Remove Metadata

Metadata is additional information embedded within a file that is not part of the visible content, but can reveal highly sensitive information. A photo taken with your phone automatically contains: exact GPS coordinates, phone make and model, operating system version, exact date and time, camera settings (aperture, ISO, shutter speed), and even your name if configured on the device. When you share that file without cleaning it, anyone can extract all that information with free tools in seconds.

There are several standards depending on the file type:

• EXIF: Most common in photos. Contains GPS, camera model, exposure, orientation, date and time.
• IPTC: Used in press. Includes author, copyright, and keywords.
• XMP: Adobe standard. Contains editing history, software, and Lightroom/Photoshop settings.
• ICC Profile: Color profile of the capture device.
• Office Metadata: Author, company, revisions, hidden comments, and previous versions.
• PDF Metadata: Title, author, creation software, and modification date.
• ID3 Tags in audio: Artist, album, year, genre, and cover art.

This tool removes all these types depending on the file format.

For images, we use the Browser Canvas API. The image is loaded into an invisible <canvas> element, redrawn pixel by pixel onto a blank canvas, and exported as a new file. When doing this, the browser creates a binary that does not inherit any metadata from the original — only the pure pixels. For JPG, we use 92% quality, visually indistinguishable from the original. For PNG, lossless compression is preserved.

For video and audio, we use FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly, running directly in your browser without installing anything. FFmpeg is the most widely used open-source multimedia engine in the world (YouTube, VLC, and HandBrake use it internally). The command we run is: -i input -map_metadata -1 -c copy output. The -map_metadata -1 parameter removes all metadata, and -c copy copies the streams without re-encoding, so quality is 100% identical and the process is very fast.

Yes, absolutely. This tool uses web technologies that process everything locally: Canvas API, WebAssembly (FFmpeg.wasm), and the browser's File APIs. You can verify this: disconnect your internet after loading the page and check that the tool still works. If you open developer tools and monitor network traffic, you'll see no file upload requests are made. The only external connection is to load the FFmpeg.wasm engine when the page starts, and that only happens once.

For PNG images: no, it's completely lossless. For JPG images: a re-encoding at 92% quality is applied, imperceptible to the human eye and often produces a slightly smaller file. For video and audio: no loss at all thanks to -c copy. For PDFs and documents: the content remains intact. Under no circumstances is the visual or auditory content of the file altered.

Currently the tool processes one file at a time to ensure maximum reliability, especially for large video files that require a lot of memory. After downloading the clean file, you can upload the next one immediately. For batch processing of images, you can use exiftool -all= -r ./folder/ on the command line.

There are several ways to check:

• Windows: Right-click → Properties → Details tab.
• Mac: Right-click → Get Info, or Preview → Tools → Show Inspector.
• Online: Use tools like exifmeta.com or Jeffrey Friedl's EXIF viewer.
• Command line: exiftool cleaned_file.jpg should show only basic format metadata, without GPS or personal data.

There are cases where it's critical to do so:

• Photos on social media: many forums, blogs, emails and storage services retain all metadata.
• Journalism and activism: photographs that reveal the location of people at risk.
• Legal and commercial documents: DOCX files store change history, deleted comments, and author name.
• Property listing photos: can reveal exactly where you live.
• General privacy: any photo shared by email or messaging can reveal your location.

Some do, but not all and not always. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X usually remove EXIF from public images, but:

• Metadata can remain exposed before the server processes them.
• WhatsApp Web, Telegram on PC, and email generally do not remove metadata.
• Dropbox, Google Drive and WeTransfer preserve metadata intact.
• Forums, blogs and most CMSs do not touch metadata.

The safest approach is to remove them before uploading the file.

Microsoft Office documents (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) are ZIP files containing XML. They can include: author and co-authors' names, company name, revision history, deleted but not purged comments, text marked as "deleted" in change tracking, and the file path on the computer where it was created. This tool cleans the container metadata. For deeper content cleaning, use Microsoft Office's Document Inspector before exporting.

FFmpeg compiled as WebAssembly (.wasm) weighs approximately 10 MB. The first load downloads the file from a CDN. Browsers cache this file, so subsequent loads will be instant. If FFmpeg is unavailable due to network or memory constraints, the tool makes a direct copy of the binary as a fallback, without losing the file.

The current limit is 50 MB. This restriction exists because processing occurs entirely in the browser's memory. For larger video files, we recommend using desktop FFmpeg with the command: ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map_metadata -1 -c copy output.mp4. It's the exact same operation but without size limits and significantly faster.

Yes, it's completely legal. You have full right to control what personal information you share. In the European Union, GDPR recognizes the right to data minimization. Removing metadata from your own photos, documents, or videos is a recommended digital hygiene practice, not a suspicious activity.

The tool works on all modern browsers with WebAssembly support:

• Chrome / Edge 90+ — full support, recommended.
• Firefox 89+ — full support.
• Safari 15.2+ — support for images and PDF; FFmpeg requires recent version.
• Modern mobile browsers — work for images and documents. FFmpeg may be slow on large files.

If your browser does not support WebAssembly, the tool operates in fallback mode for types that don't require FFmpeg.