How to Remove Image Metadata

"Remove the metadata" covers a range of scope, from "just the GPS data" to "everything, including provenance claims." Which tool fits depends on what you're actually trying to accomplish.

Just EXIF (including GPS)

Use the EXIF Remover. For JPEG and PNG, it removes the EXIF segment at the byte level without touching pixel data — no quality loss. It leaves IPTC, XMP, ICC, and C2PA data in place, so it's the right choice when you specifically want camera/GPS data gone but don't care about (or want to keep) other metadata, like an embedded ICC color profile that keeps colors accurate in other apps.

Everything embedded

Use the Metadata Cleaner. It removes EXIF, IPTC, XMP, ICC, and C2PA data together, and shows a before/after report confirming what was actually found and removed — generated by re-checking the cleaned file, not by assuming success.

Specifically AI-generation and provenance signals

Use the AI Remove Tool if your specific concern is C2PA manifests, DigitalSourceType fields, or AI-tool names in Software/CreatorTool fields — see Does Removing Metadata Remove an AI Label? for the important limitation on what this can and can't accomplish with respect to a platform's own AI detection.

What actually happens, format by format

• JPEG and PNG: removal is done losslessly at the byte level — the relevant segments/chunks are deleted and the rest of the file, including all pixel data, is copied through unchanged.
• WebP: there's no lightweight way to strip individual metadata chunks, so WebP files are cleaned by decoding and re-encoding through a canvas, which removes all metadata by construction but can slightly change file size/quality compared to the byte-level approach used for JPEG/PNG.

Verifying it actually worked

Don't just trust a "cleaned" label — check. Every cleaning tool on this site shows a before/after table built by re-parsing the output file from scratch, so you can confirm specific fields (GPS, in particular) are actually gone rather than taking it on faith. If you want to double-check independently, re-upload the cleaned file to the Metadata Viewer.

What removal doesn't do

Metadata removal only affects what's embedded in the file — it does nothing to the visible content itself (a landmark, a face, a reflection) and does not affect how a platform analyzes the file's actual pixels after upload. See Image Metadata vs Image Content for that distinction in more depth.