Remove metadata from photos
36.43712°N114.51391°W
Where our example photo was taken, read from its metadata.
See the location, date and camera details hidden in a photo, then save a copy without them. Your photo stays on this device the whole time.
Drop photos here
JPEG, HEIC, AVIF, PNG or WebP, up to 20 photos at a time.
It runs on this device, so it keeps working in airplane mode.
What a photo file can carry
Viallo read 2,984 photos picked at random from Wikimedia Commons. 57% named the camera maker, 13% carried a serial number and 11% a location. Of the photos made by a phone, 53% carried a location.
See the studyLocation
GPS coordinates, often to within a few metres, plus altitude and the direction the camera faced.
GPSLatitude 36° 26′ 13.6″ N
Date and time
The moment it was taken, to the second, and often the time zone.
DateTimeOriginal 2025:06:14 09:41:22
Device
The phone or camera make and model, the lens, and on many cameras a serial number.
BodySerialNumber 093021004417
Camera settings
Shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length and whether the flash fired.
ExposureTime 1/2400
Software
The app that last saved the file, and sometimes a record of the edits.
Software Adobe Lightroom 9.2
A small preview
Some cameras store a thumbnail inside the file. An editor that crops the photo can leave the old, uncropped thumbnail in place.
ThumbnailImage 160 × 120
Your photo stays on this device
Your browser opens the file
The tool is code in this page, and it reads the photo from your device's memory.
IMG_2041.HEIC4.2 MBIt writes a copy without the metadata
The image data is copied byte for byte, so nothing is recompressed.
Taken 63 km from Las Vegas on 14 June 2025It checks the copy
Before you can save it, the tool reads the copy again and confirms the metadata is gone.
No location, date or device found
To check it yourself, load this page, turn on airplane mode and add a photo. The tool keeps working because it doesn't need the internet.
What the clean copy will be
| Photo | Clean copy | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG | a JPEG with the same pixels | It keeps the colour profile, the orientation and the HDR layer of iPhone photos. |
| It keeps the colour profile, the orientation and the HDR layer of iPhone photos. | ||
| HEIC | a HEIC with the same pixels | It keeps the colour profile and orientation. The metadata is overwritten inside the file, so the size doesn't change. |
| It keeps the colour profile and orientation. The metadata is overwritten inside the file, so the size doesn't change. | ||
| AVIF | the same as HEIC | |
| PNG | a PNG with the same pixels | It keeps the colour profile and transparency. |
| It keeps the colour profile and transparency. | ||
| WebP | a WebP with the same pixels | It keeps the colour profile, transparency and animation. |
| It keeps the colour profile, transparency and animation. | ||
| RAW and TIFF | view only | The tool shows what these files carry but can't save a clean copy. Export a JPEG first. |
| The tool shows what these files carry but can't save a clean copy. Export a JPEG first. | ||
Remove location on your phone
iPhone
To send a photo without its location, tap Share, then Options, and turn off Location. Location Not Included shows above Options once it is off.
To stop the iPhone camera recording a location, go to Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Camera, and choose Never.
Android
Google Photos can't remove a location your camera saved. Use the tool above for a clean copy.
To stop an Android camera recording a location, turn off location in your camera app's settings.
Keep the location where it helps
In a Viallo album, the location puts each photo on a map of your trip. Albums are private until you share them, and anyone you share one with can download the original, location included.
Nevada road trip
48 photos in 6 places
Questions
Are my photos uploaded?
No. The tool reads and cleans them in your browser. The page sends an anonymous count of how many photos were checked and in which formats, never the photos, their names or their metadata.
Does removing metadata lower the quality?
No. The tool copies the image data unchanged and drops only the metadata. The HDR layer of iPhone photos stays too.
What does the clean copy keep?
The pixels, the colour profile, so colours look the same, and the orientation, so the photo isn't sideways. Everything else goes: location, dates, device, camera settings, software, previews and maker notes. Without the date, your gallery puts the copy under the day you save it. To keep the date, choose Location only.
Can I remove only the location?
Yes. Choose Location only before you remove. The date, the device and the camera settings stay, and the GPS position goes, with any place names that editing apps added.
Why does a photo from my phone show no location?
Phones can remove it when they give a photo to a website. An iPhone does it when Location is off under Options in the photo picker, and Chrome on Android always does it through the photo picker. The photo in your gallery may still have its location.
How do I see a photo's metadata on my phone?
On iPhone, open the photo in Photos and swipe up. On Android, open it in Google Photos and swipe up.
Is it free?
Yes. No account, no watermark and no limit on how often. It is one of Viallo's free photo tools.