ExifZero What a photo can reveal about you
- Where you live or work — GPS coordinates accurate to a few metres.
- When you were there — the exact date and time the photo was taken.
- Which device you own — make, model and sometimes a serial number that links all your photos together.
- Your name — owner or artist fields set in the camera or editing software.
- What you cropped out — an embedded thumbnail of the original frame.
Lossless means exactly that
Many “remove EXIF” sites redraw the photo on a canvas and save it again, which recompresses the JPEG and throws away quality and the color profile. Here, the metadata blocks are cut out of the file and the compressed image data is copied unchanged — the pixels of the cleaned file are identical to the original.
Turn off location in your camera
- iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera → Never. When sharing a single photo, tap Options and turn off Location.
- Android: open the Camera app settings and switch off “Location tags” (the wording varies by maker).
Frequently asked questions
Does this remove the GPS location?
Yes. GPS is part of the EXIF block, which is removed entirely, together with XMP and IPTC location fields.
Do social networks remove EXIF anyway?
Most large networks strip GPS from public posts, but messaging apps sending “original quality” files, email, cloud-drive links, forums and marketplaces often do not. Cleaning before you share means you do not have to know each site’s policy.
Will my photo be rotated wrongly afterwards?
No. With “Keep rotation” ticked, the cleaned file keeps a one-field EXIF block holding only the orientation, so the photo still stands upright.
Can I clean many photos at once?
Yes. Drop as many as you like and use “Clean all & download ZIP”.
Does it work on iPhone HEIC photos?
Yes in Safari, which can decode HEIC: the photo is converted to a clean high-quality JPEG. Other browsers cannot open HEIC, so set the iPhone camera to “Most Compatible” or export as JPEG first.