How to remove location data from photos
Every phone photo stores where it was taken. Here is how to remove it on each platform, and how to check.
What your photo knows
A photo from a phone contains an EXIF block: the date and time to the second, the phone model, the camera settings, and, if location services are on for the camera, the GPS latitude and longitude, often to within a few metres. Paste those coordinates into a map and you have the street. For a photo of a child in a garden, a listing for a bike, or a picture posted while travelling, that is more than you meant to share. The guide to EXIF data explains the full contents.
The quick way: any device, no app
Open the location remover in your browser, drop the photos in, and it shows you what each one contains, GPS coordinates included. One click removes the location, camera and date metadata and gives you a clean copy. The image itself is not re-compressed, so the quality is identical, and the photo never leaves your device: the removal runs inside the browser tab. It works on iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac and Linux, and offline after the first visit.
For HEIC photos straight from an iPhone, use the HEIC to JPG converter; the JPG it produces has no metadata unless you tick the box to keep it.
On an iPhone or iPad
To stop location being recorded in the first place: Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Camera, and choose Never. To remove it from a photo you already took: open it in Photos, tap the info button (the circled i), tap Adjust under the map, then No Location. This edits the photo in your library. When sharing, tap Options at the top of the share sheet and turn Location off; that strips it from the shared copy only.
On Android
In the Camera app settings, turn off Location tags (Samsung) or Save location (Pixel). For an existing photo in Google Photos, open it, swipe up or tap the info button, tap the pencil next to the location, and choose Remove location. Some manufacturers' gallery apps have the same option under Details.
On Windows
Right-click the file, choose Properties, open the Details tab and click Remove Properties and Personal Information. Choose "Create a copy with all possible properties removed". This handles JPG well; it leaves some XMP data behind and does nothing for HEIC or WebP.
On a Mac
Photos: select the pictures, choose Image, Location, Hide Location. When exporting, untick "Location Information" in the export dialog. Preview: open the image, press Cmd-I, open the GPS tab and click Remove Location Info. Preview writes only the removal, without re-compressing the picture.
Which apps strip it for you
WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Instagram, Facebook, X and Reddit remove EXIF from photos you post or send. Email, AirDrop, iMessage, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Slack, Discord file uploads, Craigslist, eBay listings and most forum software keep it. When in doubt, clean the photo first.
Checking that it worked
Drop the cleaned photo back onto the remover page. It reads the file and reports "GPS location: no". On a computer you can also check the Details or Get Info panel, but those panels sometimes hide fields they cannot edit, so the tool's report is the more reliable test.
Questions
Does removing location data lower the photo quality?
Not if the tool only deletes metadata. Stayput's remover copies the image data byte for byte. Tools that re-save the image as a new JPG do lose a little quality each time.
Do screenshots have location data?
No. Screenshots record the device and time but not GPS. Photos taken with the camera do.
Does a photo's location survive being sent by email?
Yes. Email attaches the file unchanged, metadata included. Remove it first.
Can someone find my home from one photo?
If it was taken at home with location on and shared with the metadata intact, the coordinates point to your house. That is why the messaging apps strip it, and why it is worth checking anything you post elsewhere.