The photos we upload to the internet often contain more in­for­ma­tion than we may be aware of. In­for­ma­tion like date and time stamps and GPS co­or­di­nates cor­re­spond­ing to where the photo was taken are easy to find by those who know where to look. This makes it all the more important to know how to remove this kind of metadata.

Which metadata is attached to photos

Before we explain how to delete metadata, let’s take a quick look at the most common data types that can be saved with photos:

  1. EXIF data provides in­for­ma­tion about when and where a photo was taken. Aperture, exposure time, focal length, and ISO value are au­to­mat­i­cal­ly saved by the camera as metadata.
  2. IPTC data is usually entered manually. Pho­tog­ra­phers often enter in­for­ma­tion such as copy­rights, photo de­scrip­tions, and their own contact in­for­ma­tion as IPTC data.
  3. XMP metadata is inserted by Adobe. This includes different types of data like EXIF and IPTC in one container, making it easier for different apps to exchange metadata.

Windows: a fast and simple way to remove metadata

Metadata can be easily deleted in Windows. To do so, open the File Explorer and navigate to the photos in question. Select the photos, then right-click and select “Prop­er­ties.”

Image: The menu item “Properties,” at the bottom of the menu list
Navigate to “Prop­er­ties” to remove metadata from your photos.

Once you’re in the “Prop­er­ties” window, click on the tab “Details.” Then click on “Remove Prop­er­ties and Personal In­for­ma­tion” at the bottom of the window.

Image: Navigating to the menu “Remove Properties and Personal Information”
Open the menu “Remove Prop­er­ties and Personal In­for­ma­tion” in order to remove the metadata from your photos.

Here you have two options for removing EXIF data and IPTC data:

Make a copy of the photo, in which all data is removed. Delete the metadata directly in the original photo.

This solution using the Windows File Explorer is a good option for deleting data from your own photos every now and then. However, since there’s no way to au­to­mat­i­cal­ly carry out this process for newly imported photos, it’s not a great long-term solution for anyone who needs to do it regularly.

Tip

Due to a technical error in Windows 7 and Windows 8, GPS data cannot be deleted using this procedure. If you try, you’ll get an error message.

How to remove metadata from photos on a Mac

For Mac users, the free app Im­a­geOp­tim is the easiest way to delete data from you photos. Once you have the app open, simply drag and drop the photos into the window or use the plus symbol in the bottom left corner.

Image: Free app ImageOptim for Mac
Insert photos into Im­a­geOp­tim using the plus symbol at the bottom of the window or via drag and drop.

After you’ve inserted the photos, the app will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly delete the metadata. The original files will be over­writ­ten and replaced with the files that don’t contain metadata. The features of the app are simple. For example, you can adjust whether it should delete PNG and/or JPEG data, and whether an image should be com­pressed.

Tip

If you only want to delete selected parts of the metadata, consider using the pre-installed program “Preview.” GPS data can be quickly deleted using this app. Simply open the photo and press CMD + i to open the in­for­ma­tion window. If you see a tab for “GPS,” the photo contains GPS in­for­ma­tion. Simply navigate to this tab to delete the in­for­ma­tion.

ExifTool: the one-stop solution for removing metadata

The ExifTool is a flexible solution to regularly remove EXIF metadata from your photos. It works in Windows, Mac, and Linux, and is com­pat­i­ble with all con­ceiv­able image formats. The tool might be difficult for laypeople to operate, as it only works using the command line. However, pro­fes­sion­als ap­pre­ci­ate the program for its extensive an­a­lyt­i­cal capacity. No other program shows as much metadata.

Tip

You can use ExifTool GUI to run the program on a graphic interface. Instead of typing code into the command line, you can delete metadata using your mouse. However, ExifTool GUI is only com­pat­i­ble with Windows 8.

In­stal­la­tion for Windows

  1. Download the ex­e­cutable Windows file (ZIP file) from the ExifTool website.
  2. Open the ZIP. There will be a file in it called exiftool(-k).exe. Rename it to exiftool.exe.
  3. Move the file exiftool.exe to C:\WINDOWS or another folder of your choice.
  4. Type “exiftool” into the command line, and the program will open.

In­stal­la­tion for macOS

  1. Download the files for MacOS (DMG file) from the ExifTool website.
  2. Double-click on the disk image to start the in­stal­la­tion. Follow the in­struc­tions.
  3. Type “exiftool” into the terminal to start the program.

You can use ExifTool to create scripts that au­to­mat­i­cal­ly delete the metadata from selected photos or to add certain data to your photos. If you fre­quent­ly work with photos, this tool can save you a sig­nif­i­cant amount of work.

Tip

Save your photos in the HiDrive Cloud Storage by IONOS. You’ll save space on your computer and have access to your photos from anywhere.

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