What Is EXIF Data and Why Should You Remove It?
EXIF data is hidden information stored in every photo: GPS location, camera, date and more. Learn what it reveals, how to view it and how to remove it for free.
Every time you take a photo with a phone or digital camera, the device writes a block of hidden information into the image file. This block is called EXIF data (Exchangeable Image File Format). You never see it when you look at the picture, but any app, website or person who receives the original file can read it in seconds.
What information does EXIF data contain?
- GPS location: latitude, longitude, altitude and even the compass direction the camera was facing. Modern phones are accurate to a few metres.
- Date and time: when the photo was taken, often with the time zone offset, and when it was last edited.
- Device details: make and model (for example "Apple iPhone 15 Pro"), lens, and on many cameras a unique body serial number.
- Camera settings: aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length, flash, white balance.
- Software: the app or editor used, and sometimes the owner name or copyright set in the camera.
- A thumbnail: some images contain a small preview of the original photo, which can survive cropping in some editors.
Why EXIF data is a privacy risk
A single photo of your new puppy taken in your garden can reveal your home address. Photos sold on marketplaces, posted on forums, attached to dating profiles or sent as files in messaging apps regularly leak the location of homes, schools and workplaces. Serial numbers can link photos from different accounts to the same camera, and timestamps reveal routines.
Some large social networks remove EXIF data from public images, but many websites, email, cloud-sharing links and "send as file" options in messaging apps keep everything.
How to view the EXIF data in a photo
Use the free FileStripe EXIF viewer. Choose a photo and it lists every tag in plain language with a privacy score, and shows the GPS position on a map if one is present. On Windows you can also right-click a file, choose Properties > Details; on a Mac open it in Preview and press Cmd+I.
How to remove EXIF data
- Open the EXIF remover.
- Drop in your photos (any number). Metadata is stripped instantly without re-compressing the image.
- Download the clean copies or a ZIP of all of them.
If you want to keep camera details but hide where the photo was taken, use Remove location from photos in "Location only" mode.
Stop your phone adding location in the first place
iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera > Never. When sharing, tap Options at the top of the share sheet and turn off Location.
Android: open the Camera app, go to settings and turn off Location tags (Samsung) or Save location (Pixel).
Turning off location only affects new photos, so clean the existing ones before you share them.