EXIF Metadata Stripper, Free and Browser-Based

How to strip metadata

Drop your JPG, PNG, or WebP files into the upload box, or click to select.
Wait a moment while each file re-encodes in your browser.
Download the cleaned files individually or as a batch.

The output keeps the same format as the input. A JPG input produces a JPG output with no metadata. A PNG input produces a PNG with no metadata. Same for WebP.

What metadata is in my photos?

Every photo taken on a modern camera or phone carries a bundle of information alongside the pixels:

Camera make and model: “Apple” / “iPhone 15 Pro Max” or similar.
Lens and exposure info: focal length, aperture, shutter speed, ISO.
Date and time: down to the second, usually including timezone.
GPS coordinates: latitude, longitude, altitude — often accurate to 5–10 meters.
Orientation: which way is “up” for the sensor.
Color profile: the color space of the captured image.
Thumbnail preview: a small embedded copy of the image.
Software fingerprint: iOS version, editor used, etc.

The GPS coordinates are the privacy concern most people care about. A photo taken at home reveals your home. A photo taken at a school reveals the school. If you post photos publicly without stripping GPS, anyone can paste the coordinates into a map.

For a full breakdown of what EXIF contains and why it matters, see our EXIF guide.

Where metadata leaks happen

Some platforms strip EXIF automatically on upload. Others don’t:

Strip EXIF on upload: Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok, Imgur.
Don’t strip: direct email attachments, Slack/Teams/Discord file attachments, cloud storage links (Google Drive, Dropbox), most personal websites and static blogs, WordPress (strips some but not all).
Mixed: WhatsApp strips most; Signal strips; Telegram depends on send method.

If you publish or share outside the major social platforms, assume metadata rides along with your photos unless you’ve stripped it explicitly.

How the tool works

Every supported format has its metadata stored in standardized chunks inside the file. When our tool re-encodes a file through the browser’s canvas:

The image is decoded into a pure pixel buffer.
The pixel buffer is painted onto a canvas.
The canvas is re-encoded into the same format.
Only the pixel data makes it through. All metadata chunks are dropped.

The result is a new file with identical visible content and zero metadata. It looks the same; it just doesn’t carry GPS coordinates or camera info anymore.

What gets removed

All EXIF fields (GPS, camera, exposure, timestamps, device info).
IPTC and XMP metadata (captions, keywords, copyright info if stored in metadata chunks).
Color profiles beyond sRGB.
Embedded thumbnails.
Any vendor-specific metadata (e.g., Apple’s depth data in some JPGs).

What stays

The pixel content (identical to the source).
The file format (JPG stays JPG, PNG stays PNG, WebP stays WebP).
The dimensions and resolution.
Orientation (re-applied via canvas rendering — the visible image is upright).

File size after stripping

Metadata typically accounts for 5–50 KB of a photo file. For a 3 MB JPG, stripping metadata might save 10–20 KB. You’ll see a slightly smaller file size in the processed output.

If you want to aggressively reduce file size in addition to stripping metadata, run the stripped file through our JPG compressor or PNG compressor.

Privacy checklist for photos you publish

Before posting personal photos publicly:

Strip EXIF (this tool does it in one step).
Check the visual content for information you don’t intend to share — mail with your address, the neighbor’s car, a schedule on a fridge, etc.
If the photo was taken at home, double-check the background doesn’t reveal identifying details.
If the photo includes minors, consider whether you have their or their guardians’ consent.

Stripping metadata solves one specific privacy risk. It doesn’t solve all of them.

When you might want to keep metadata

Don’t strip metadata when:

You’re a photographer sharing work with other photographers who want to see the settings used.
You’re submitting to a platform that requires metadata for verification or licensing.
You’re archiving your own personal photos and want the timestamps and locations preserved for future reference.

In those cases, keep your master files with metadata intact and use this tool only for the public-facing copies.

Common mistakes

Assuming cropping or editing in Photoshop removes metadata. It doesn’t — editors preserve EXIF through most operations.
Assuming converting between formats strips metadata. It often does, but it depends on the converter. Our conversion tools (JPG-to-PNG, PNG-to-WebP, etc.) all use canvas re-encoding so they strip metadata as a side effect.
Trusting that social media has already stripped metadata. Most major platforms do, but forwards, DMs, and direct file shares often don’t.
Forgetting that screenshots can also contain metadata (the screenshot tool version, OS version, window dimensions) — usually not privacy-critical, but not zero either.

EXIF Metadata Stripper