EXIF Data Remover
Strip EXIF, XMP, ICC, IPTC metadata from JPEG losslessly - and PNG/WebP via canvas. Detects GPS data. Free, offline, client-side, instant, secure.
Strip EXIF, XMP, ICC, and IPTC metadata
from photos before you share them. JPEG strip is lossless - we surgically remove
the APP segments without re-encoding the image data. PNG and WebP fall back to canvas
re-encode (small quality cost - disclosed).
Drag & drop an image here
or
JPEG, PNG, WebP - max 10 MB
How to Use EXIF Data Remover
- Upload an image. Drag and drop or click "Choose image" to pick a JPEG, PNG, or WebP. The file is read locally - nothing leaves your device. Max 10 MB.
- Read the detected-metadata table. For JPEGs the tool parses the APP1 segment and reads the TIFF IFD0 + EXIF sub-IFD, surfacing real values: Make, Model, DateTime, Software, Orientation, and any GPS-IFD presence. PNG and WebP show "metadata not parsed" - see step 4.
- Watch for the red GPS warning. When the EXIF GPS sub-IFD pointer is set, the warning banner shows. Removing the metadata zeros out the location.
- Click "Remove all metadata". For JPEG, the tool runs a lossless surgical strip: APP1 (EXIF/XMP), APP2 (ICC), APP13 (IPTC), APP14 (Adobe) markers are deleted, but the actual compressed scan data is copied byte-for-byte - image quality is identical. For PNG/WebP, the tool falls back to a canvas re-encode at 95% quality (which strips all metadata but does cost a tiny amount of quality - disclosed in the result panel).
- Read the result stats. Original vs cleaned size, number of metadata segments removed (JPEG only), and the strip method used.
- Download or process another. The cleaned file is saved as
<original-name>-cleaned.<ext>. Ctrl/Cmd + Enter triggers download (or Remove if not yet stripped).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is EXIF data and why should I remove it?
EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is a metadata block that cameras and phones embed in photos. It can include GPS coordinates (your exact location at the time of capture), camera make/model, lens info, capture time, software identification, and copyright. Sharing the original file shares all of that – sometimes more than you intended.
Does removing EXIF data reduce image quality?
For JPEG: no. The tool surgically removes the APP1 (EXIF/XMP), APP2 (ICC), APP13 (IPTC), and APP14 (Adobe) markers from the JPEG byte stream without touching the compressed scan data. Pixel values are byte-for-byte identical to the original. For PNG and WebP: the strip goes through a canvas re-encode at 95% quality, which costs a small amount of quality (visible only on careful inspection) but reliably removes all metadata. The result panel always shows which method was used.
Are the displayed metadata values real or just placeholders?
Real. For JPEG the tool parses the APP1 segment, reads the TIFF byte order, IFD0 entries, and EXIF sub-IFD entries, and shows whichever known tags it finds (Make, Model, DateTime, Software, Orientation, plus ExposureTime, FNumber, ISO, FocalLength, LensModel from the EXIF sub-IFD). Tags it doesn’t recognise are skipped rather than guessed. For PNG / WebP it doesn’t parse – those formats have different metadata containers and the tool just notes that strip will still remove them via canvas re-encode.
Is the GPS warning accurate?
Yes. The warning fires only when the EXIF IFD0 contains a GPSInfoIFDPointer tag (tag 0x8825) pointing to a valid offset. That tag is present only when GPS coordinates were actually written. No GPS pointer ⇒ no warning.
Is my image uploaded to a server?
No. The page loads three static files (HTML, CSS, JS) and then everything runs in your browser via the File API, FileReader, and Canvas API. Your image bytes never leave the device – no fetch, no XHR, no analytics, no cookies. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and the tool still works.
What’s the difference between EXIF, XMP, ICC, and IPTC?
EXIF (in APP1) is the original camera-sourced metadata – make, model, exposure, GPS. XMP (also in APP1, Adobe namespace) is Adobe’s XML-based metadata layer used for cataloguing and rights. ICC (APP2) is the colour profile (e.g. sRGB, Adobe RGB) that tells renderers how to interpret pixel values. IPTC (APP13 / Photoshop IRB) is the news-industry metadata: caption, keywords, byline. All four are stripped together when you click Remove.
What about PNG metadata?
PNG uses its own chunk-based metadata containers (tEXt, iTXt, zTXt, eXIf in newer specs, plus tIME and pHYs) – not JPEG APP markers. The tool doesn’t parse PNG chunks but the canvas re-encode strips all of them, so the output PNG carries only the visual data. Same idea for WebP via VP8X chunks.
How large can my image be?
10 MB hard cap. The JPEG strip is O(n) over the byte length and runs instantly even on 10 MB files. The canvas fallback for PNG/WebP needs enough memory to decode the image – practical limit is around 100 megapixels depending on browser.
Is this tool free?
Yes – free, unlimited, no signup, no watermark. Use the stripped image anywhere. Attribution to is appreciated but not required.