How to remove EXIF Data from photo [Easy Guide]

In this article, we will learn a simple way to remove EXIF Data from photo [Easy Guide]. Every image has some information attached to it. The information held by the image is known as Meta Data. Whenever we click a picture using a camera or smartphone, metadata is attached to it. The metadata is also known as Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF). EXIF file holds information like device model, manufacturer, geolocation, date, and time. We can easily see the EXIF Data of an image just by right click on the image file, then clicking on the properties option of an image. If we post any image online, the metadata is available for the snoopers. These snoopers can get all the information from the EXIF data. 

The metadata holds the following kinds of information-

• Date and time the image was taken
• Location information (coordinates)
• Device Model name and manufacturer
• Settings such as aperture, shutter speed, and ISO speed
• Whitebalance, auxiliary lenses
• Name of editing tools used
• If the image modified

Professional photographers use this data for editing purposes. These data may not be harmful but snoopers can track your location using this data. When we upload image online, snoopers have access to our sensitive information(metadata). From a privacy point of view, we should remove the metadata before uploading it on any platform. In this article, we will learn a simple way to remove EXIF Data from photo [Easy Guide].

How to view EXIF data of an image file

In this session, we will learn a way to view EXIF data of an image. Different OS have different ways to view or edit EXIF data. In windows we can easily view EXIF data where as in MAC we can only view EXIF data easily. To edit EXIF Data we need third party program. We can view EXIF metadata of image files in the following ways. 

Windows

• Navigate to the folder containing the image file you wish to view.
• Right-click on the image file
• Select Properties, then Details.

In MAC we can view EXIF metadata of image files in the following ways:-

• Select image
• Press Command + I
• Click the EXIF tab.

View EXIF data online

We can view EXIF data of an image online. To view just visit the site: https://exifdata.com/ select the image file and click view button. We can also submit the URL of an image file.

Information generated using this tool:-

File Size: 71 kB
File Type: PNG
MIME Type: image/png
Image Width: 1280
Image Height: 720
Compression: Deflate/Inflate

We can also view EXIF data of an image using Google Chrome Extension "EXIF Viewer classic". To view just download and install this extension.

Remove EXIF Data from photo [Easy Guide]

In this session, we will learn a way to delete EXIF data of an image. Different OS have different ways to delete EXIF data. In windows we can easily remove EXIF data where as in MAC we can only edit location data. We can remove EXIF metadata of image files in the following ways.

Windows:-

• Navigate to the folder containing the image file you wish to view.
• Right-click on the image file
• Select Properties, then Details.
• Click on Remove properties and personal information.

MAC:-

Mac users will need third-party programs such as ImageOptim or EXIF Purge to remove EXIF Data.

• Download ImageOptim App
• View Preferences, adjust the settings
• Drag image to the ImageOption Application window.

Source: ImageOptim

In Android and IOS devices we can easily turn off the geolocation tag option to prevent adding location information. But this will not delete any other metadata stored with the image file. We can easily view EXIF data on smartphones just by clicking on the details option.

Some of the most commonly used photo metadata viewer tools

• Regex
• Exifdata
• Metadata2go
• Metapicz
• Jimpl
• EXIF Spy
• Opanda IExif
• Faststone Image Viewer
• Exiftool
• EXIF Pilot
• ExifPro
• WildBit Viewer
• HMK EXIf Viewer
• Java Exif Viewer
• XnView
• Acute Photo EXIF Viewer

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