To remove metadata from photos, stop your camera recording location first, then clean the files you already have: on an iPhone, tap Options in the share sheet and switch Location off; on a Mac, use Image, Location, Hide Location in Photos; on Android, turn off the camera's location setting, because Google Photos cannot delete coordinates the camera added; and on any computer, ExifTool's delete-all command strips everything. Then open the cleaned copy and confirm no location is left before you upload it.
This page is the hands-on part. The wider job of keeping a stage persona apart from your legal identity is covered in the anonymous creator privacy guide. Steps below come from Apple, Google, Samsung, X, Meta and ExifTool pages read on 2 October 2026; menus move between software versions, so follow the current wording on your device.
What a photo or video file can carry
Apple's Personal Safety guide on location metadata explains that when the Camera app has Location Services access, it embeds the coordinates where each photo or video was taken, and that people you share those files with may be able to read them. Location is the field that matters most, but it is rarely the only one.
- GPS coordinates, sometimes with altitude, written by the phone or camera at capture.
- The capture date and time, which over a series of posts can reveal a routine or a time zone.
- The device make and model, plus the software that last edited the file.
- An embedded preview image inside the photo, and a creation date in the header of a video file.
- The file name itself, if your phone names files by date or you renamed them with a real name or place.
None of this covers what is visible in the frame. A street sign, a distinctive window view or a parcel label can place you as precisely as GPS, which our guide to privacy-safe shooting backgrounds deals with.
Per-device steps table
Each row has three jobs: stop new location tags, clean the files you already have, and confirm the result. Do all three, because switching off the camera setting does nothing for photos taken last month.
| Device | Stop new location tags | Clean existing files | Confirm it worked |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone or iPad | Settings, Privacy and Security, Location Services, Camera, then Never | Per photo: Info, Adjust Info, Adjust Location, No Location. When sharing: Options, then switch Location off | The share sheet shows Location Not Included above the Options button |
| Mac with Photos | Change the setting on the iPhone that took the pictures | Select the photos, then Image, Location, Hide Location | Open the exported copy in Preview; Apple says Tools, Show Location Info is greyed out when there is no location |
| Android with Google Camera | In the camera's own settings, turn off Save location, per Google's camera location page | Google Photos can only remove estimated or manually added locations, so camera-written coordinates need ExifTool on a computer | Open the photo's details panel in Google Photos and look for a place name |
| Samsung Galaxy | In the camera settings, turn off Location tags | Gallery's share screen offers Remove location data on One UI 3.0 or later; the Messages app has its own Remove location from shared images option | Send a test photo to yourself and swipe up on it to check for a location |
| Windows PC | Change the setting on the phone or camera that took the files | File Explorer: Properties, Details, Remove Properties and Personal Information, then make a copy with properties removed | Reopen the Details tab of the copy; it may not handle every format, so confirm with ExifTool |
| Any computer | Not applicable; this is a cleaning tool | ExifTool, using the folder commands in the next section | A GPS Position check across the whole folder, also shown below |
Two Google details catch people out. The Google Photos location help says that a photo downloaded and sent outside Google Photos carries the original location your device saved, without any edits you made in the app, and that partner sharing includes location details for every photo you share. Samsung's steps come from its Gallery guide and its note on location removal in Messages, which switches on automatically when Auto Blocker's Maximum restrictions mode is enabled.
Clean a whole folder with ExifTool
ExifTool's documentation gives the delete-all command for an image, warns against using it on proprietary RAW files other than DNG, and explains that it keeps each original beside the edited file with _original added to the name. Run the commands below from a terminal, pointed at a folder of finished exports rather than your camera originals.
Strip photos and videos in an exports folder, touching only common export formats:
exiftool -all= -time:all= -ext jpg -ext jpeg -ext heic -ext png -ext mp4 -ext mov -r exportsThe extra time option matters for video. ExifTool's QuickTime tag reference notes that the creation and modification dates in a video's header are part of a fixed binary structure, so they cannot be deleted, only set to zero when deleted individually. A delete-all command on its own can therefore leave the recording date in an MP4 or MOV file.
