Your Camera's Serial Number May Be Hidden in Your Photos

Many dedicated cameras, including most DSLRs and mirrorless models from major brands, write their serial number into the EXIF data of every photo, either in the standard BodySerialNumber field, in the manufacturer's maker notes, or in both. Some also record the lens serial number and an owner name. Because that number never changes, it can link photos posted anonymously to the same camera as photos posted under your name. Removing all EXIF data, maker notes included, deletes it.

This guide shows exactly where camera serial numbers are stored, why they matter for privacy, how to check your own photos and how to remove them without damaging your images.

Where the camera serial number is stored in EXIF

There are two places to look: the standard EXIF fields that any software can read, and the proprietary maker notes that each manufacturer structures its own way.

Standard EXIF fields

The EXIF 2.3 standard, published in 2010 by CIPA and JEITA, added dedicated tags for device identity. ExifTool sometimes uses shorter names than the specification, which is useful to know when you search for them.

You can check the full definitions in ExifTool's EXIF tag reference. The Artist and Copyright fields are also common in camera files, and they often contain a real name.

Maker notes: the serial numbers you cannot see

Maker notes are a block inside EXIF where each manufacturer stores its own data. Ordinary photo viewers rarely display them, which is why a serial number can hide there unnoticed. A few documented examples from ExifTool's tag tables:

• Canon: SerialNumber, InternalSerialNumber and OwnerName in the main maker notes, plus a lens serial number and shutter count in model-specific sections for some cameras.
• Nikon: SerialNumber and ShutterCount.
• Fujifilm: InternalSerialNumber, which according to ExifTool's documentation is unique for most models and encodes the camera model and its manufacture date.

Other brands use similar fields. An internal serial number may differ from the number printed on the camera body, but it identifies the camera just as consistently. Removing the standard BodySerialNumber while leaving the maker notes in place therefore does not anonymize a photo.

Why a serial number in your photos matters for privacy

GPS coordinates reveal where a photo was taken. A serial number reveals something different: which object took it. That makes it a linking identifier.

• It connects separate identities. If you publish portfolio photos under your own name and other photos from a pseudonymous account, a shared serial number shows that the same camera produced both.
• It persists for years. Location can be turned off and dates vary, but every photo a camera takes, from the day you bought it to the day you sell it, carries the same number.
• It may already be tied to your name. Product registration, warranty repairs and some online stores record serial numbers alongside customer details.
• It is collected at scale. Services exist that gather serial numbers from photos published online so owners of stolen cameras can search for theirs. Whatever you think of that use, it proves that serial numbers in public photos are harvested and indexed.

The people most affected are those who rely on separation between identities: photographers who publish some work anonymously, activists, journalists and their sources, and anyone who sends photos to a tip line. Our guide on metadata and source protection covers that situation in detail, and our article on how investigators use photo metadata explains how such identifiers are combined with other clues.

Which cameras and phones write a serial number

Dedicated cameras from the major brands commonly record a body serial number in the standard field, the maker notes or both. Whether a lens serial number appears depends on the lens and on the camera's ability to read it. Many cameras also let you enter an owner, author or copyright name in a setup menu; once set, it is written into every photo until you clear it.

Phones behave differently. Phone cameras generally do not write the device's hardware serial number into EXIF. They do record make, model, the exact lens module, software version and, if location is on, GPS coordinates, which can be more revealing in daily life. For a full list of what any photo can contain, see our field-by-field guide to what metadata a photo contains.

Behavior varies by model and firmware, so the only reliable answer for your camera is to check a photo it took.

How to check your photos for a serial number

Operating system viewers such as File Explorer's Details tab or the Photos app info panel show only common fields and do not show maker notes, so an empty result there proves nothing. Use one of these methods instead.

With ExifTool

ExifTool reads both standard EXIF and maker notes. This command lists every tag whose name contains "serial", plus the owner, artist and shutter count fields, with the group each one comes from:

exiftool -a -G1 -s "-*serial*" -ownername -artist -copyright -shuttercount -imageuniqueid photo.jpg

A typical result from a camera that records its serial in two places shows one line in the ExifIFD group and another in a maker notes group such as Canon or Nikon. If the command prints nothing, none of those fields is present.

Without the command line

Run the photo through our free metadata remover. After cleaning, it shows a report of what it found and removed, including a serial number when one was present, and the report is visible only to you. This gives you a quick answer on a phone or a computer without installing anything; it accepts JPEG, PNG and WebP, not raw files.

How to remove the camera serial number from photos

Remove everything: the simplest safe option

For photos you share or publish, removing all metadata is the most reliable approach, because you do not have to know every brand's maker note fields. Our tool removes EXIF including maker notes and serial numbers, as well as XMP, IPTC and embedded thumbnails, without re-encoding the image in its default mode. It keeps only the color profile and the orientation flag.

Remove only identifying fields with ExifTool

If you want to keep exposure details and copyright information, delete the identifying fields and the whole maker notes block selectively:

exiftool -MakerNotes:All= -SerialNumber= -LensSerialNumber= -OwnerName= -ImageUniqueID= -overwrite_original photo.jpg

Drop -overwrite_original if you want ExifTool to keep a backup copy. Then run the checking command from the previous section to confirm the result. Our ExifTool cheat sheet lists more selective commands, and our guide for photographers on which metadata to keep discusses which fields are worth preserving.

Remove it at export time

Photo editors can leave camera details out when exporting. In Lightroom Classic, the Metadata section of the export dialog lets you include only copyright information; Photoshop's export options offer similar choices. Our guide to removing metadata in Photoshop and Lightroom walks through the exact settings. Also clear the owner or copyright name in your camera's setup menu if you do not want it written into every new photo; the menu label differs by brand and model.

What removing metadata cannot hide

Deleting the serial number fields removes the explicit label. It does not change the physical characteristics of the camera's sensor. Every image sensor has tiny, consistent variations in how its pixels respond to light, and forensic specialists can use that pattern, known as photo-response non-uniformity (PRNU), to estimate whether two images came from the same sensor. This requires access to reference images from the camera and specialized analysis, so it is a concern in investigations, not in casual browsing.

Visible clues work the same way. A dust spot on the sensor that appears in the same place in many photos, a distinctive lens flare or a recognizable framing style can also connect images. Metadata removal handles the data layer; the content layer is up to you.

Checklist: keeping your camera's serial number private

• Check one photo from each camera you own with ExifTool or our tool's report to see which serial fields it writes.
• Clear any owner or author name in the camera menu if you do not want it in every file.
• Remove all metadata, maker notes included, from photos you publish or send to people you do not know.
• Keep raw files and originals untouched in your private archive.
• If you publish under more than one identity, never share unedited originals from the same camera in both.
• Before selling a camera, avoid posting sample images with full metadata next to a photo of the serial sticker.