Metastrip

Guide

How do I remove GPS and EXIF from photos?

Many photos carry more than the pixels you see. The file may still hold data written at capture: roughly where it was shot, which device, when, and other EXIF-style fields. Before social posts or cloud shares, some people want that cleared first.

Metastrip strips common metadata locally: multi-select JPG/PNG/WebP, strip all, then download (ZIP optional). Not uploaded to our servers per product design.

1. What photos may carry (calm, not scare tactics)

Common fields include GPS-related location, device model, capture time, and other EXIF/metadata. Not every photo has every field. Some cameras or edit pipelines already changed or peeled a layer.

This is not a scare story. The goal is lowering common exposure when you casually send a file—not promising the universe has no other way to read media.

Running a strip before portfolios, client proofs, or group folders is cheap hygiene. Cheaper than explaining later how a location tag hitchhiked on a “harmless” JPEG.

Street photos near a home entrance, school gate, or clinic doorway are the usual candidates. You do not need a thriller plot—just a habit.

2. Metastrip: multi-select → strip all → download/ZIP

  1. Open Metastrip.
  2. Multi-select JPG / JPEG / PNG / WebP.
  3. Strip all in one pass.
  4. Download singles or a ZIP; clear the list when done.

Trust model matches the live product: files stay on your device for processing; supported formats follow a strip path; boundaries are below. Support: [email protected].

Keep a stripped-export/ folder separate from camera originals. The classic mistake is stripping, then uploading the wrong folder.

3. Format boundaries (match live product)

Do not assume every format and every field vanishes. If the share is sensitive, open properties in a local viewer after export and look again.

When choosing source formats, do not gamble: if the file is JPEG, read the JPEG boundary. For WebP, clearing EXIF/XMP does not mean the container is empty of every ancillary bit—that is a documented product boundary, not a hidden feature.

4. Not the same as compressing for size

Metastrip’s job is peeling metadata, not another quality-crush pass.

If you want a smaller file for email, use a compressor. If you want less location and capture baggage, strip metadata. You can do both in sequence—but do not merge them into one promise.

Also do not treat “save as a screenshot” as a professional strip. Screenshots may drop some metadata and may introduce new platform-written data. For control, use a tool that strips on purpose, and read the format notes.

5. Boundary: reduces common exposure—not forensic wipe

This tool lowers common metadata exposure in everyday share scenarios. It is not a forensic-grade erase, not legal advice, and cannot guarantee what a third-party platform writes after their own transcode.

Verify before you share. For public portraits or address-adjacent shots, thirty seconds in file properties is worth it.

Think of Metastrip as seatbelt hygiene for files you release—not as a courtroom wipe.

6. Pipeline: Heiclocal → Metastrip → optional Stampdrop; Ogmake for cards

Social posting angle: why strip before social. Batch deliveries: batch-strip image metadata.

After a strip, compare file size on JPEG. A small drop with no visible quality change is common when metadata leaves. A huge unexpected shrink may mean a different tool recompressed—double-check you used Metastrip’s JPEG path.

FAQ

Upload?
No. Local processing.

Forensic guarantee?
No.

Which formats?
JPG/JPEG, PNG, WebP—aligned with the live product.

Need a watermark after?
Use Stampdrop.

Does JPEG strip re-encode the picture?
Per product: JPEG strip without recompressing / re-encoding pixels.

Related reading

Disclaimer

Metastrip provides common metadata cleanup. Not forensic-grade assurance or legal advice. Verify exported files before sharing. Support: [email protected].