There is a good reason to check before you post
A photograph is not only a picture. Cameras and phones write a block of metadata into the file: the make and model, the lens, the exposure settings, the exact date and time, often the camera’s serial number, and — if location services were on — the coordinates where you were standing, accurate to a few metres.
That last one is the one that matters. A photo taken at home carries your home address. A photo of something for sale taken in your kitchen tells a stranger where the item is. And because the coordinates are precise rather than approximate, there is no ambiguity about which building.
The serial number is the subtler problem. It is the same in every photo that camera has ever taken, so a picture posted anonymously can be tied to one posted under your name — not by a determined investigator, but by anyone who thinks to compare two files.
Removing it without damaging the photo
Metadata lives in its own segments of the file, alongside the compressed image data rather than mixed into it. That means it can be cut out cleanly: the segments carrying EXIF, XMP, IPTC and comments are dropped, and every other byte — including all of the image data — is copied through untouched.
This matters because the usual approach is to decode the picture and encode it again, which strips metadata as a side effect and quietly costs a generation of quality. On a JPEG that has already been saved a few times, that is not nothing. The result here decodes to pixels identical to the original, which is checked by an automated test that compares every pixel of both files on every change to the code.
The colour profile is deliberately kept. It sits in its own segment and describes how the colours should be interpreted, not who took the photo, and removing it can visibly shift them.
Nothing is sent anywhere, including your coordinates
The file is read in your browser and never transmitted, which is true of every tool here. It matters more on this page than most: a metadata viewer that uploads your photo in order to tell you it contains your home address would be an unusually poor joke.
For the same reason, coordinates are shown as numbers rather than plotted on a map. Fetching a map tile would send your location to a map provider — a smaller disclosure than uploading the photo, but the same kind, and not one to make on your behalf without asking.
Frequently asked questions
Does removing metadata reduce image quality?
No — not at all here. Metadata sits in its own segments of the file, separate from the compressed image data, so those segments are simply cut out and everything else is copied byte for byte. Most online tools decode and re-encode the picture instead, which costs a generation of quality for a change that never needed to touch a pixel. An automated test decodes both files and compares every pixel on each change.
Do social networks already strip EXIF?
Most of the big ones do on upload, which is one of the few genuinely good things they do with your photos. But it is not universal, it does not apply to files you email or send through a messenger as a document, and it does not help with photos you upload to a marketplace listing, a forum or your own website. Assume nothing is stripped until you have checked.
What is actually risky in EXIF?
GPS coordinates, overwhelmingly. They are accurate to a few metres, so a photo taken indoors gives away your home or workplace address. After that: the exact date and time, the camera serial number — which links every photo from that camera together, including ones posted anonymously — and sometimes the device name, which is often the owner's first name.
Why do you not show my location on a map?
Because looking up a map tile means sending your coordinates to a map provider, which is exactly the disclosure this page exists to prevent. The coordinates are shown as numbers; if you want to see the place, paste them somewhere yourself and make that choice knowingly.
Does this work on HEIC photos from an iPhone?
Metadata can be read from HEIC, but lossless stripping is only offered for JPEG and PNG, because the HEIC container would have to be rewritten rather than trimmed. For an iPhone photo the practical route is to convert it to JPG with metadata turned off, which drops everything in one step.
What is kept when I strip a file?
The colour profile. It lives in its own segment and describes how colours should be interpreted rather than who took the photo — removing it can visibly shift the colours, so it stays. Everything identifying goes: EXIF, XMP, IPTC, comments and PNG text chunks.