How to Remove Location (GPS) and Metadata from Photos — Windows, iPhone, Android

Every photo your phone takes quietly records where it was taken — usually to within a few metres — along with the exact time, the phone model and sometimes a unique camera serial number. This is called EXIF metadata, and it travels with the file wherever you send it.

That's handy in your own gallery (it's how your phone builds a map of your trips). It's a problem when you post a photo of something you're selling, taken in your living room, to a marketplace.

This guide shows how to check a photo, remove the location and other metadata on every major platform, and stop your camera adding it in the first place.

Step 1: Check what your photo contains

Before removing anything, see what's there:

• Any device: drop the photo into the free EXIF viewer. It runs in your browser (nothing is uploaded), flags GPS coordinates and serial numbers, and links the location to a map so you can see exactly what someone else would see.
• Windows: right-click the photo → Properties → Details. Scroll to the GPS section for latitude and longitude.
• Mac: open in Preview → Tools → Show Inspector → the GPS tab (if present).
• iPhone: open the photo in Photos and swipe up. A map means it has location data.

Step 2: Remove location and metadata

On Windows (built in)

Windows can strip metadata without extra software:

1. Select one or more photos in File Explorer.
2. Right-click → Properties → Details tab.
3. Click Remove Properties and Personal Information at the bottom.
4. Choose either:
   • Create a copy with all possible properties removed — safest; keeps your original, or
   • Remove the following properties from this file — then tick GPS fields (or Select All).
5. Click OK.

This works well for JPGs. It's a little fiddly for large batches and doesn't handle every format (HEIC and PNG support is limited).

In the browser (any device)

The EXIF remover strips all metadata — EXIF, GPS, XMP and IPTC — from as many JPG, PNG and WebP photos as you like, shows you which ones had a GPS location, and gives you a zip of clean copies. It works on Windows, Mac, Chromebooks and phones, and the photos never leave your device.

On iPhone

Remove location when sharing (easiest):

1. Select the photo(s) in Photos and tap Share.
2. Tap Options at the top of the share sheet.
3. Turn off Location, then tap Done and share as normal.

Remove it from the photo itself (iOS 15 and later): open the photo, tap the ⓘ button, tap Adjust next to the location, and choose No Location.

On Android

Menus vary by manufacturer, but the common routes are:

• Google Photos: open the photo → swipe up for details → tap the edit (pencil) icon next to the location → Remove location. There's also a setting under Photos settings → Sharing to remove location from items you share by link.
• Samsung Gallery: when you tap Share, look for Remove location data at the top of the share panel.

On Mac

Open the photo in Preview → Tools → Show Inspector → GPS tab → Remove Location Info. In the Photos app, select images and choose Image → Location → Hide Location, then export with Include location information unticked.

Step 3: Stop your camera adding location

If you rarely need it, turn location tagging off at the source:

• iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera → Never.
• Android: open the Camera app → Settings (gear icon) → turn off Location tags / Save location.
• Dedicated cameras: GPS usually comes from a paired phone app (Canon Camera Connect, SnapBridge, etc.). Turn off location sync in that app.

You'll lose the map view in your gallery, so many people prefer to leave it on and strip it when sharing.

Which apps remove metadata for you?

The rule of thumb: if the recipient gets the original file, they get the metadata. If the platform re-processes the image for display, it's usually stripped.

What else is in there?

Location is the headline risk, but EXIF can also include:

• Camera or phone serial number — links every photo from one device together, even across anonymous accounts.
• Exact date and time — can contradict what you've said about when something happened.
• Owner or artist name — if you've ever set it in a camera.
• Editing software and sometimes a thumbnail of the original, pre-crop.

The tools above remove all of these, not just GPS.

Cleaning photos in bulk

For a handful of photos, Windows' built-in option or the browser tool is all you need. If you regularly publish photos — product listings, real-estate shots, client galleries — batch tools save a lot of clicking:

• Bulk Photo Watermark & Metadata Remover (Windows) strips EXIF, GPS, IPTC, XMP, ICC and Photoshop data from thousands of photos in one pass, and can add a text or logo watermark at the same time.
• BatchLens Pro (Windows) removes GPS or all metadata while converting, resizing and renaming a whole folder tree — useful when you're preparing photos for the web anyway.
• CloakExif (Android, coming soon) cleans photos and PDF and Office documents straight from Android's share menu.

Full disclosure: I make those apps. The free methods above work perfectly well; the apps just make it faster at volume.