This is the practical, platform-by-platform tutorial for removing EXIF metadata from photos. Whether you are on Windows, Mac, iPhone, or Android — or using any device and want a browser-based option — this guide covers the exact steps for each method with no assumptions about technical knowledge.
The goal: take a photo that currently contains GPS coordinates, camera serial number, and date/time metadata, and produce a clean file that reveals nothing beyond the visual image itself. Each method below achieves this goal to different degrees — the completeness notes tell you exactly what each approach does and doesn't remove.
Step 1: Strip Metadata on Windows
1 Open File Explorer and navigate to the photo you want to clean.
2 Right-click the image file and select Properties from the context menu.
3 Click the Details tab in the Properties window. You will see fields like Date Taken, Camera Make, Camera Model, GPS Latitude, GPS Longitude, and many technical camera settings.
4 At the bottom of the Details tab, click the link that reads "Remove Properties and Personal Information."
5 In the dialog that appears, choose "Create a copy with all possible properties removed." (Do not choose "Remove the following properties from this file" for the most thorough automated removal.) Click OK.
6 A new file is created in the same folder with "(1)" appended to the filename. This copy has GPS, camera make/model, date taken, and author fields removed. The original file remains unchanged.
Windows — Complete Removal Using ExifTool
For thorough metadata removal on Windows, download ExifTool from exiftool.org. After installation, open Command Prompt in the folder containing your photos (Shift + right-click in the folder → "Open PowerShell window here") and run:
exiftool -all= -overwrite_original filename.jpg
For an entire folder: exiftool -all= -overwrite_original *.jpg
ExifTool removes every EXIF tag including the embedded thumbnail and camera serial number — achieving complete metadata removal that Windows Properties cannot match.
Step 2: Strip Metadata on Mac
1 Open the photo in Preview (double-click in Finder, or right-click → Open With → Preview).
2 Go to the Tools menu in the menu bar and select "Show Inspector" (keyboard shortcut: Command-I).
3 In the Inspector panel, look for the GPS tab (it looks like a location pin icon). If the tab is present, the photo contains GPS data. If the GPS tab does not appear, the photo has no GPS coordinates.
4 Click the GPS tab and then click "Remove Location Info." Save the file (Command-S). The GPS data is now removed from the file.
Mac — Complete Removal Using ExifTool in Terminal
Install ExifTool on Mac via Homebrew: brew install exiftool (requires Homebrew). Then in Terminal:
Single file: exiftool -all= filename.jpg
Entire folder: exiftool -all= /Users/yourname/Desktop/photos/
Without creating backup copies: exiftool -all= -overwrite_original *.jpg
Mac — Combined Compression and Stripping Using ImageOptim
Download ImageOptim (imageoptim.com — free, Mac only). Drag and drop individual photos or entire folders into the ImageOptim window. ImageOptim optimizes and compresses the files in place, stripping all EXIF metadata during the process. Original files are modified directly — there is no separate output. Keep copies before processing if you need the originals.
Step 3: Manage Metadata on iPhone
Preventing GPS Embedding in Future Photos
1 Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2 Scroll down and tap Privacy & Security.
3 Tap Location Services.
4 Scroll down to Camera in the app list. Tap it.
5 Select "Never" to prevent the Camera app from accessing location entirely. Photos taken after this change will contain no GPS coordinates. (Camera still functions normally — only location embedding is disabled.)
Removing Location From a Specific Photo Before Sharing
1 Open the Photos app and select the photo you want to share.
2 Tap the Share button (the square with an upward arrow).
3 At the top of the share sheet, tap "Options" (this appears just above the app icons in the share sheet row).
4 In the Options screen, find "Location" and toggle it off. Tap Done.
5 Continue sharing normally. The shared file will not include location data. Note: this only strips location for this specific share — the original photo in your Photos library retains its location data.
Step 4: Strip Metadata on Any Device Using ConvertiImage Online
This method works on any device — Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, Chromebook, Linux — without installing any software or creating an account. It is the fastest route to a completely metadata-free file.
