Search "remove EXIF data online" and you'll find dozens of free tools. Most do what they say: they remove EXIF, the camera data such as GPS location, camera model and date. The question is whether that's all your image contains. AI-generated and AI-edited images usually carry more, and that's where tools differ.

What a typical EXIF remover handles

Classic EXIF removers were built for the original privacy worry: phone photos that give away where they were taken. They reliably handle:

  • GPS coordinates
  • camera make, model and sometimes serial number
  • dates and times
  • lens and exposure settings

For a normal phone photo, that's often enough.

What AI images carry besides EXIF

AI tools and AI editing features add other kinds of data, stored in different places in the file:

  • Content Credentials (C2PA): a signed record saying the image was made or changed with AI, and by which company. ChatGPT, Gemini, Adobe Firefly, Photoshop's generative features and Microsoft's image tools write them.
  • IPTC and XMP fields, including the IPTC "digital source type" that can say "made by an AI model".
  • Prompts and settings in PNG text fields, written by Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI and others, sometimes including your username.

A tool that only rewrites the EXIF block can leave these untouched, so the image still says it's AI-made and still carries your prompt.

How AI Metadata Cleaner differs

AI Metadata Cleaner was built for these AI kinds of data as well as EXIF. It removes:

  • EXIF (GPS, camera, dates, serial numbers)
  • IPTC and XMP, including AI fields
  • Content Credentials (C2PA)
  • prompt and settings text in PNG files

It keeps the colour profile so colours still look right, and it re-reads the cleaned file and tells you if anything identifying is left.

Where your image goes: it cleans the image inside your browser, so the file isn't uploaded. Many online removers upload your image to their server to process it; that's worth knowing for anything private or unpublished.

Limits: free accounts clean 10 images a day, one at a time, up to 10 MB each. Pro cleans unlimited images, 10 at once, up to 20 MB. Business raises that to 50 at once, up to 50 MB.

How to check any tool yourself

Don't take any tool's word for it, ours included:

  1. Clean an AI image with the tool.
  2. Open the result in a metadata viewer (or drop it into AI Metadata Cleaner, which lists what it finds before cleaning).
  3. Look for C2PA / Content Credentials, Digital Source Type, parameters or prompt text, and GPS.

If any are still there, that tool didn't remove them.

When a basic EXIF remover is enough

If you're taking the location off an ordinary phone photo before posting, any reputable EXIF remover works, and so does your phone's own share option (on iPhone: Options → Location off).

When you need more

  • The image came from an AI generator or used AI editing features.
  • You want your prompt, username or editing history out of the file.
  • You'd rather the image never leaves your device.

A note on honesty

Removing metadata changes what the file says, not how it was made. Stock sites such as Shutterstock and Getty don't accept AI-generated images from contributors, and removing the metadata doesn't change their rules. Use cleaning for privacy and to stop misleading labels on real photos, not to pass AI work off as something else.

Frequently asked questions

Do online EXIF removers remove AI metadata?

Some remove only EXIF and leave Content Credentials, XMP and PNG prompt text behind. Check a cleaned file in a metadata viewer to see what a particular tool does.

Is it safe to use online EXIF removers?

Many upload your image to their server. For private images, use a tool that works on your device, such as AI Metadata Cleaner in your browser, or ExifTool on your computer.

Does AI Metadata Cleaner upload my images?

No. Images are cleaned in your browser and never leave your device. (Videos, PDFs and RAW files, cleaned on separate pages, are processed on our server and deleted afterwards.)