Does removing EXIF change how the photo looks?

The pixels are re-encoded, so a JPEG loses a small amount of quality the way any re-save does. Choosing PNG avoids that entirely at the cost of a much larger file.

Is the photo uploaded to a server?

No. The file is decoded, redrawn and re-encoded in your browser. A tool for removing location data from your photos should not need copies of them.

What exactly is removed?

Everything that is not pixels: camera make and model, lens, exposure settings, the date and time, software, copyright fields and GPS coordinates. A canvas holds only image data, so nothing else survives the re-encode.

Do social networks not already do this?

Large platforms usually strip metadata on upload, but files sent by email or chat, posted to forums, or shared directly normally keep everything. Removing it yourself is the only way to be sure.

Remove EXIF Data

Strip the camera, date and GPS information out of a photo before you share it. You see what was there first. The image is processed in your browser and never uploaded.

Drop a photo here

or click to browse

JPEG, PNG, WebP • Max 30MB

Why a photo can tell people where you live

Phones write the coordinates of every picture into the file itself when location services are on. The photo looks ordinary; the position sits in the metadata, accurate to a few metres. Sell something online with a photo taken at home, and the listing can carry your address with it.

The same block records the camera and its serial number, the exact second the shutter fired, and sometimes the owner's name — enough to tie a set of otherwise unrelated pictures to one device.

How the stripping works

The image is decoded, drawn onto a canvas, and encoded again. A canvas holds pixels and nothing else, so every field — GPS, camera, timestamps, copyright, software — is gone from the file you download. There is no partial removal and no hidden leftovers.

The trade-off is a re-encode. For JPEG that means one more generation of lossy compression, which is invisible at normal quality but real. If the file must stay pixel-exact, choose PNG: lossless, metadata-free, considerably larger.

When it matters most

Marketplace listings — photos taken at home, sent to strangers.
Dating profiles — pictures of where you live or work.
Forums and issue trackers — screenshots and photos posted publicly, often unprocessed.
Documents sent by email — attachments keep everything; nothing strips them for you.
Journalism and source protection — where a timestamp or a location can identify a person.

Frequently asked questions

Can I check what was in the file first?

This page lists what it found before you download. For the full tag-by-tag breakdown, use the EXIF Viewer.

Does it change the image quality?

Saving as JPEG re-compresses once — normally not visible. PNG avoids any loss but produces a much bigger file.

Is the rotation preserved?

The browser applies the orientation tag when it decodes, and the saved image keeps the orientation you see in the preview. The tag itself is gone, which is what you want — it cannot be misread later.

Related tools

EXIF viewer — see every tag before deciding
Compress image — shrink it for upload afterwards
Resize image — change the dimensions
Removing MP3 metadata — the same problem in audio files