FreeWrench
EXIF Remover
Photos can reveal where and when they were taken, and on what device. Remove that information before sending a picture to strangers.
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How to use it
- Add your JPG, PNG or WebP files.
- The metadata is removed straight away.
- Download the clean copies.
Good to know
Most images are cleaned without touching the picture data, so quality does not change at all. The exception is a JPG with a rotation flag, which has to be re-saved at high quality to stay the right way up.
Colour profiles are kept so that the picture looks the same afterwards.
What a photo can reveal about you
| Hidden data | What it tells someone |
|---|---|
| GPS coordinates | Where it was taken, possibly your home |
| Date and time | When you were at that place |
| Camera and lens model | The device you own |
| Software tags | Which editor was used |
| Embedded thumbnail | An older, uncropped version of the picture |
What is removed and what is kept
In a JPG, the tool removes the EXIF and XMP blocks, Photoshop and IPTC data, and comments. In a PNG, it removes text and timestamp chunks along with any EXIF. In a WebP, it removes EXIF and XMP. The colour profile stays, so colours do not shift.
The picture data is copied byte for byte, so quality is unaffected. The one exception is a JPG with a rotation tag: rotation lives in EXIF, so without it a sideways photo would stay sideways. Those files are re-saved at 95% with the rotation applied.
How to confirm it worked
- Windows: right-click the file, then choose Properties and Details.
- Mac: open it in Preview, then choose Tools and Show Inspector.
- Compare with the original, and look for the GPS and camera fields to be empty.
What metadata removal cannot do
Things visible in the picture stay visible: street signs, door numbers, screens, reflections and faces. For those, use Blur Faces or crop them out. HEIC files need to be converted first, and that conversion leaves the camera data behind.
Questions
Do social networks remove EXIF?
Most major ones strip it from public images, but email, messaging as a file, and many forums do not.
What gets removed?
GPS position, date and time, camera and lens model, software tags, comments and embedded thumbnails.