Every photo an iPhone takes carries the exact coordinates where you stood, the second you pressed the shutter, and the phone that took it. Drop one in below to see all of it — and strip it. HEIC files are cleaned as HEIC, with no conversion and no quality loss.
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What's in there
What an iPhone actually records in a photo
An iPhone photo is not just an image. Inside the file, in a section most apps never show you, sits a block of EXIF metadata describing the moment it was taken:
GPS coordinates — latitude and longitude, typically accurate to a few metres, plus altitude and often the compass direction the camera was pointing.
Timestamps — the date and time to the second, and on newer models the time zone offset.
Device and lens — the exact iPhone model, which of the rear lenses was used, and the full exposure settings.
Software and edit history — the iOS version, and whether the photo has been edited.
None of that is visible in the picture. All of it travels with the file when you email it, attach it to a message, send it to a marketplace listing, or upload it anywhere that doesn't strip metadata — and plenty of sites don't.
The location field is the one that matters most. A handful of photos taken at home, posted publicly, pin your front door on a map to within a few metres.
See it yourself
How to view EXIF data on an iPhone photo
On the iPhone
Open the photo in the Photos app and tap the info button (i) at the bottom, or swipe up on the photo. Recent versions of iOS show the camera and lens, exposure settings, file size and dimensions, and a small map if the photo carries a location. It's a genuinely good summary — Apple made this much better than it used to be.
What it doesn't show you is everything. The Photos app displays a curated subset: it won't surface XMP or IPTC blocks written by editing apps, serial numbers, or the raw field names that other software will read.
In full, here
Drop the photo into the tool above and you get every field found in the file, grouped and labelled, with the GPS coordinates called out in red and linked to a map. It reads HEIC directly — no conversion — along with JPEG, PNG, WebP and TIFF. Nothing is sent anywhere; the file is parsed in your browser and disappears when you close the tab.
The HEIC problem
Why cleaning an iPhone photo usually costs you quality
Since iOS 11, iPhones shoot in HEIC by default — a more efficient format than JPEG that stores the same picture in roughly half the space. Metadata lives inside it in a different structure to JPEG, and most metadata tools simply don't handle that structure.
So they do the easy thing instead: convert your photo to JPEG, which discards the metadata as a side effect. It works, and it costs you. Converting decodes the image and re-compresses it, permanently. You get a larger file that looks slightly worse, and the damage can't be undone.
exif.me doesn't convert. It rewrites the HEIC container in place — locating the metadata inside the file and removing it while leaving the compressed image data byte-for-byte identical. Your photo stays a HEIC, stays exactly as sharp as it was, and comes out with nothing left to read. The same applies to JPEG, PNG and WebP.
If you'd rather your iPhone shot JPEG in the first place: Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible. You'll get wider compatibility at roughly double the file size. It makes no difference to what metadata is recorded.
Doing it on the phone
What iOS can remove on its own — and where it stops
Apple has added real privacy controls here, and for many situations they're enough. It's worth knowing exactly what they do, because it's easy to assume they do more.
Removing location when you share
In the share sheet, tap Options at the top and turn Location off. The copy you send goes without GPS coordinates.
What stays: the camera model, lens, exposure settings, timestamps, iOS version and any edit history. And it applies only to that one share — the photo in your library is untouched, so the next time you share it you have to remember again.
Removing location from the library copy
Open the photo, tap (i), and where the location is shown choose Adjust and then Remove Location. This sticks, and applies to copies you export afterwards.
What stays: everything that isn't the location. This is a location control, not a metadata eraser.
Never recording it at all
Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera → Never. New photos are taken without coordinates. The trade-off is real: you lose the Places map in Photos, location-based memories, and the ability to search your library by where you were. Existing photos keep the location they already have.
The gap: iOS gives you good control over location, and almost none over the rest. If you want a photo with nothing identifying in it at all — no device, no timestamp, no software trail — you need to strip the file itself. That's what the tool above does, and it does it without the photo leaving your phone.
The exact menu wording moves between iOS versions; the paths above hold for recent releases.
Troubleshooting
Why an iPhone photo shows no location
If a photo you expected to be geotagged isn't, one of these is usually why:
Location Services was off for the Camera when the shot was taken — check Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera. This can't be applied retroactively; the coordinates were never written.
It's a screenshot or screen recording. These never carry GPS.
It arrived through an app that strips metadata. Most social platforms remove EXIF from the copies they serve, so a photo saved from a feed, or from many messaging apps, has already been cleaned by the time it reaches you.
It was shared with Location turned off in the sender's share sheet.
The photo was taken indoors or somewhere with no signal and the phone never got a fix.
Drop the file into the tool above to settle it — if there's no GPS block, the coordinates genuinely aren't in the file, and no app can recover them.
Worth knowing
Two things people miss
Live Photos are two files
A Live Photo is a still image plus a short paired video. Cleaning the still doesn't touch the video, which carries its own metadata. If you're sharing a Live Photo and privacy matters, either turn the Live off before sharing (tap LIVE at the top-left of the photo and choose Off) or share it as a still.
Cropping doesn't remove the original framing
Photos often store a small preview image inside their metadata, and it isn't always regenerated when you crop. That embedded thumbnail can still show what the picture looked like before you cut something out of it. The tool above displays it when one is present, so you can see for yourself — and clearing the metadata removes it along with everything else.
FAQ
iPhone photo metadata questions
How do I see the EXIF data on an iPhone photo?
On the phone: open it in Photos and tap (i) or swipe up. For the complete set of fields, including XMP and IPTC blocks the Photos app doesn't display, drop the photo into the tool above.
Do iPhone photos contain GPS location?
By default, yes — if Location Services is on for the Camera, every photo is tagged with where it was taken, to within a few metres.
Can I remove metadata from a HEIC without converting it to JPEG?
Yes. exif.me removes it by rewriting the HEIC container, leaving the image data byte-for-byte identical. The photo stays a HEIC at full quality.
Does turning off Location in the share sheet remove everything?
No — only the location, and only for that share. Camera model, lens, exposure, timestamps, iOS version and edit history all remain in the file.
Can I clean a whole camera roll at once?
Yes. Select multiple photos and the batch panel appears: Clean all removes every metadata field from all of them and downloads the results as a single zip. There's also a GPS-only option if you want to keep the camera data and drop just the location.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Every photo is read and rewritten inside your browser. There is no upload button because there is no server to upload to — you can put the phone in airplane mode and the tool still works.