Every photo you take and many documents you write carry hidden information: where a picture was taken, which phone took it, who wrote a document and when. Drop a file below to see exactly what it reveals, then download a clean copy. Files are read and cleaned in your browser; they are never uploaded.
What is metadata, and why does it matter?
Metadata is information stored inside a file, separate from what you see. A phone photo usually records the exact GPS position, the date and time, and the phone’s make and model, sometimes even its serial number. A Word document records the author’s name, the company the software is registered to, who saved it last, and how long it was edited. A PDF often names the person and the app that created it.
Most of the time nobody looks. But metadata has exposed whistleblowers, revealed the home addresses of people selling items online, and linked “anonymous” documents to their authors. Stalkers and doxxers know where to look. If you are sharing a photo of something you are selling, sending a document to a journalist or a landlord, or posting anything you’d rather not have traced back to your front door, it is worth checking first.
What this tool removes
- Photos (JPEG, PNG, WebP): GPS location, camera and phone details, serial numbers, owner names, dates, editing software and history, captions, and embedded thumbnails, which can show a picture before it was cropped. The image itself isn’t re-compressed, so there’s no loss of quality, and the rotation setting is kept so your photo still displays the right way up.
- PDFs: the document properties (title, author, creating app, dates), XMP metadata, and leftover data from earlier saves of the file.
- Word, Excel and PowerPoint: author, “last saved by”, company, manager, template, dates, editing time and custom properties, plus hidden data in pictures inside the document.
After cleaning, the tool reads the new file back and tells you if anything is still there. If it can’t read a file completely (because it’s damaged, encrypted or an unusual format), it refuses rather than hand back a half-cleaned copy.
What it can’t remove
Metadata is only half the story. A photo can still give away a location through what’s in it: a street sign, a view from a window, a school logo, a reflection in a mirror or a pair of sunglasses. Documents can contain names in the text, comments and tracked changes. The tool tells you when a document has comments or tracked changes, but it doesn’t delete them, because they’re part of the content: accept or reject all changes and delete comments in your office app first.
Some apps strip metadata when you share, others don’t. Many social networks remove GPS data from public posts but keep it themselves. Messaging apps vary, and sending a photo “as a file” or “as a document” usually keeps everything. Email attachments and cloud links keep everything. When in doubt, clean the file first.
Stop it at the source
- iPhone: in the share sheet, tap “Options” and turn off “Location” before sending. To stop recording it altogether: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera → Never.
- Android: open the Camera app’s settings and turn off location tags (the name varies by phone, e.g. “Location tags” or “Save location”).
- Microsoft Office: File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document removes properties, comments and personal information.
Checking a photo someone sent you, for example from a dating profile? Try our reverse image search to see where else it appears.
Metadata remover FAQ
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read and cleaned by your own browser, and the clean copy is created on your device. The page is locked so it can't send data anywhere, and nothing is stored. You can even disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it still works.
Does removing metadata reduce photo quality?
No. The tool removes the hidden sections of the file without decoding or re-compressing the picture, so every pixel stays the same. The clean copy is usually slightly smaller.
Why does my photo still show the right way up?
Phones often save photos sideways and use a small "orientation" setting to display them correctly. The tool keeps that one setting (it reveals nothing about you) and removes everything else.
Can it clean iPhone HEIC photos or videos?
Not yet. Share or export the photo as a JPEG (on iPhone, set Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible) and clean that. Videos also carry location and device data; they're on our list for a future version.
Do social media sites remove metadata anyway?
Many large platforms strip GPS data from what other people can see, but they usually keep the original information themselves. Email, cloud storage, many forums and marketplaces, and sending photos "as a file" in chat apps keep everything. Cleaning the file yourself means you don't have to trust each app.
Is the file completely anonymous after cleaning?
Only the hidden data is removed. What's visible in the photo or written in the document stays, including faces, landmarks, names in the text, comments and tracked changes. For documents, also check the content and use your office app's "inspect document" feature.