Remove EXIF Data From a Photo, In Your Browser

EXIF is one segment among several

A JPEG is a run of marker segments, and metadata is spread across more than one of them. EXIF lives in an APP1 segment that begins with the bytes Exif and two nulls. XMP lives in a second APP1 segment, identified by a namespace URL instead. IPTC arrives inside an APP13 Photoshop resource block, and an ICC colour profile in APP2. Deleting the EXIF segment removes exactly the first of those. This is why the honest phrase is EXIF Removal and not remove all metadata — a tool claiming the latter while deleting one APP1 is describing something it did not do.

The thumbnail is part of what goes

EXIF carries a small copy of the picture in its own directory, written by the camera so that a preview can appear instantly. It is generated at capture, which means an image cropped or retouched afterwards can still carry a thumbnail of the original frame — the reason more than one published photo has been un-cropped by strangers. Removing the EXIF segment takes that embedded copy with it.

Removal is not one operation

What happens to your file depends entirely on what it is. A JPEG can have a segment deleted while the compressed image data is copied across byte for byte, so nothing about the picture changes. No other format the workspace reads can be edited that way in a browser, so the image is decoded and written out again — which drops everything embedded at once, and costs the colour profile, any animation, and for a lossy container some quality.

What removal cannot reach

Everything here works inside the file, and some of what identifies a photo is not inside it. The filename often is the disclosure — IMG_0001 says nothing, but a name you typed may say a great deal. The filesystem keeps its own created and modified dates, which travel with the file through some transfers and not others. And nothing in a metadata tool can help with what the picture is of: a cleaned screenshot still shows whatever was on the screen.

What removal does to each format

JPEG: Deletes the EXIF APP1 segment. Pixels identical. XMP, IPTC and ICC survive.
PNG: Re-encoded as PNG. Pixels identical, every chunk dropped.
GIF: Re-encoded as PNG. One frame survives; the animation does not.
WebP: Re-encoded as WebP. Quality can change even from a lossless original.
HEIC / HEIF: Re-encoded as JPEG. Container changes; nothing embedded survives.
AVIF: Re-encoded as JPEG. No browser can write AV1.
TIFF: Re-encoded as JPEG. Its tags and its pixel index are the same structure.

Questions about removing metadata

Does this remove all metadata from my photo?

From a JPEG, no, and no tool that deletes the EXIF segment does. It removes the segment holding the camera, the timestamp and the GPS. XMP sits in a separate APP1, IPTC in an APP13 block and the colour profile in APP2, and all three survive. From every other format the image is re-encoded, and nothing embedded survives that.

Will the image quality change?

For a JPEG, no — the compressed image data is copied across byte for byte, so the pixels are identical. A PNG or GIF is written back as a PNG, which is also exact. A HEIC, AVIF, TIFF or WebP is encoded again, so it can change.

Is my original file modified?

Never. You get a new file in your downloads, named after the original with a suffix. The file you dropped in is left exactly as it was.

Can I check that it worked?

Yes, and you should. After the download the cleaned copy becomes the photo in the workspace, so the tag table below is reading the file you just got. If a group you expected to disappear is still listed, you will see it there rather than find out later.

By file format

HEIC metadata viewer: Open a HEIC or HEIF and read its EXIF, GPS and Apple maker notes in the browser, even where the browser cannot display the image. Nothing is uploaded.
PNG metadata viewer: PNG has no EXIF segment. See the tEXt, iTXt and eXIf chunks a PNG is actually carrying, read locally in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
WebP metadata viewer: WebP stores metadata in RIFF chunks, and only in its extended form. See what a WebP is carrying, read locally in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
TIFF metadata viewer: TIFF is where EXIF came from. Read a TIFF's image file directories, tags and byte order in the browser, even though no browser can display one. Nothing is uploaded.
AVIF metadata viewer: AVIF uses the same container as HEIC and the opposite licensing, which is why your browser can display one. Read its metadata locally. Nothing is uploaded.
GIF metadata viewer: A GIF has no EXIF and no colour profile. See the comment and application extension blocks it does carry, read locally in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
RAW metadata viewer: Most raw files are TIFF underneath, which is why their EXIF, GPS and maker notes can be read in a browser that cannot display one. Nothing is uploaded.