What's hidden in a photo?
Every photo from a phone or camera carries a block of information called EXIF data alongside the picture. Depending on your settings, it can include:
- GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken, often accurate to a few metres. Take a photo at home and the file can point to your front door.
- Date and time the photo was taken.
- Phone or camera make and model, the lens, and sometimes the camera's serial number or the owner's name.
- Editing software and other notes added by apps (XMP and IPTC data).
Some big platforms remove location data when you upload, but many places don't: email attachments, messaging apps that send files "as documents", cloud share links, forums, and many marketplaces and websites. If you're not sure, clean the photo first.
When to remove it
- Selling online: item photos taken at home shouldn't reveal where you live.
- Sharing photos of children, your home, car or daily routine.
- Sending photos to strangers, such as a buyer, landlord or someone you met online.
- Posting on forums and websites that keep the original file.
How this tool removes it
For JPG, PNG and WebP, the tool takes out the metadata sections of the file and leaves the image data exactly as it was, so there's no loss of quality and no change in file type. It keeps one tag, the orientation, so photos don't suddenly appear sideways. Each cleaned file is checked again before you download it.
HEIC photos (the iPhone default) are converted to JPG, which leaves all the hidden data behind and gives you a file that opens everywhere, including on Windows and on websites that don't accept HEIC. In browsers that can't open HEIC themselves, a converter (about 1.3 MB) downloads the first time you use it and runs on your device.
Stop your phone adding location
- iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera → Never. When sharing a single photo, tap Options on the share sheet and turn off Location.
- Android: open the Camera app's settings and turn off Location tags (the wording varies by phone maker).
That stops new photos being tagged. Photos you've already taken keep their location until you clean them.
FAQ
Does it reduce photo quality?
No for JPG, PNG and WebP: the picture data is untouched. HEIC photos are converted to high-quality JPG.
Is the "see map" link safe?
It opens OpenStreetMap at the coordinates found in your photo, so they're sent to OpenStreetMap only if you click it. Nothing else leaves your device.
Can I convert HEIC to JPG without removing anything?
Converting always drops the hidden data. That's usually what you want when sharing.
Does it work on iPhone?
Yes. Pick photos from your library in Safari. Note that iOS may already convert them to JPG when you pick them, and may remove location depending on your settings. The tool shows what's actually in each file.