Remove metadata from images
Every photo you take carries where you were standing, which camera took it, and when. Drop one in to see the lot, then take it out. The picture itself is copied across untouched, so nothing is recompressed.
The tool
Supported formats
A format is only listed as removable when a round-trip test proves it: strip the file, re-read it, and confirm both that no metadata remains and that the encoded image data is byte-identical. Anything that cannot pass that is listed as unsupported rather than shipped with a caveat.
| Format | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG | Read and remove | APP1 (EXIF, XMP), APP13 (IPTC), APP11 (C2PA) and comments. Scan data copied verbatim. |
| PNG | Read and remove | tEXt, zTXt, iTXt, eXIf, tIME and caBX. Transparency, colour and animation chunks kept. |
| WebP | Read and remove | EXIF, XMP, ICCP and C2PA chunks, with the VP8X flags and RIFF size corrected. |
| SVG | Read and remove | Editor metadata, RDF, titles and comments. Re-serialised, so geometry is preserved but formatting may change. |
| Not yet | Removal is not offered because it cannot currently be proven complete: metadata also hides in annotations, form fields and earlier revisions. |
How it comes out
Image files are containers. A JPEG is a stream of marker segments, a PNG is a sequence of chunks, a WebP is RIFF chunks. The picture lives in some of them and the metadata in others, so removal means writing out a new file containing only the segments worth keeping and copying the image payload across untouched.
The alternative is drawing the image to a canvas and exporting it, which is what most in-browser tools do. It is worse in every way that matters: it recompresses the picture, loses the colour profile, and produces a different file on every browser. It is not used here.
Common questions
- Does removing metadata reduce image quality?
- No. For JPEG, PNG and WebP the file is rebuilt without the metadata containers while the compressed image data is copied across byte for byte. The picture is never decoded and re-encoded, so the result is pixel-identical to the original. This is tested by comparing the encoded payload before and after.
- Why is the orientation flag kept by default?
- Because removing it visibly rotates photographs. Many cameras store the image sideways and record an orientation tag that viewers use to rotate it back. Strip the tag and the photo appears rotated. It is a separate opt-in for that reason, and it is the single most common bug in metadata removers.
- Why is the colour profile kept by default?
- An ICC profile tells software how to interpret the colour values. Removing it from a wide-gamut image shifts the colours, usually towards oversaturation. It is offered as a separate option with that warning attached.
- What is actually in there?
- GPS coordinates good to a few metres, the camera or phone model, often a serial number unique to your body, the exact moment the shutter fired, names and contact details in the authorship fields, and every piece of software that has touched the file. It is grouped by what it means rather than by tag name.
- Are my images uploaded?
- No. All of it happens in this browser tab.