Remove photo metadata in seconds.
MetaCleanse wipes EXIF, GPS coordinates and camera data from your photos right in the browser. See exactly what's hidden inside, then download a clean copy. No uploads, no registration, free.
Add photos above to inspect and strip their metadata.
Why MetaCleanse
Full privacy
Files are read and cleaned only in your browser — nothing is uploaded and nothing leaves your device, ever.
See what's hidden
Before cleaning, MetaCleanse lists the metadata it finds — GPS location, camera model, timestamps and more.
Instant & batch
Drop in one photo or dozens, clean them all in a click, and download the stripped copies in seconds.
Works offline
Once the page has loaded, everything runs without an internet connection — clean photos even in airplane mode.
Privacy, built into every photo
MetaCleanse is a free online tool for the privacy task nobody thinks about until it's too late: stripping the hidden metadata out of photos before you share them. Every image your phone or camera takes carries an EXIF block — GPS coordinates that can pinpoint your home, the device make and model, the exact date and time, even the editing software you used. MetaCleanse reads that block, shows you exactly what's inside, and produces a clean copy that contains nothing but the picture itself.
Everything runs client-side in your browser, which makes it fast, private and available offline once loaded. There is nothing to install and no account to create. Because your photos are read and re-encoded entirely on your device, they are never uploaded to any server — a crucial difference from tools that require you to hand your files over first. Whether you're a journalist, an activist, or simply someone who'd rather not broadcast their address with every photo, cleaning takes seconds and every guide here explains why it matters.
Guides & articles
Plain-language explainers on EXIF, GPS data and the privacy behind your photos.
What Is EXIF Metadata? A Plain-Language Guide
Every photo your phone takes carries hidden data you never see. Here's what EXIF is, where it lives inside the file, and why it matters for your privacy.
How Photos Leak Your Location Through GPS EXIF
A single geotagged photo can point straight to your front door. Here's how GPS ends up in your images, what it exposes, and how to stop it.
Removing Metadata Before You Share a Photo
Stripping EXIF takes seconds once it is part of your routine. Here's a simple, repeatable workflow for cleaning photos before they leave your device.
Frequently asked questions
Are my photos uploaded to a server?+
No. MetaCleanse works entirely in your browser — not a single byte of your files is transmitted anywhere. Reading the metadata and re-encoding a clean copy both happen locally on your device using the File, Canvas and Web APIs. You can even use MetaCleanse in airplane mode: after the first page load, everything works completely offline.
What is EXIF metadata?+
EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is a standard for storing technical data inside image files, developed by the Japanese JEITA association. Metadata is recorded automatically with each shot and stored in a block at the start of the file. A typical EXIF block contains GPS coordinates, the camera or smartphone model, the date and time of the shot, technical settings (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focal length) and software or author details.
Why is it important to remove GPS data from photos?+
GPS coordinates in photo metadata can pinpoint the shooting location to within a few metres. Post a photo taken at home and the metadata may reveal your home address; a photo from work can expose an office or a sensitive site. This is especially critical for journalists, activists and anyone in a vulnerable position. Removing GPS data from every photo before publishing it online is a simple, effective safeguard.
What file formats does MetaCleanse support?+
MetaCleanse reads and displays metadata from JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF, HEIC and AVIF, and produces a cleaned copy for JPEG, PNG and WebP. The clean copy is created by re-drawing the decoded image onto a canvas and re-encoding it, so the output carries only pixel data — no EXIF, GPS, IPTC or XMP survives. GIF and other formats are re-encoded to PNG.
Does removing metadata reduce image quality?+
Because MetaCleanse re-encodes the image through a canvas, a JPEG is decoded and re-compressed once — visually near-identical, though not bit-for-bit the same as the original pixels. It exports JPEG at high quality (about 92%) to keep the difference invisible, while PNG and WebP-to-PNG stay lossless. If you need byte-level, lossless EXIF stripping, use a dedicated tool like ExifTool; for sharing online, the re-encoded copy is more than good enough.
How can I verify the metadata is really gone?+
Drag the cleaned file back into MetaCleanse — it will report that no metadata was found. You can also check with third-party tools such as ExifTool on the command line or any online EXIF viewer; all of them should show an empty result. The clean copy keeps only what a browser needs to display the picture.
How many photos can I process at once?+
There is no fixed limit. MetaCleanse supports batch processing — drop in any number of images, click Clean all, then Download all. The practical ceiling is your device's memory; on modern hardware you can comfortably process dozens of photos in a single session without anything leaving the page.