Remove only the location from a photo and keep fields such as your copyright notice:
exiftool -gps:all= photo.jpgCheck a folder: any file that still has a location prints a GPS Position line, photos and videos alike:
exiftool -GPSPosition -r exportsUse the composite GPS Position check rather than listing the GPS group, because video files store coordinates in QuickTime fields that a GPS-group listing skips. To see everything left in one file, run exiftool -a -G1 -s photo.jpg; lines labelled System are your computer's own file dates, not data stored inside the file. FFmpeg users can copy a video without its global metadata using ffmpeg -i clip.mov -map_metadata -1 -c copy clean.mov, which FFmpeg's documentation describes as a dummy mapping that disables automatic copying; check the output with ExifTool either way.
The _original backups still hold every field you just removed. Never upload them, and delete them once the check comes back clean. If you also add a watermark, strip the metadata from the marked copies, since editors can write new fields on export; our guide to watermarking photos and videos covers that batch step.
What platforms say they do with metadata
Whether a viewer can read your metadata and whether the platform receives it are separate questions. Platform pages tend to answer the first one, if they answer at all.
| Platform or feature | What its own page says | What that means before you post |
|---|---|---|
| X | The X photo help page says X reads Exif data to suggest locations when location services are on, uses it for analytics about camera use, retains it temporarily to process the photo, and does not show it to viewers | Viewers are covered; X itself still receives whatever you upload |
| Facebook and Instagram | The Meta Privacy Policy lists metadata about content and messages, subject to applicable law, among the information Meta uses | The policy promises no stripping; clean files before they reach Meta |
| Google Photos sharing | Each shared album has a Share photo locations switch, new conversations leave location out by default, and partner sharing always includes it | Check the switch on every shared album and avoid partner sharing for work photos |
| Apple share sheet | Turning Location off under Options sends the photo with Location Not Included | Works per share, so it has to be repeated every time |
| OnlyFans and Fansly | We could not find a help article on either site that says whether uploaded files keep or lose their metadata | Treat both as unknown and upload only files you have already cleaned |
Messaging apps vary by app, setting and whether you send a photo as a compressed image or as a file, so do not rely on a chat app to clean anything you send to a collaborator or a buyer.
Pre-upload metadata check
- Confirm the camera on every phone you shoot with has location switched off, including a second phone or a partner's phone used for a shoot.
- Export finished files into one exports folder, separate from camera originals and from any synced family library.
- Rename exports with a neutral pattern, such as a set code and number, so no file name carries a date, place or real name.
- Run the ExifTool clean on the exports folder, then the GPS Position check, and fix any file that still prints a location.
- Open one photo and one video from the batch and list their remaining fields, looking for dates, device names and editing software.
- Delete the _original backups once the check passes, so the uncleaned copies cannot be uploaded by mistake.
- Look at each frame for visible clues that metadata tools cannot touch: signs, mail, uniforms, reflections and window views.
- Upload only from the cleaned folder, and if a platform lets you download your own post, inspect that copy too.
- Repeat the camera check after phone updates or a new phone, since a restore can bring location settings back.
If your legal name or address is already on people-search sites, cleaning files will not undo that; our DeleteMe vs Incogni comparison covers paid removal services, and the doxxing exposure audit covers the do-it-yourself route.
Limits of metadata removal
Removing metadata closes one channel, not every channel. It cannot hide what the camera saw, it cannot recall files you have already posted or sent, and it does not stop a platform from logging the network, account and device details it collects when you upload. Google's own help warns that people can guess a location from landmarks even when the coordinates are hidden. These steps also have limitations of their own: they reflect pages read on 2 October 2026, software updates can rename or move settings, Windows' built-in remover may not cover every file type, and ExifTool commands change files in ways you should check on copies first. This is general information rather than security advice for your situation; if you are dealing with stalking or threats, contact police and a specialist support service, and in Australia you can also report image-based abuse to eSafety.