hidden blocks, plus extra data some apps append after the image.
What is kept
The image itself is copied byte for byte, so there’s no loss of quality and the file usually gets slightly smaller. The colour profile is kept so colours look the same. For JPG photos, the rotation setting is kept in a tiny new record that contains nothing else, so portrait photos don’t suddenly appear sideways.
Why remove photo metadata?
The main reason is location. A photo taken at home can reveal your address to anyone who opens the file’s details, and a series of photos can show where you work, where your children go to school, or when you’re away. Sellers listing items online, people sharing photos with strangers, journalists protecting sources and businesses publishing images on their websites all have good reasons to strip it first.
Some social networks remove much of this data when you upload a photo, but files sent by email, shared as documents in messaging apps, attached to forums or posted from cloud storage usually keep everything.
Frequently asked questions
Are my photos uploaded?
No. The files are read and cleaned by JavaScript in your browser, and the clean copies are created on your device. Nothing is sent to SmartToolsy or anyone else.
Does removing metadata reduce image quality?
No. Many tools redraw the image and save it again, which re-compresses it. This tool removes only the metadata blocks and leaves the image data untouched, so the picture is identical.
Can I remove metadata from iPhone HEIC photos?
Not yet. Convert them to JPG first, or set your iPhone to Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible so new photos are saved as JPG. When sharing from the Photos app, you can also tap Options and turn off Location.
How do I check whether a photo has location data?
Open it in this tool. If the photo contains GPS coordinates, they appear in red in the report. On a computer you can also right-click the file and look at its properties or info panel.
Will this hide a photo’s origin completely?
It removes the data stored inside the file. It can’t change what’s visible in the picture itself, such as street signs, faces or reflections, so check those before sharing too.