# Remove EXIF data from images

> EXIF is the tag block cameras write into JPEG, HEIC, WebP and PNG files, organized into directories such as IFD0, ExifIFD, GPS and IFD1. It can hold the owner's name (tag 0xa430), the body serial number (0xa431), the lens serial number (0xa435) and a thumbnail that may predate your edits. This tool removes all of it, then writes back a minimal block that holds only the Orientation value.

## What EXIF actually contains

EXIF, the Exchangeable image file format, is a standard maintained by the Japanese camera industry bodies CIPA and JEITA. Inside a photo it looks like a small TIFF file with several directories of numbered tags. Here is what tends to matter for privacy:

| Directory | Example tags | What they reveal |
|---|---|---|
| IFD0 | Make, Model, Software, ModifyDate, Artist, Copyright | Your device, the app that saved the file, a name you typed into the camera |
| ExifIFD | DateTimeOriginal, CreateDate, OffsetTimeOriginal | When the shutter fired and in which time zone |
| ExifIFD | OwnerName, SerialNumber, LensSerialNumber, ImageUniqueID | Codes that link the photo to one camera body, one lens or one capture |
| GPS | GPSLatitude, GPSLongitude, GPSAltitude, GPSImgDirection, GPSTimeStamp | Where you stood, how high, which way you faced, and the UTC time |
| MakerNote | Manufacturer-specific | Often a serial number, shutter count and internal settings |
| IFD1 | ThumbnailOffset and the thumbnail itself | A small copy of the image |

The embedded thumbnail deserves a special mention. Some editing software crops or retouches the main image but does not refresh that small copy. The thumbnail can then still show the uncropped original, including whatever you meant to cut out.

Newer revisions of the standard add tags such as Photographer and ImageTitle. Few cameras fill them in today, but they show the direction of travel: more personal fields, not fewer.

## How to remove EXIF data

1. Keep **What to remove** set to **Everything**.
2. Choose or drop one or more JPEG, PNG, WebP or HEIC files.
3. In each result card, compare **Found in this file** with **Left in the file**.
4. Expect the remaining list to show the color profile for most photos, and the rotation flag for a photo that is stored turned. Both are kept on purpose. A HEIC may list its embedded preview image as well, because a thumbnail stored as an item of its own cannot be taken out of that format in place.
5. Download the cleaned copy, which has "-clean" added to its name.

Want to see every tag and its value before deciding? Open the photo in the [EXIF viewer](/exif-viewer/) first. It reads the file without changing it.

## When EXIF matters most

EXIF is easy to ignore until a specific situation makes it count:

- **Selling a camera or lens.** Sample photos in a listing can carry the body and lens serial numbers, which a buyer, or a thief, can match to other photos you have posted.
- **Posting from home.** The GPS directory places the shot; the timestamp and time zone show when you are usually there.
- **Sending files to strangers.** A buyer, a landlord or a dating match receives the whole file, not just the picture.
- **Publishing your work.** OwnerName, Artist and Copyright can be welcome on a portfolio but unwanted on an anonymous account.

## The one tag that stays

Phones rarely rotate the pixels when you hold them upright. They store the image sideways and set the Orientation tag, a single number from 1 to 8, to tell viewers how to turn it. Delete that tag and a portrait photo lies on its side in most apps.

So the tool does not simply erase the EXIF block. It removes the whole block and writes a new one that holds only Orientation. If the original Orientation is 1 (no rotation), no new block is written; a HEIC keeps an empty one, because its Exif item cannot be taken out. Nothing else from the EXIF block survives, not even the camera make.

## Beyond EXIF

EXIF is not the only place a photo stores facts about you. XMP can repeat the GPS position and the capture date. IPTC can carry a byline, a city name and the photographer's contact details. With **Everything** selected, those blocks go too, along with Content Credentials, comments and any extra data after a JPEG's end marker. The full list is on the [photo metadata page](/remove-metadata-from-photo/).

If you only want the coordinates gone, the **Location only** choice clears the GPS directory and maker notes, deletes free-text tags and nearly every tag absent from its list of known ones, and leaves the date, camera and serial-number tags. It does that only for an EXIF block it can read in full; a damaged block is deleted outright. That mode suits photo contests, insurance claims and anything else where the timestamp is evidence.

