91云A photo can reveal more than what appears in the picture. The file may also contain GPS coordinates, a capture time, a device model, or other details you did not intend to share. Before posting a photo taken at home, sending an original file, or listing something for sale, check what travels with it.
Check your JPEG now: open the free EXIF and location remover from LeiLong Lab ( 雷龙实验室 ) on 91yun.co. You can inspect the file, remove EXIF data and related metadata, and download a clean copy. There is no login or installation.
What are EXIF and GPS metadata?
EXIF is information stored inside an image file alongside the picture itself. It can describe how and when a photo was taken, including camera settings, device details, and timestamps. When location recording is enabled, a photo may also contain GPS latitude and longitude, altitude, and GPS time.
Those coordinates can identify a place even when the picture shows nothing distinctive. Someone receiving the file may be able to read them with a metadata viewer. That matters for photos taken at your home, workplace, or a child’s school.
EXIF is not the only place to look. XMP and IPTC metadata can contain location fields, such as a city, country, or place name. Removing just one GPS field is therefore a narrower action than removing the related metadata throughout the JPEG.
Not every photo has location data. The useful question is what is present in the specific file you intend to share, rather than what your camera usually records.
How to check if a photo has location data
Use the tool as an EXIF viewer online: choose a JPEG or drag it onto the page. It runs entirely in your browser, and your photo is never uploaded. The page loads Google Analytics for anonymous page-view statistics, but Analytics never receives your photo or its metadata.
Start with the “ location found ” or “ location not found ” verdict, then review the grouped fields. The viewer can show:
- GPS latitude, longitude, altitude, and GPS time.
- Device make and model, lens, serial number, and software.
- Capture and modification times, including time zone information.
- Author, copyright, comments, and location fields in XMP and IPTC.
- An embedded thumbnail and data appended after the end of the file.
MakerNote, a manufacturer’s private metadata area, is flagged as present rather than decoded into individual fields. An unfamiliar or undecoded field should not be treated as an absent field.
A “ location not found ” result applies to the metadata checked in that file. It does not mean the picture contains no clues about where it was taken. Review the visible scene separately before sharing.
How to remove EXIF data from photos
The workflow is to inspect, strip, download, and re-check. Keep the original separately if you need its capture details or copyright information later.
1. Select a JPEG or try the sample
Open the EXIF and GPS remover, then choose your .jpg or .jpeg file, or drag it into the selection area. If you want to see the process first, use the demo sample. Its coordinates are fictional and point to the western Pacific Ocean; they do not identify a real person’s location.
The tool currently accepts JPEG only. If it reports an unsupported format, stop and obtain a JPEG copy before continuing. Renaming a file’s extension to .jpg does not convert its image format.
2. Read the verdict and details
Look for the location verdict and any coordinates, then review the grouped metadata. Even if no GPS is found, device details, timestamps, or author information may still be things you want to remove. The cleanup is broader than deleting latitude and longitude alone.
3. Strip the metadata and download
Click the strip control to remove location and related sensitive metadata and export a copy. Your browser downloads a file named originalname_clean.jpg, using your original filename as the base. The clean copy is the file to use for sharing.
The tool preserves the image data without re-compression, so this operation causes no image quality loss. It also keeps the ICC color profile and orientation. It does not blur, crop, or otherwise edit the visible picture.
4. Load the clean copy back into the tool
Select the downloaded _clean.jpg file and check it again. Make sure you choose the new copy rather than the original. Confirm that no location data is found, and review the remaining fields before sending it.
What we tested: we used our own tool with the synthetic sample JPEG, detected its GPS data, stripped the metadata, and re-checked the clean copy with no GPS found. This describes that sample workflow; we did not test any other app or website.
What gets removed, and what stays?
This is a broad metadata cleanup, not a selector for removing only GPS while retaining all other descriptive information.
- Removed: EXIF metadata, including GPS, device details, times, serial numbers, the embedded thumbnail, and MakerNote; XMP; IPTC; JPEG comments; other APPn segments; and trailing data after the file’s end.
- Kept: image data without re-compression, the ICC color profile, and orientation.
Keeping orientation helps the photo display the right way up, while retaining the color profile preserves its color information. Because these are retained, “ clean ” should not be understood as a promise that every kind of metadata has been erased.
Cleanup also removes descriptive material you might value, including author and copyright fields. Save an original for your own records when those details matter, and use the cleaned copy for the intended share.
Limits to check before sharing
JPEG only: HEIC/HEIF, PNG, WebP, and RAW are not supported, and the tool reports that limitation. It does not provide a location check for those formats. If you convert a photo elsewhere, inspect the resulting JPEG before sharing it.
Visible clues remain: street signs, house numbers, landmarks, screens, and shipping labels can reveal a location after metadata removal. Examine the whole picture, including the background. Crop or obscure sensitive details with an image editor, then check the final JPEG you plan to send.
Platform behavior is not a guarantee: some platforms strip metadata on upload, but do not rely on that without checking. This tool reports on the file you select; it does not predict how a social network, messaging app, or storage service will handle it.
Finally, confirm the attachment is your cleaned copy. A successful check of one file says nothing about a different original selected by mistake.
Other built-in options, not tested by us
Some operating systems offer sharing or file-property controls. We have not tested the following methods for this article, and available controls can vary by version:
- iPhone Photos: when sharing a photo, open “ Options ” in the share sheet and turn off “ Location ” to exclude location information from that share. This is a sharing control, not a promise to remove all EXIF fields.
- Windows File Explorer: right-click a photo, open “ Properties, ” select “ Details, ” and look for “ Remove Properties and Personal Information. ” Use the available options to remove supported properties, preferably in a copy; do not assume every metadata field is covered.
Whichever method you use, inspect the resulting file where possible. Readers who prefer Chinese can use the 中文版 / Chinese version of our tool.
Frequently asked questions
Can I remove GPS from a photo online without uploading it?
Yes. Our browser-based tool reads and cleans JPEG files locally. “ Online ” describes the webpage you use; your selected photo is not sent to a server.
Does removing EXIF reduce image quality?
Not with this tool. It keeps the JPEG image data without re-compressing it, along with the ICC color profile and orientation. The visible pixels are unchanged.
Can I remove location from an iPhone HEIC photo?
This tool cannot process HEIC or HEIF. Obtain a JPEG copy using a suitable export or conversion method, then inspect and clean that JPEG. Changing the filename extension is not enough.
Does “ location not found ” mean a photo is safe to post?
It means no location was found within the tool’s checking scope for that file. Visible clues, the filename, and the caption or location you add to a post can still disclose where you are.
Why check the downloaded copy again?
Re-checking confirms the result for the actual file you downloaded and helps prevent accidentally sharing the original. Choose the _clean.jpg copy, inspect it, and share that same file.