How to Use ExifCleaner to Strip Metadata from Files

Updated

ExifCleaner removes EXIF metadata from photos, videos, and PDFs by drag-and-drop: drop files or folders onto the window, and the metadata is stripped instantly. It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and is free and open source (MIT License). Use it when you want to share files without exposing GPS coordinates, camera model, timestamps, or other embedded details.

What ExifCleaner removes

ExifCleaner targets embedded metadata across common formats:

  • Images: JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF, GIF
  • Videos and audio: MP4, MOV, M4A
  • Documents: PDF

Typical metadata includes GPS location, camera/device model, and capture date. For example, a photo might carry GPS: 37.7749, -122.4194 | Camera: iPhone 15 Pro | Date: 2024-03-15 — all of which can be stripped.

Step-by-step: cleaning files

  1. Download and open ExifCleaner. Get it from the official site or GitHub. It's available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
  2. Drag files or folders onto the window. You can drop a single file or an entire folder. Batch processing handles tens, hundreds, or even thousands of files at once.
  3. Let it clean. Metadata is stripped instantly — no extra confirmation step is required.
  4. Verify the result (optional). Expand any file to view a before-and-after diff of the removed metadata fields, so you can see exactly what was stripped.
  5. Share your files. Once cleaned, the files are ready to send.

Fine-tuning what gets removed

ExifCleaner includes privacy controls so you can adjust the default behavior:

  • Preserve orientation — keep the orientation tag so images don't display rotated.
  • Save copies — write cleaned output as new files instead of overwriting originals.
  • Strip extended attributes — remove additional file-system metadata beyond standard EXIF.

These options matter when a stripped field would break how a file displays or when you need to keep the original untouched.

Privacy and language details

  • No network access and no telemetry. The app does not connect to the internet or send usage data, and since it's open source you can verify these claims yourself.
  • 24+ built-in languages. No downloads or plugins needed for localization.
  • Dark mode that automatically matches your operating system theme.

Common questions

Does it work offline? Yes — ExifCleaner makes no network access, so cleaning happens entirely on your machine.

Can I process many files at once? Yes, batch processing is a core feature and handles large volumes.

Is it really free? Yes. ExifCleaner is free and open source software under the MIT License.

What if I need to keep some metadata? Use the privacy controls to preserve orientation or strip only extended attributes, depending on your needs.