Metadata is the label
your file didn't show you
Alongside the picture, song or text, most files carry notes: who made them, on what, where, when and with which software. You never see them, but anyone you send the file to can read them. Pick a file below and see what it gives away.
Anyone who receives this file can see that it names a person or company, pinpoints where it was made, dates itself, identifies the device and lists the software used.
This removes the notes and keeps the content untouched: photo pixels, sound and text stay byte for byte. The cleaned file is then read again from scratch, so the count on the right is what's really left.
Every file family invented its own label system, so "who made this" is stored under a different name in each. Columns used by the file above are highlighted. Tools that strip only one system (say EXIF) can leave the same facts sitting in another (XMP).
On Windows: right-click > Properties > Details tab. On Mac: select photo > Command+I. Or use Exiftool for comprehensive metadata.
On Windows: File Properties > Details > Remove Properties. Or use our tools to convert the image which strips EXIF data.
Social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) strip GPS metadata before displaying photos. But be careful when sharing files directly.
EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is the metadata standard for photos. It stores camera settings, GPS coordinates, and timestamps.
Yes, but minimally. EXIF data adds a few kilobytes to image files. Removing metadata can slightly reduce file size.