Remove EXIF and location data from iPhone photos
Strip location when you share, remove it from a saved photo and stop the Camera from recording it in the first place.
When you share, tap Options on the share sheet and turn off Location. For a saved photo, open its info and choose Adjust Location, then No Location. To stop recording location, go to Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Camera and choose Never.
A photo file carries more than the picture. A shot of your new apartment can also record when you took it, on what phone and, with Location Services on, the coordinates. For a stranger on a marketplace or an ex you are avoiding, those coordinates can be the most revealing part of the file.
View what a photo contains
Open the photo in Photos and swipe up, or tap the info button. You can read the date, camera details and a map if it holds a location. To view all your located photos at once, tap Collections and open the Map collection under Pinned.
Share without location
This fixes the copy you send and leaves your original alone.
- Select one or more photos in Photos.
- Tap the Share button, then tap Options.
- Turn off Location.
- Check that Location Not Included appears above the Options button.
- Share with the method you want.
Do this for each share. Lockdown Mode, which is designed for people facing rare and highly targeted attacks, excludes location automatically when you share photos. Most people do not need it, and it limits other features.
Remove location from a saved photo
- Open the photo.
- Tap the info button.
- Tap Adjust Info if you see it, tap Adjust Location, then tap No Location.
Apple’s wording here has changed across versions, so the path may look slightly different on your phone. With iCloud Photos on, edits appear across your devices.
Stop recording location
- Open Settings and tap Privacy & Security.
- Tap Location Services, then Camera.
- Tap Never.
New photos will have no coordinates. You lose the Map view and location search for those pictures, and old photos keep their location until you remove it.
You could leave this on and rely on the share setting, if you find the map useful. Turning it off protects you when you forget. For someone in a dangerous situation, that second option is usually the safer one.
Other tags
The EXIF standard defines many fields, including the device make and model, software and the original date and time. Apple’s support pages cover the location field. They do not lay out a one-tap method to remove the rest, and we did not verify how each app or website treats those tags when you upload a file.
To check a specific case, send yourself a copy through the same route and inspect the result with a metadata viewer you trust. ExifTool is a long-running open-source option that runs on a computer. Be wary of uploading sensitive photos to an unknown website to have them scanned.
Other details in the picture
Metadata is one way a photo gives away your location. Street signs, a window view, mail on the counter and license plates all do the same. Check the background before you post. If someone is trying to find you, talk to an advocate about what you share online, and see our page on monitoring.
Frequently asked questions
What is EXIF data?
It is a standard set of tags stored inside an image file. Common tags record the camera make and model, the date and time and, when available, GPS coordinates.
Can people see where my photo was taken?
Apple says people you share with may be able to access location metadata and learn where a photo was taken. Turn off Location on the share sheet if that worries you.
Does this remove the date and camera model too?
The Apple steps here cover location. The pages we checked do not describe a built-in way to remove every other tag, so we leave that out rather than guess.