## Formats and limits

- **JPEG**: the APP1 segment that holds EXIF is replaced.
- **HEIC**: the Exif item is overwritten in place with a block of the same length, so the file size does not change.
- **WebP**: the EXIF chunk is dropped and the header flag that announced it is cleared. A rotated image gets a fresh chunk holding Orientation alone.
- **PNG**: the eXIf chunk is dropped, or rebuilt with Orientation alone for a rotated image. Older PNG files that stash EXIF in a text chunk are covered too, since all text chunks are removed.

TIFF, camera RAW and GIF files are not supported. Files that are damaged or truncated are left untouched with an explanation. So are a handful of well-formed but unusual ones: arithmetic-coded and hierarchical JPEGs, JPEGs carrying a DNL marker, HEIC sequences, animated AVIF and any HEIC with a box beyond those a still photo needs. Re-saving such a picture as a standard JPEG gives you a file this page accepts.

## What this tool cannot do

- **Clean the image itself.** EXIF sits next to the picture. The picture data and its palette are passed through unread, so anything the lens caught is still in view. The [redaction tool](/redact-image/) deals with that.
- **Leave out the color profile.** It is not part of EXIF and it stays; the result names it, and gives a separate line to profile text that goes beyond the standard wording.
- **Remove a HEIC's stand-alone preview.** Only a preview stored inside EXIF goes with EXIF. The one a HEIC keeps as its own item remains, is listed, and can predate your last edit of the photo.

So an empty "left" list is a statement about the things this page checks for. For everything else, see the [limits](/methodology/#limits).

## Where your image goes

Into memory inside this tab, and back out as a download. The page never posts your file to a server, and it does not keep a copy after you leave. You can check this yourself with the browser's developer tools.

## How EXIF removal works here

The cleaner locates the EXIF container in the file's own structure: a JPEG APP1 segment, a HEIC item listed in the meta box, a WebP or PNG chunk. It never decodes the image. Compressed picture data is copied byte for byte, which is why quality cannot drop. When the EXIF block goes, the GPS directory, maker notes and IFD1 thumbnail go with it, because they live inside it. After writing the new file, the tool parses it from scratch to produce the **Left in the file** list.

Testing and the steps to verify that nothing is uploaded are on the [methodology page](/methodology/).

## FAQ

### Is EXIF the same as metadata?

EXIF is one kind of metadata. A photo can also contain XMP, IPTC, maker notes inside EXIF, Content Credentials and plain comments. This tool removes all of them with the default setting.

### Will removing EXIF change the file size?

For JPEG, WebP and PNG the file gets smaller by roughly the size of the removed blocks, often a few kilobytes, more if there was a thumbnail. HEIC files keep exactly the same size because the data is overwritten in place.

### Why does the result still show the color profile?

The ICC color profile describes how colors should be displayed, and removing it can make colors look washed out, so it is kept. Profiles written by cameras, phones and editing apps hold color data and the name of the company behind them. A profile that someone built by hand can also carry its author's name or a copyright notice, and that text stays in the photo along with the profile; the result then adds a line for text inside the color profile. To read what a particular profile says, open the photo in the [EXIF viewer](/exif-viewer/): it prints the profile's description, copyright line and device names.

### Can EXIF be recovered after removal?

Not from the cleaned file. The removed bytes are not hidden or encrypted; they are absent. Your original file still has them, so keep or delete it as you see fit.

### Does my camera's serial number really end up in photos?

Often, yes. Many cameras write it to the SerialNumber tag, to maker notes, or both. The **Found in this file** panel shows any serial numbers it detects before you clean.

### Can I remove EXIF but keep the date?

Choose **Location only**. It keeps the EXIF date and camera tags and removes GPS, maker notes, free text, XMP, IPTC, Content Credentials and tags it cannot identify. Two exceptions: when the EXIF block itself is damaged, the block is deleted and the date is lost too; and when its layout is not one of the ordinary layouts on the tool's list (12 of the 738 photos we tested), the block gets the same cleaning as with **Everything** (the rotation stays) and the result says so.

## Sources

Checked 2026-10-11.

- [ExifTool: EXIF tag reference](https://exiftool.org/TagNames/EXIF.html)
- [Wikipedia: Exif (versions and the thumbnail problem)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exif)
- [Dublin Core Metadata Standards Index: Exif](https://msi.dublincore.org/standards/exif/)

Last updated: 2026-10-17