How to remove metadata from photos — on any device, without guesswork

Every method of removing photo metadata has a catch, and almost no guide tells you what it is. Windows' built-in remover leaves fields behind. iPhone's share-sheet toggle only removes location. Screenshots trade old metadata for new. This guide covers every mainstream method — and states plainly what each one actually removes.

First, thirty seconds of context: photo metadata (EXIF, IPTC, XMP, and increasingly C2PA) can include your GPS coordinates, device details, timestamps, edit history, and AI-generation tags. Here's what's in it and why it matters. Now, removal.

In your browser (any device) — the complete option

CleanImages removes metadata entirely in your browser: drop the image in, see a report of everything found — GPS coordinates, device info, timestamps, AI tags, C2PA manifests, hidden embedded thumbnails — and download a clean copy. Nothing uploads; you can disconnect from the internet mid-clean and it still works.

What it removes: all metadata layers, including the ones other methods miss (embedded thumbnails with their own EXIF, C2PA manifests, PNG text chunks from AI generators). Pixels untouched, so no quality loss. The catch: we're the tool this site exists for, so weigh this recommendation accordingly — then verify it with your network tab.

On Windows

Right-click the photo → Properties → Details tab → Remove Properties and Personal Information → "Create a copy with all possible properties removed."

What it removes: most common EXIF fields, including GPS. The catch: "all possible" is doing quiet work in that sentence. Windows only removes properties it knows how to edit — XMP blocks, maker notes, embedded thumbnails, and C2PA manifests can survive. Fine for casual use; not a guarantee.

On a Mac

macOS has no full built-in remover. Preview can remove location: open the image → Tools → Show Inspector → the (i) tab → GPS → Remove Location Info.

What it removes: GPS only. The catch: everything else stays — device, timestamps, the lot. For full removal on a Mac you need a third-party app, the command line, or a browser tool.

On iPhone

When sharing: tap Options at the top of the share sheet → toggle Location off. To stop GPS being recorded at all: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera → Never.

What it removes: the share toggle strips location from the shared copy. The catch: location only. Device model, timestamps, and other EXIF still travel with the file. iOS has no built-in full-EXIF removal — this is the single most common misconception we see. Details in our iPhone metadata post (coming soon).

On Android

Google Photos: open the photo → share → depending on version, an option to share without location appears (or remove the location pin from the photo's details first). Samsung Gallery: open the photo → three-dot menu → Details → edit → remove location. To prevent recording: Camera app settings → turn off Location tags.

What it removes: location, via a flow that varies by manufacturer and app version. The catch: same as iPhone — location only, and the menus move around between Samsung, Pixel, and others. Full removal needs a dedicated tool.

The command line (power users)

ExifTool is the gold standard: exiftool -all= photo.jpg strips everything, and it batches effortlessly (exiftool -all= *.jpg cleans a folder).

What it removes: essentially everything, with surgical control. The catch: it's a command-line tool with a learning curve, and by default it writes _original backup files you'll want to manage. If you're comfortable in a terminal, it's excellent. If not, nothing here needs it — batch cleaning also works in your browser.

Methods people think work, but don't

Screenshotting. A screenshot does discard the original file's metadata — and replaces it with fresh metadata from your device, plus a resolution downgrade. It's a lossy trade, not a clean. (The full accounting on the screenshot myth.)

"Instagram strips it anyway." Major platforms do strip most metadata from what they serve — but they read it first (some trigger AI labels from it), the stripping varies by platform and format, and every direct share — email, Discord, marketplace listings, WhatsApp's document mode — can carry full metadata. The platform-by-platform reality: which apps strip photo metadata.

Renaming or converting the file. A new filename changes nothing inside the file. Format conversion sometimes drops metadata, depending on the tool — it's luck, not a method.

Which method should you use?

For a quick location-strip before sharing one photo from your phone, the built-in toggles are fine — that's what they're for. For actually clean files — selling something online, sharing sensitive photos, publishing, or cleaning AI-generated images — use a method that removes every layer and shows you what it found: a browser tool like CleanImages, or ExifTool if you live in a terminal.

And before you trust any method, verify it: run the cleaned file back through a metadata viewer. The report should be empty. If a tool won't show you before-and-after, that's worth noticing.

TL;DR

Built-in options remove location and not much else; Windows' remover is incomplete; screenshots swap metadata rather than removing it. Full removal — EXIF, XMP, embedded thumbnails, AI tags, C2PA — takes a purpose-built tool. Whichever you pick, verify the result by viewing the cleaned file's metadata. It should be a blank page.