Privacy & Security · Jan 2026

How to Remove Metadata from Photos, Documents, and Videos

7 min read · S3-3 Tech

Every time you take a photo with your phone, the resulting file contains more than pixels. The EXIF metadata embedded in that image typically includes the GPS coordinates where the photo was taken (often accurate to within a few meters), the exact time and date, the camera make and model, and sometimes the serial number of the device. Documents carry similar baggage: a Word file often records the author's name, their organization, the file's revision history, and how long they spent editing it. Here's how to strip that data before sharing.

What Metadata Files Typically Contain

Understanding what you're removing helps you decide when it matters:

Photos (JPEG, HEIC, PNG): GPS latitude/longitude, timestamp, camera model and lens, aperture and shutter speed, ISO, sometimes device serial number. JPEG and HEIC carry this in EXIF tags; PNG carries less but still has metadata fields.
Microsoft Word and Office documents (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx): Author name, last modified by, company name, revision history, total editing time, hidden comments and tracked changes, document properties.
PDFs: Creator application, author name, creation date, modification date, sometimes embedded ICC color profiles and XMP metadata.
Video files (MP4, MOV): Recording device, GPS (on some smartphones), creation timestamp, encoder software.

Removing Metadata from Photos

On Windows: File Properties

Right-click any JPEG or PNG file and select Properties. Click the Details tab. At the bottom of that panel, you'll see the link "Remove Properties and Personal Information." Click it, then select "Create a copy with all possible properties removed" for a clean duplicate, or "Remove the following properties from this file" to strip specific fields in-place. Windows will remove most EXIF fields including GPS and author data.

On Mac: Preview or Image Capture

Preview can display EXIF data (Tools → Show Inspector → EXIF tab) but cannot bulk-strip it. The most reliable free method on macOS is to re-export via Preview: open the image, go to File → Export, and choose a format. This strips most EXIF on export — but GPS data sometimes survives. For reliable stripping, use ExifTool (see below).

ExifTool — Best Method on Any Platform

ExifTool (exiftool.org) is a free command-line tool that reads and writes virtually all metadata formats. Install it on Windows, macOS, or Linux, then run:

exiftool -all= photo.jpg

This removes all metadata fields from the file in place (the original is renamed to photo.jpg_original). To strip a folder of images:

exiftool -all= /path/to/folder/*.jpg

To verify nothing remains afterward:

exiftool photo.jpg

ExifTool is the most thorough option — it handles EXIF, IPTC, XMP, and dozens of proprietary metadata schemas in one command.

Removing Metadata from Microsoft Office Documents

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all include a built-in metadata inspector. In any Office application, go to File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document. The Document Inspector panel lets you check for and remove:

Comments, revisions, versions, and annotations
Document properties and personal information (author name, company)
Hidden text
Headers, footers, and watermarks

Click Inspect, then Remove All next to any category you want to clear. Save the file afterward. Note that this operation is not fully reversible — removed revision history is gone.

Before sharing sensitive documents: Run the Document Inspector, then open the file's Properties (right-click → Properties → Details on Windows) and manually clear the Author, Company, and Last Modified By fields. The Document Inspector sometimes misses these.

Removing Metadata from PDFs

The most reliable free method is to print the PDF to a new PDF using your operating system's print-to-PDF function. On Windows, press Ctrl+P, choose "Microsoft Print to PDF," and save. On macOS, use File → Print → Save as PDF. This re-renders the document and strips embedded metadata.

For more control, ExifTool handles PDF metadata too:

exiftool -all= document.pdf

Alternatively, Adobe Acrobat Reader's free tier (not the free desktop app, but the full Acrobat subscription) has a Redact tool that includes a sanitize function. But for most users, the print-to-PDF method is the fastest path.

Removing Metadata from Videos

FFmpeg is the free command-line tool for video metadata removal. Install it from ffmpeg.org, then run:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map_metadata -1 -c:v copy -c:a copy output.mp4

The -map_metadata -1 flag tells FFmpeg to strip all metadata from the output file. The -c:v copy -c:a copy flags tell it to copy video and audio streams without re-encoding, so the process is fast and lossless.

Preventing Metadata at the Source

It's easier to not generate metadata than to strip it afterward. On iPhone, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera and set it to "Never" to prevent GPS coordinates from being embedded in photos. On Android, open the Camera app settings and disable "Save location" or "Geo-tagging."

For Office documents, you can disable automatic author tracking: File → Options → Trust Center → Trust Center Settings → Privacy Options, and check "Remove personal information from file properties on save."

Metadata removal is a one-time habit to build — once you know where the settings are and have ExifTool installed, the process takes seconds per file.