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Image Metadata Remover

Strip all EXIF data, GPS coordinates, camera info, and timestamps from your images. Download a clean copy with zero traces of personal data — processed entirely in your browser.

Why You Should Remove Metadata Before Sharing Photos

When you take a photo with your smartphone or digital camera, the device automatically embeds a significant amount of hidden data into the image file. This metadata — known as EXIF data — can include your exact GPS location, the time the photo was taken, your camera's make and model, lens information, and sometimes even your name.

Most people never think about this data when they share photos online. They post an image of their home renovation on a forum, and the GPS coordinates point directly to their house. They sell something on a marketplace with a product photo taken in their kitchen, and the metadata reveals their address. These are real scenarios that happen every day.

The simplest way to protect yourself is to strip all metadata from your images before sharing them. This tool does exactly that — it takes your original image, removes every piece of embedded data, and gives you a clean copy that contains nothing but the pixels you can see.

What Metadata Gets Removed?

This tool removes all embedded metadata from your image, including but not limited to:

  • GPS coordinates — latitude, longitude, altitude, and direction data that reveals where the photo was taken
  • Camera information — device make, model, serial number, lens details, and firmware version
  • Exposure settings — aperture, shutter speed, ISO, flash status, white balance, and metering mode
  • Timestamps — original capture date, digitization date, and last modification date
  • Software information — editing software name and version used to modify the image
  • XMP data — Adobe's extensible metadata platform tags
  • IPTC data — caption, copyright, creator, and keyword fields used by news agencies
  • ICC profiles — color management data
  • Thumbnail images — some EXIF data contains a small preview thumbnail that may show the original uncropped image

How the Metadata Removal Process Works

Unlike some tools that attempt to parse and selectively delete EXIF tags (which can miss obscure or proprietary metadata fields), our approach is more thorough. Here's what happens when you process an image:

  1. Your browser reads the file — the image is loaded from your device into browser memory using the File API. No network request is made.
  2. The image is decoded — your browser's built-in image decoder renders the image pixels into an Image element, stripping away all non-pixel data.
  3. A clean canvas is created — the decoded pixels are drawn onto an HTML5 Canvas element. At this stage, the image exists purely as pixel data — no metadata survives.
  4. The image is re-encoded — the canvas exports a new image file (JPEG at 95% quality or lossless PNG) containing only the pixel data.
  5. You download the result — the clean file is available for download immediately. The original file remains untouched on your device.

This canvas-based approach is the most reliable method for metadata removal because it doesn't rely on knowing every possible metadata tag format. The output is guaranteed to be clean because it's built from raw pixel data.

Real-World Scenarios Where Metadata Removal Matters

Selling Items Online

When you photograph items for sale on marketplaces like eBay, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace, the photos you upload can contain your home address via GPS data. If you're selling from your home, this creates a security risk — potential buyers (or worse) could identify your exact location before even contacting you. Always strip metadata from product photos.

Posting on Forums and Communities

Many online forums and community platforms do not strip EXIF data from uploaded images. If you're sharing photos in a discussion — whether it's a home improvement project, a nature photo, or a screenshot — the metadata could reveal information you didn't intend to share. This is especially important for privacy-sensitive communities.

Sharing Photos in Professional Contexts

If you're sending photos via email for work — property images for real estate, site photos for construction, or product photos for review — you may not want the recipient to see your camera model, editing software, or capture time. Stripping metadata presents a cleaner, more professional file.

Journalism and Whistleblowing

For journalists and sources sharing sensitive images, metadata can be a serious security risk. Camera serial numbers can identify the device owner, GPS data can reveal meeting locations, and timestamps can narrow down capture windows. Removing all metadata is a basic but critical step in source protection.

How to Use the Image Metadata Remover

  1. Upload your image — drag and drop your file onto the upload area, or click to browse. Supported formats are JPEG, PNG, and WebP.
  2. Click "Remove All Metadata" — the tool will process your image locally in the browser. You'll see a progress indicator during processing.
  3. Review the result — the tool shows the original and cleaned file sizes so you can verify the processing was successful.
  4. Download — click the download button to save your clean image. The filename will include a "-clean" suffix so you can distinguish it from the original.

Want to verify that the metadata was actually removed? Use our Image Metadata Viewer to inspect the cleaned file — you should see zero metadata fields.

Privacy Guarantee

NoFileUpload is designed around a zero-trust architecture for file processing. Your image is never uploaded to any server. The entire operation happens in your browser's sandbox using standard web APIs (File API, Canvas API, Blob API). We don't log, cache, or transmit your files or their contents in any way.

Related Tools

  • Image Metadata Viewer — inspect all EXIF data embedded in your photos before deciding what to do with it.
  • HEIC to JPG Converter — convert iPhone's HEIC photos to standard JPG format for universal compatibility.
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. The tool re-renders your image on an HTML5 canvas element, which produces a clean pixel-only output. All EXIF, XMP, IPTC, ICC profile data, GPS coordinates, camera information, timestamps, and any other embedded metadata are stripped in the process. The output is a fresh image file with only pixel data.
The tool preserves image quality at 95% for JPEG files, which is visually indistinguishable from the original for most use cases. PNG files are processed losslessly. The image dimensions (width and height) remain identical to the original. You may notice a slight file size difference due to re-encoding, but the visual quality is maintained.
No. The entire process happens in your browser. Your image is read from your local file system, drawn onto an HTML5 canvas element, and exported as a new file — all using JavaScript running on your device. No data is transmitted over the network. You can verify this in your browser's developer tools.
The metadata remover supports JPEG, PNG, and WebP image formats. JPEG files are the most common format containing EXIF data. PNG files may contain some metadata, and WebP is increasingly used on the web. The output format matches the input — JPEG in, JPEG out.
Photos can contain sensitive information you might not realize is there: GPS coordinates revealing where you live or work, timestamps showing your routine, camera serial numbers that can identify your device across multiple photos, and even your name if your camera is registered. Removing metadata protects your privacy when sharing images on social media, forums, marketplaces, or anywhere online.
Some platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter do strip EXIF data from uploaded images. However, not all platforms do this, and you shouldn't rely on it. Forums, personal websites, cloud storage links, email attachments, and marketplace listings often preserve the original metadata. It's always safer to remove it yourself before sharing.
Currently, the tool processes one image at a time. This keeps the interface simple and ensures you can verify each result. We may add batch processing in a future update. For now, each image takes only a few seconds to process.