Metadata Remover - Strip EXIF, GPS and Author Data

Remove hidden metadata from photos and documents before you share them: camera and GPS data from JPEG, PNG and WebP, the author and dates from PDF, and the author, company and editing time from Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Up to 20 files at once, cleaned in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

JPEG, PNG, WebP, PDF, DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. Files stay on your device.

What Hidden Metadata Your Files Carry

A photo from a phone stores far more than the picture. The EXIF block records the exact time, the camera model and serial number, the lens, the settings, and usually the GPS position where it was taken. Editing software adds XMP with its history, and Photoshop adds IPTC with captions, keywords and the author name. Some phones append extra data after the image itself, such as a short video for a motion photo. All of it travels with the file when you post it, email it or upload it to a marketplace.

Documents are no different. A PDF carries a title, author, creating application and two dates in its Info dictionary, plus an XMP stream that can hold much more. Word, Excel and PowerPoint files store the author, the person who last saved the file, the company name from the Office licence, the total editing time in minutes, the revision count and the template that was used. That is how a "confidential" offer reveals who wrote it, at which company, and how long they spent on it.

This tool removes those blocks at the container level. For JPEG, PNG and WebP the compressed picture data is copied through untouched, so the image is pixel-for-pixel identical and often a little smaller. Colour profiles are kept, because dropping them would change how the image looks. For PDF the pages are kept and only the document information is emptied. For Office files the document properties are replaced with empty ones while every page, sheet and slide stays as it was.

The list under each file shows exactly what was removed, so you know whether there was a GPS position in that photo or a company name in that spreadsheet. What this tool does not touch: comments and tracked changes inside a Word document, text you typed into the content itself, and formats it does not read, such as HEIC or video. Convert HEIC photos with the HEIC to JPG tool first, then clean the JPG here. Everything runs in your browser, which you can verify by loading the page and then going offline: cleaning still works.

How the Metadata Remover Works

  1. 01Drop up to 20 files on the page or pick them: JPEG, PNG, WebP, PDF, DOCX, XLSX or PPTX.
  2. 02Click Clean. Each file is read in your browser and its hidden metadata blocks are cut out at the container level.
  3. 03Read the list under each file: it names exactly what was removed, such as EXIF with GPS, XMP, or the author and company of a document.
  4. 04Download the cleaned copy. It has -clean in its name so the original stays untouched. Nothing is uploaded.

What Metadata Is and Why You Would Remove It

Metadata is data about the file that is stored inside it but not shown as content. A phone photo carries EXIF: the time, the camera model and serial number, the settings, and usually the GPS position. Editors add XMP with their history, Photoshop adds IPTC with captions and the author. A PDF has an Info dictionary with title, author, creator, producer and dates. Word, Excel and PowerPoint store the author, who last saved the file, the company from the Office licence, the editing time in minutes, the revision count and the template. None of it is visible when you open the file, all of it is visible to anyone who looks. This tool removes those blocks while leaving the picture or the document content exactly as it was.

When to Use This Tool

Before posting a photo from home on a marketplace or social network, so the GPS position of your house does not go with it. Before sending photos of damage to an insurer or of a rental to a landlord. Before sharing a quote, contract or report from a company account, so the author, the company name and the hours spent do not travel with the PDF or the Word file. And before uploading a CV or portfolio, where a document created by someone else, or a company name from an old employer, raises questions you do not want to answer.

Common Use Cases

Tips

  • Use the Image Metadata Viewer on the original first if you want to see the full EXIF table before it goes.
  • Screenshots from a phone usually carry little metadata, camera photos carry a lot. Check the list under each file.
  • For a document with tracked changes, accept or reject them and delete comments before cleaning, since those live in the content, not the properties.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are my files uploaded anywhere?→
No. The cleaning runs in your browser with JavaScript. Load the page, switch off your internet connection, and it still works. The same cleaning is also available to your own code and to AI assistants through the ToolForte REST API and MCP server, and that version takes a public URL because there is no browser on that side.
Does the image quality change?→
No. For JPEG, PNG and WebP the compressed picture data is copied through unchanged, so the pixels are identical. Only metadata segments are removed. Colour profiles (ICC) are kept on purpose, because dropping them would change how the image looks on some screens.
Why is the cleaned file smaller?→
Metadata takes space. A phone photo often carries 20 to 60 KB of EXIF including an embedded thumbnail, and some phones append a whole video after the image for motion photos. Removing all of that shrinks the file without touching the picture.
What does the tool not remove?→
Comments and tracked changes inside a Word document, names typed into the content itself, watermarks, and anything in formats it does not read. HEIC photos are not supported yet: convert them with the HEIC to JPG tool first. Encrypted PDFs must be unlocked first.
Does it work for PowerPoint and Excel files?→
Yes. DOCX, XLSX and PPTX are all Office Open XML packages with the same document properties parts, so the author, last-modified-by, company, editing time, revision count and custom properties are removed from all three.

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