1 Open your browser and go to convertiimage.com.
2 Click the upload area or drag and drop your photo onto the page. You can upload multiple files at once for batch processing.
3 Select your output format. Any format works — JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF. All format conversions automatically strip all EXIF metadata. If you want to keep the same format, simply select the same format as the input (e.g., JPEG to JPEG).
4 Click Convert. Processing takes a few seconds.
5 Click Download to save the clean output file. The downloaded file contains zero EXIF metadata — no GPS, no camera data, no serial number, no embedded thumbnail.
This is the recommended approach for users who need strip metadata from image online capability without installing any tools or navigating complex settings menus.
Recipe Cards: Common EXIF Removal Workflows
Batch Strip Before Posting to Social Media
Scenario: You have 20 photos to post to your blog or social media from a recent trip. You want all of them clean before uploading.
Best approach: Use ConvertiImage — upload all photos, select your output format, download the batch as a ZIP. All files in the ZIP are metadata-free. Alternatively on Mac, drag the entire folder into ImageOptim for one-step batch processing.
Time required: Under 2 minutes for 20 photos using ConvertiImage.
GPS-Only Removal While Keeping Camera Data
Scenario: You are a professional photographer. You want to remove GPS to protect shooting location privacy, but you want to keep your copyright name, camera model, and settings embedded for portfolio attribution.
Best approach on Mac: Preview → Tools → Show Inspector → GPS tab → Remove Location Info. Only GPS fields are removed; all other EXIF including Copyright and Artist tags remain.
Best approach on Windows: Not well-supported with built-in tools — Windows Properties removes too much. Use ExifTool with selective tag removal: exiftool -gps:all= filename.jpg to remove only GPS tags while preserving everything else.
Complete Metadata Wipe for Journalism
Scenario: Batch processing field photos before transmission. No metadata can remain — GPS, serial numbers, embedded thumbnails, or timestamps that could identify source location or device.
Best approach: ExifTool batch command: exiftool -all= -overwrite_original /path/to/photos/
Verify after processing with: exiftool filename.jpg — the output should show minimal or no tags remaining beyond technical encoding information.
Alternative: use ExifTool's "-ThumbnailImage=" flag specifically to ensure embedded thumbnails are removed: exiftool -all= -ThumbnailImage= -overwrite_original *.jpg
Troubleshooting Common Problems
EXIF Still Showing After Windows Properties Removal
Windows Properties removal is not complete — it removes the highest-risk personal data fields but leaves some EXIF tags intact. After using Windows Properties removal, verify the result using Jeffrey's Exif Viewer (exif.regex.info) by uploading the cleaned file. If tags still appear that you need removed, switch to ExifTool or ConvertiImage for complete removal. The Windows method is adequate for most casual use but should not be relied upon for privacy-critical situations.
Can't Find the GPS Tab in Preview on Mac
The GPS tab in Preview's Inspector only appears if the photo actually contains GPS coordinates. If the GPS tab is absent, one of two things is true: the photo was taken with GPS disabled (or by a camera without GPS), or GPS data was already stripped by a previous tool or platform. This is not an error — it means there is no location data to remove. Use the Exif tab to check what other metadata the file contains.
Metadata Removed But Thumbnail Still Embedded
The embedded thumbnail is a separate EXIF tag (ThumbnailImage) that some tools overlook during removal. If you need to specifically target the thumbnail, use ExifTool with the explicit thumbnail removal command: exiftool -ThumbnailImage= filename.jpg. To confirm the thumbnail is present before removing it, run: exiftool -ThumbnailImage -b filename.jpg > thumb.jpg — if this creates a viewable thumbnail file, the tag was present. After removal, re-run the extraction command and it should fail (no thumbnail to extract).
iPhone Share Sheet Has No "Options" Button
The "Options" button in the iOS share sheet appears only when sharing via AirDrop, Messages, or Mail — it does not appear for all share destinations. If you don't see Options, the share destination may not support the location toggle. In this case, the safest approach is to use ConvertiImage to strip metadata from the file before sharing it through any method.
