Strip the Metadata From a Photo
Choose a photo and download it with the metadata gone. The pixels are copied across untouched, so the image is the same file it was, minus the segments that carried the coordinates, the camera serial number and the timestamp.
Why this does not re-save the image
The usual way to strip metadata in a browser is to draw the photo onto a canvas and export it again. That does remove everything, and it also decodes and re-compresses the picture, so a JPEG comes out slightly softer than it went in and a 4 MB photo can land at 1 MB or at 8 MB depending on the quality the browser picks.
This tool reads the file's structure instead. A JPEG is a chain of marker segments, and everything the camera records about itself sits in an APPn segment, separate from the compressed pixels. Copying every segment except those leaves the image data identical, byte for byte. A PNG works the same way with its named chunks. The photo you download is the photo you had, with some segments missing.
What comes out
From a JPEG: the EXIF block with GPS coordinates, camera make and model, lens, serial number, exposure settings and the original timestamp; the XMP block that editing software writes; IPTC captions and copyright fields; and the embedded thumbnail, which is its own small copy of the picture and has been known to survive cropping and show what was cropped out.
From a PNG: the text chunks that hold software names and comments, the eXIf chunk, and the modification time.
The colour profile is deliberately kept. It describes how the file's numbers map to colours rather than anything about you, and dropping it makes a wide-gamut photo look wrong on a managed display.
What stripping metadata does not hide
The pixels are still the pixels. A photo of your street is still a photo of your street, and modern search can place it. Phone cameras also leave sensor-level traces that identify the device to anyone running the right analysis, and those live in the image data rather than in a header. Removing EXIF stops a program from reading your coordinates in one line. It is not anonymity.
It is also worth knowing that several platforms already strip metadata when you upload, and others keep it. Checking what a file carries before you send it is the part people skip, which is what the EXIF viewer is for.
Formats this does not take
WebP and HEIC are refused rather than handled badly. Both store metadata in container boxes that would need a different parser, and a tool that silently returned the file unchanged would be worse than one that says no. HEIC is what an iPhone saves by default, so converting to JPEG first with an image converter and cleaning that is the route for now.
Frequently asked questions
Does this reduce the quality of my photo?
No. The compressed image data is copied across unchanged, so the picture is identical to the original down to the byte. Only the metadata segments are left out. This is the difference between this tool and the common approach of redrawing the photo on a canvas, which re-compresses and does lose a little quality every time.
Does it remove GPS coordinates?
Yes. GPS latitude, longitude and altitude live in the EXIF block, which is the APP1 segment of a JPEG and the eXIf chunk of a PNG, and both are dropped. The tool lists what it is removing before you download, so you can see that the block was there.
Is the photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read into this tab with the browser’s File API, the segments are rearranged in memory, and the result is saved straight back to your disk. No network request carries the image. Disconnect after the page loads and it still works.
Why is the colour profile kept?
Because it is not information about you. The profile says how the numbers in the file map to actual colours, and removing it makes a photo taken in a wide colour space look washed out or oversaturated on a display that manages colour. It is metadata in the technical sense and harmless in the privacy sense, so it stays.
Can I clean a HEIC file from my iPhone?
Not here. HEIC and WebP keep their metadata in container boxes that need a different parser, and the tool refuses them rather than handing back a file it did not actually clean. Convert to JPEG first and clean that. The conversion itself re-encodes, so do it once rather than repeatedly.
Last updated October 4, 2026