Remove metadata from an image

How to use it

1. 1

   Drop a picture on the page, paste one with ⌘V or Ctrl+V, or press Choose a file.

2. 2

   Look at In your picture, which lists what the page found hidden in the file.

3. 3

   Press Download clean copy. For a JPEG or a WebP you can change Quality first.

4. 4

   Look at In the new file, under the button. It's read back from the file you just made. Every row should say "Nothing found", apart from the standard colour profile a browser adds to a JPEG, which says nothing about you. If another row doesn't, don't send the file.

What this does and doesn't do

The page draws your picture in the browser and saves the drawing as a new file. It doesn't edit the old file. Then it reads the new file back and lists what it finds, so you see the result instead of taking the method on trust.

It doesn't touch what you can see in the picture: a face, a street sign, a name on a screen. To cover something that can be seen, use the redact tool. The file it makes has no hidden details either, and how to redact a screenshot has the longer answer.

What it costs

• A JPEG or a WebP is saved again, so its pixels can change slightly. The page shows the size before and after. A PNG is a lossless format, so an ordinary picture keeps its pixels.

• A colour profile may not be kept. If your picture had one and the new file doesn't, the page tells you, because colours can look a little different.

• An animated picture is saved as a still picture.

• A rotated photo is saved the way it shows. The preview shows the picture as it will be saved, so check it faces the right way before you send it.

The built-in ways

You don't have to use a web page. These are the options the system makers describe, and they differ in how much they remove.

• iPhone. In Photos, select the photo, tap the Share button, tap Options and turn Location off. Apple's page on location metadata in Photos says "Location Not Included" shows above the button. It leaves the location out.

• A Mac. In Photos, select the photos and choose Image › Location › Hide Location, according to the same Apple page.

• Windows. Right-click the file, choose Properties, open the Details tab and click Remove Properties and Personal Information, then either make a copy or remove properties from the file. Microsoft's tip on removing personal metadata was written for Windows 7, so check that your Properties window has the link.

Does a screenshot have metadata?

It can. The PNG specification lets a PNG hold text notes with keywords such as Author, Creation Time, Software, Source and Comment, a time of the last change, an Exif profile and a colour profile. What yours holds depends on what made it. Drop it in and the page lists what it finds.