Image Metadata Remover

Remove JPEG and PNG privacy metadata locally while retaining image data and color profiles.

Remove privacy metadata from a local JPEG or still PNG without re-encoding compressed pixels. ICC/color and required rendering information stay intact; minimal EXIF orientation can be retained.

Choose or drop one JPEG or PNG (10 MiB maximum)

Keep EXIF orientation (recommended)

Orientation is kept in a new minimal EXIF block, so a supported rotated/mirrored image can keep its display direction. Camera, date, GPS and thumbnail fields are not copied. ICC profiles can contain descriptive or identifying information and are retained for color. This is not complete anonymization.

Local metadata processing without image upload. Only ordinary baseline/progressive 8-bit JPEG and still PNG containers are supported; APNG, MPO/MPF and JPEG APP11/JUMBF are refused. ICC payloads, compressed text, GPS coordinates and pixel streams are not decoded. Metadata can be edited. Visible content, steganography and your chosen filename can still reveal information.

This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your data is never uploaded, never stored, and never leaves your device.

Strip supported privacy metadata from JPEG/PNG without re-encoding pixels, retaining ICC/color information and optional minimal EXIF orientation.

How to use it

1Choose one supported JPEG or still PNG up to 10 MiB.
2Keep the recommended EXIF orientation policy, or explicitly accept possible appearance changes.
3Remove privacy metadata and review the verified retained containers.
4Download a separate copy; retained profiles, pixels and filenames can still identify an image.

Example

Input: 156-byte metadata sample; retain orientation
Output: 124-byte PNG; author removed, gAMA and Orientation 1 retained

Compressed pixel data is unchanged; this is not complete anonymization.

What happens to your data

Metadata stripping and verification stay local without image-content upload or browser-storage persistence. Page assets and anonymous usage events may use the network. Downloads do not overwrite the source.

Last updated October 2026

Remove privacy metadata from a supported JPEG or still PNG while keeping its compressed pixel data unchanged. The tool removes camera, date, GPS, thumbnail, XMP/IPTC, comment and textual/other ancillary metadata containers. It retains ICC/color information and required rendering data, and can keep a minimal EXIF Orientation tag so rotated or mirrored images preserve their display direction.

This is not complete anonymization or a guarantee that all identifying information is gone. ICC profiles can contain names or descriptive information and are retained for color. Image pixels, visible captions, steganography and the download filename can still reveal information. Review the saved image and metadata policy before sharing it.

How it works

Choose one ordinary baseline/progressive 8-bit JPEG or still PNG up to 10 MiB. The same bounded container checks as Image Metadata Viewer validate segment/chunk boundaries; PNG CRC-32 values are checked. Unsupported animation, MPF/MPO multi-image data, JPEG APP11/JUMBF compound files and trailing data are refused. The compressed pixel stream is not decoded or re-encoded, so this is not a repair tool for damaged pixel data.

For JPEG, EXIF/XMP/IPTC, comments and other removable application blocks are stripped. ICC segments, Adobe color transforms and a minimal JFIF rendering/density header are retained; a JFIF thumbnail is removed. For PNG, text, timestamps, EXIF and other non-retained ancillary chunks are removed. Pixel, palette, transparency, ICC/color and selected rendering chunks remain byte-for-byte unchanged.

Keep EXIF orientation is enabled by default. A safely parsed Orientation value from 1 to 8 is written into a fresh minimal EXIF block; other EXIF fields and thumbnails are not copied. Conflicting or unreadable EXIF is refused under that policy. Turning the setting off explicitly removes orientation, but a rotated or mirrored photo may then display differently because its pixels have not been normalized.

After stripping, the result is inspected again against the requested policy. That confirms the supported containers removed or retained, not universal sanitization, authenticity or malware safety. Selecting another image, changing the orientation setting or resetting invalidates the old export. Processing is local without image-content upload or browser-storage persistence; page assets and anonymous usage events may use the network. Download creates a separate copy and does not overwrite the source.

Worked example: Strip author text while keeping color and orientation

Input: 156-byte metadata sample PNG; Keep EXIF orientation on
Result: 124-byte PNG; Author text absent; gAMA and minimal Orientation 1 retained

The IDAT pixel bytes are identical. Turning orientation off would also remove the EXIF marker, but is a different policy.

Common use cases

Removing EXIF GPS/camera/date fields before sharing a supported photo
Stripping author and comment metadata from a still PNG
Keeping color profiles while removing common privacy fields
Cleaning metadata without introducing another JPEG encoding step

Frequently asked questions

Does the remover erase every piece of image metadata?＋

No. It deliberately retains ICC/color and required rendering information, plus optional minimal EXIF orientation. ICC profiles may contain identifying descriptions. It also does not remove information encoded in pixels or your chosen filename.

Will removing EXIF make a rotated photo turn sideways?＋

The default keeps a freshly written minimal Orientation tag from a safely parsed source. If you turn that setting off, rotation or mirroring may change because pixels are not normalized. Unreadable/conflicting EXIF is refused with the default policy.

Does this lower JPEG quality or re-encode PNG pixels?＋

No pixel re-encoding is performed. Supported JPEG entropy-coded scans and PNG IDAT data are copied unchanged. Metadata removal can change interpretation when you explicitly remove orientation or when unsupported data is involved; keep and review the original.

Are ICC profiles removed along with camera metadata?＋

No. ICC profiles and supported color/rendering data are retained to preserve color interpretation. Profiles can contain descriptive or identifying information, so their retention prevents a claim of complete anonymization.

Can this clean HEIC, WebP, AVIF or animated PNG?＋

No. The supported subset is ordinary baseline/progressive 8-bit JPEG and still PNG. Animated PNG, MPF/MPO and APP11/JUMBF JPEG are refused instead of silently flattened or partially cleaned.

What does output verification prove?＋

The saved container is re-inspected against the supported removal and retention policy. It confirms those parsed containers, not pixel integrity, hidden steganography, authenticity, malware safety or removal of every possible identifier.