EXIF Data Viewer

EXIF data viewer

This page views EXIF data and can remove it. Drop the original photo, press Inspect only, and read the table. The file stays in the browser. There is no field writer: a tag is not rewritten one cell at a time. When the coordinates exist, the same card opens them on a map. When they do not, the card says so.

1. Drop the original photo. Use the file from the camera or phone, not a copy a social app already re-saved. JPEG, PNG, WebP, and HEIC are read here.
2. Press Inspect only. The table lists the EXIF data this reader parsed, including GPS when the coordinates exist. Inspect does not change the file.
3. Open the map only if you want it. Show map, Google Maps, and OpenStreetMap receive the coordinates, not the photo. No coordinates means the card says so.
4. Remove EXIF data if it should not travel with the file. EXIF / GPS or All metadata strips those fields on JPEG, PNG, and WebP. HEIC is read here and not rewritten. One image is free.

What is EXIF data

EXIF data is a TIFF block tucked into the file. A JPEG carries it in an APP1 segment that starts with Exif. A PNG can carry an eXIf chunk. A WebP can carry an EXIF chunk. A HEIC stores an Exif item in the same kind of container as the picture. The pixels and that block are neighbours. Deleting the block does not redraw the picture. Painting on the picture does not, by itself, rewrite the block.

The block is a tree of directories. IFD0 holds the camera identity. A pointer leads to the Exif IFD, which holds exposure and the lens name. Another pointer leads to the GPS IFD. XMP is a separate text packet and can repeat some of the same facts. IPTC is a separate caption block. People say EXIF data when they mean the whole hidden bundle. This page keeps those names apart in the table.

Orientation is the one EXIF value a JPEG clean keeps, so a portrait does not turn sideways. That value is not a location and not a name. Everything else in the camera block can leave with EXIF / GPS or All metadata.

What EXIF stores

The live table prints a row only when the tag is in your file. The names below are the keys this reader knows how to decode. A blank row is not filled in. MakerNotes, the private bytes from Canon, Nikon, Sony, and the rest, are not decoded here. A shutter-count page reads that narrower set for bodies it has checked. This list is not an ExifTool -a inventory.

Aperture is the F-number the body stored, such as the value beside FNumber. Shutter is ExposureTime in seconds, shown as a fraction when the rational is a normal shutter speed. ISO is the sensitivity tag, not a guess from the noise in the picture. Focal length is the millimetre value, not a 35 mm equivalent unless that is the tag the camera wrote. Date taken prefers DateTimeOriginal. If that tag is missing, the reader falls back to CreateDate, then ModifyDate, and the row names which one it used. The clock is the camera clock. It can be wrong, and it can lack a time zone.

Software names the firmware or the editor that last wrote the EXIF data. An AI download can still have almost none of it. For C2PA and generator rows, use the metadata viewer.

GPS and privacy

GPS inside EXIF data is a nested directory, not a pin on the picture. Latitude and longitude are three rationals each, plus a N/S or E/W reference. Altitude is metres, and one reference byte flips it below sea level. Direction is the way the camera faced, true or magnetic when the reference tag says so. Some phones also store an accuracy radius.

Those numbers are enough to map a spot. A phone fix outdoors is often within a few metres. Indoors it is worse, and the file does not always say which. If you post the original, the EXIF data goes with it unless the site strips the file on the way in. Map links run only after you click, and the photo stays here. The photo location finder is the same read, aimed only at the place. No coordinates means no place to show. This page does not invent a landmark from the pixels.

Which platforms strip EXIF

Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp normally remove GPS and the rest of the EXIF data when a photo is uploaded or sent in the chat. A photo you then download from those apps usually has no location left. A location sticker or a check-in on the post is a separate field in the app. It is not in the file, and it does not come back when you save the picture.

WhatsApp is the exception when the photo is sent as a document. That path keeps the original file, camera tags included. Email and AirDrop also tend to keep the original. An editor export sometimes keeps them and sometimes drops them. The only check that matches the file in your hand is to drop that file here.

A platform label such as AI info is not EXIF data. Clearing the file does not force that label off, and it does not remove SynthID.

