To remove location from a photo, you delete its GPS metadata, the EXIF tags that store latitude, longitude and altitude. On iPhone, set the photo's location to "No Location" or turn off Location in the share sheet Options; on Windows and Mac, use the file properties or Preview; or run the photo through a metadata remover that strips GPS along with everything else. Do it on the copy you share, before it leaves your device.
Below: what location data looks like inside a photo, step-by-step methods for each device, the command-line option, and the places location can hide even after the GPS tags are gone.
What GPS location data looks like inside a photo
When location access is on, the camera app writes a GPS block into the photo's EXIF data. A typical smartphone photo contains several of these tags:
| Tag | What it stores |
|---|---|
GPSLatitude / GPSLatitudeRef | Latitude and hemisphere (N or S) |
GPSLongitude / GPSLongitudeRef | Longitude and hemisphere (E or W) |
GPSAltitude / GPSAltitudeRef | Height above or below sea level, which can hint at the floor of a building |
GPSImgDirection / GPSImgDirectionRef | The compass direction the camera was pointing |
GPSSpeed, GPSDestBearing | Movement at the moment of capture, on some devices |
GPSDateStamp / GPSTimeStamp | The time in UTC according to the positioning system |
GPSHPositioningError | The estimated accuracy of the position, in meters |
Paste the latitude and longitude into any map and you land on the spot where the photo was taken. Outdoors, phone positioning is typically accurate to a few meters; the U.S. government's GPS.gov site cites a 4.9 meter (16 ft) radius for smartphones under open sky. That is precise enough to point to a specific house.
Location stored outside the GPS block
The EXIF GPS block is the main source, but not the only one:
- XMP copies. Editing and cataloging software can duplicate the coordinates into XMP, where tools that only clean EXIF will miss them.
- Text location fields. IPTC and XMP have fields such as
City,Sub-location,StateandCountry, which apps like Lightroom can fill in automatically from the coordinates. - Time zone offsets.
OffsetTimeOriginaldoes not pinpoint you, but it narrows down the region.
Methods that "remove location" often target only the GPS block. Methods that remove all metadata cover every one of these places.
Which method to choose
| Method | Removes | Keeps other metadata | Several photos at once |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online metadata remover | All metadata, including GPS, XMP and IPTC | No (keeps only color profile and orientation) | Yes, up to 10 |
| iPhone "No Location" / share Options | Location | Yes | Yes |
| Samsung Gallery share toggle | Location, for that share | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Remove Properties | Selected properties, or all it supports | Your choice | Yes |
| Mac Preview / Photos | Location | Yes | Photos export: yes |
| ExifTool | Exactly what you specify | Your choice | Yes, whole folders |
Keeping the other metadata is useful when you want the capture date or camera details to survive, for example in a shared family album. When a photo goes to strangers, a buyer or a public page, removing everything is the safer choice.
The fastest way on any device: remove all metadata online
If you want location gone and do not need to keep the other fields, the simplest option is to strip everything:
- Open our free metadata remover in any browser, on phone or desktop.
- Add up to 10 JPEG, PNG or WebP images (up to 25 MB each).
- Keep the default "Keep same format" option so the pixels are not re-encoded.
- Download the cleaned photo, or a ZIP if you added several.
The report shown after cleaning lists what was found and removed, such as GPS coordinates, camera model and capture date, so you can see whether the photo was geotagged in the first place. Files are deleted from the server automatically 10 minutes after processing.
The tool does not accept HEIC files. On iPhone, sharing or exporting a photo as JPEG, or choosing "Most Compatible" under Settings > Camera > Formats for future photos, gives you a file you can clean.
How to remove location from a photo on iPhone
iOS offers two separate controls: one changes the photo in your library, the other applies to a single share. Labels can differ slightly between iOS versions.
Remove the location from the photo itself
- Open the photo in the Photos app.
- Tap the More button or the info button (or swipe up on the photo) to show its details.
- Tap Adjust next to the location, or Adjust Info, then Adjust Location.
- Choose No Location.
Remove location for one share only
- Select the photo or photos and tap the Share button.
- Tap Options at the top of the share sheet.
- Turn off Location. The sheet shows "Location Not Included".
- Share as usual.
Both methods are described in Apple's guide to managing location metadata in Photos. To stop future photos from being tagged, see how to stop your iPhone from saving location in photos.
How to remove location from a photo on Android
Android behavior depends on the manufacturer and the gallery app.
Google Photos
Google Photos can only edit or remove locations it estimated or that you added manually. According to Google's help page, if the location was added by your camera, you cannot remove it in Google Photos. Two related settings help:
- Photos shared with a location that Google Photos only estimated are shared without that location.
- A sharing setting, "Remove geo location in items shared by link", hides location, including camera GPS, for photos shared through a link. It does not apply if you download the photo and send it another way.
Samsung Gallery
On Galaxy phones with One UI 3.1 or later, select the photos, tap Share and turn on Remove location data in the share panel before choosing an app. This removes location only, not other metadata.
For other brands and the full set of options, see how to remove EXIF data on Android.
How to remove location from a photo on Windows
- Right-click the photo in File Explorer and choose Properties.
- Open the Details tab and click Remove Properties and Personal Information.
- Choose Remove the following properties from this file and tick the GPS fields, or choose Create a copy with all possible properties removed.
- Click OK.
You can select several photos first to process them together. This dialog only handles the properties Windows knows about, so it can leave XMP copies or uncommon fields behind; check the result. More details are in how to remove metadata on Windows 10 and 11.
How to remove location from a photo on a Mac
- Preview: open the photo, choose Tools > Show Inspector, open the info tab, then the GPS tab, and click Remove Location Info. The GPS tab appears only if the photo has location data.
- Photos app: select the photo and choose Image > Location > Hide Location. When exporting with File > Export, leave Location Information unticked so the exported copy has no coordinates.
How to remove GPS data with ExifTool
ExifTool removes location precisely and works the same on Windows, Mac and Linux:
exiftool -gps:all= -xmp:geotag= photo.jpg-gps:all= deletes every tag in the EXIF GPS block; -xmp:geotag= deletes the GPS tags stored in XMP. To process a whole folder and its subfolders:
exiftool -gps:all= -xmp:geotag= -r -overwrite_original "My Photos"Without -overwrite_original, ExifTool keeps a backup of each file with _original added to its name. Those backups still contain the full GPS data. Delete them, or make sure you never share them by mistake.
These commands leave text fields like City and Country in place. If you want those gone too, removing all metadata with exiftool -all= is simpler.
Check that the location is really gone
Never assume a method worked. Open the cleaned copy (not the original) and look for any remaining location tags:
exiftool -a -G1 "-gps*" -City -Country photo.jpgIf the command prints nothing, no GPS or city fields remain. Without ExifTool, open the file's details on your device and confirm that no map or coordinates appear. If you uploaded the photo somewhere, download it again and inspect the downloaded copy, since that is what others receive.
Keep in mind what metadata removal cannot do. A house number, a street sign or a distinctive view in the background can reveal a location without any GPS data; can someone find your location from a photo covers those visual clues.
Before you share: a location checklist
- Is this the cleaned copy, not the original or an ExifTool backup?
- Did the method remove XMP and text location fields, or only the EXIF GPS block?
- Did I verify with a metadata viewer that no coordinates remain?
- Does anything visible in the photo point to where I live, work or study?
- Would it be safer to post after I have left the place?
- Have I turned off camera location for future photos if I do not need it?