How to view EXIF on phone and computer

On a phone, open this page in Safari or Chrome and drop the photo, or use the file picker. iPhone photos are often HEIC. This page reads that HEIC, including GPS when Camera had location on. It does not rewrite the HEIC. Android photos are usually JPEG. Google Photos will not show you a full tag list of the file you already took, and turning location off in the camera app does not erase a location already written. The Android notes are on remove EXIF on Android.

On a computer, the same card is the view. Windows File Properties has a Details tab, and Apple's Preview can show a GPS section in the Inspector. The Preview user guide describes showing where a photo was taken. We have not run those two desktop viewers ourselves. ExifTool prints every tag, which this table does not:

exiftool -a -G1 -s photo.jpg

How to remove EXIF data

Stay on this card. EXIF / GPS removes camera EXIF, GPS, IPTC, and XMP, and it also drops C2PA so a location does not remain reachable through a side channel. All metadata clears every category the report lists. AI only is not offered on this page, because that mode is built to leave camera EXIF and GPS in place. The remove EXIF page is the same cleaner, with a measured JPEG run and the note about Orientation.

Read the After list before you download. It is a new scan of the cleaned bytes, not a copy of the Before list with the words crossed out. The file name ends in -cleaned. One image is free, shared with the other tools. Inspect does not spend it. A folder is Pro and returns one ZIP. The paywall is the existing one.

Formats

JPEG, PNG, and WebP are the formats this page cleans. They stay in that format. Image data is not recompressed. HEIC is read so you can see the EXIF data, then stopped. Export a JPEG from the phone, or follow remove metadata from HEIC, which returns a JPEG and says so. That path re-encodes. It is not a lossless HEIC rewrite.

GIF, TIFF, and BMP can be inspected with the same reader. TIFF often carries a full EXIF block. GIF and BMP rarely do. A PDF info dictionary is a different record. Use remove metadata from PDF. A photo pasted into Word keeps its EXIF data inside the document. Use remove metadata from a Word document. Video is not supported.

FAQ

What is EXIF data?

EXIF data is the camera block stored beside the pixels. It usually holds make, model, lens, aperture, shutter, ISO, the capture clock, and GPS when the camera saved a fix. It is not the picture itself.

Does viewing EXIF data upload the photo?

No. EXIF data is read in your browser. A map loads only after you press Show map, and then only the coordinates are sent, not the photo.

Can this page rewrite one EXIF tag?

No. There is no field writer. You can read the table, then clear it with EXIF / GPS or All metadata. A single tag is not rewritten in place.

Which EXIF data does the table show?

Every key this reader parsed: make, model, lens, software, date, time zone, aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length, and GPS coordinates, altitude, and direction when the file has them. It is not an ExifTool -a dump. MakerNotes stay out.

Why does my photo have no GPS in the EXIF data?

Location was off, the file is a screenshot, or a social app or export already dropped it. A GPS block with no usable latitude and longitude is reported as no coordinates. This page does not guess a place from the picture.

Which apps usually strip EXIF data on upload?

Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp normally remove GPS and the other camera tags when you upload or send a photo. A location sticker on a post is separate from the file. A WhatsApp photo sent as a document keeps the original file.

How do I remove EXIF data?

Press Clean this file with EXIF / GPS or All metadata, then read the After list. JPEG, PNG, and WebP stay in that format. The remove EXIF page is the same cleaner with a measured JPEG run. One image is free.

Does removing EXIF data lower image quality?

On JPEG, PNG, and WebP the metadata segments come off and the image data is not recompressed. Dimensions stay the same. A JPEG keeps Orientation so a portrait stays upright. HEIC is not rewritten on this page.

Is a HEIC rewritten here?

No. HEIC is read only on this page. Export a JPEG, or open the HEIC page, which returns a JPEG. That export is a re-encode, not a lossless HEIC. Nothing is rewritten if you press Clean on a HEIC here.

Where else can I read these tags?

This page, the metadata viewer, and view image metadata online all read in the browser. The photo location finder is the GPS-only view. ExifTool prints the full tag dump, including MakerNotes this reader skips.

Related tools

• Remove EXIF for the measured JPEG run and Orientation.
• Photo location finder when the only question is the map.
• Metadata viewer for XMP, IPTC, C2PA, and AI markers next to the camera block.
• View image metadata online for the earlier category report.
• AI metadata remover when the job is the general cleaner, including AI only.
• Remove image metadata for the guide hub by file type and device.

Last updated 2026-10-22.