Content Credentials are one of the main reasons real photos end up labelled "AI info" on Instagram and other apps. This guide explains what they are, who adds them, and how to remove them from an image.

What are Content Credentials?

Content Credentials are a standard from the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), backed by Adobe, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, camera makers and others. They're a signed record stored inside an image file that can say:

  • how the image was made: captured by a camera, generated by AI, or edited
  • which tools touched it: for example "Adobe Photoshop" or "OpenAI"
  • whether generative AI was used
  • when those steps happened

The record is signed, so it can't be quietly edited. It can, however, be removed completely, and removing it is what this guide is about.

Why Content Credentials trigger AI labels

Meta (Instagram, Facebook, Threads) reads Content Credentials and IPTC AI fields to decide whether to add its "AI info" label. The record doesn't say how much AI was used. A photo where you removed one small object with Generative Fill carries the same "generative AI was used" note as a fully AI-made picture, so both can be labelled.

Who adds Content Credentials?

AI image generators, among them:

  • ChatGPT / DALL·E (signed by OpenAI)
  • Google Gemini (signed by Google)
  • Adobe Firefly
  • Microsoft's image tools

Adobe editing apps. Photoshop and Lightroom attach Content Credentials when you use their generative AI features, such as Generative Fill, Generative Expand and Generative Remove.

Some cameras. A few newer models from Leica, Sony and Nikon can sign photos at capture time to show they're genuine.

Not every AI tool uses Content Credentials. Midjourney and many Stable Diffusion apps write their own metadata instead: the prompt, settings and sometimes your username, in ordinary text fields. That still gives the image away, and a metadata cleaner removes it too.

How to remove Content Credentials

Option 1: AI Metadata Cleaner

  1. Open AI Metadata Cleaner and drop in your image.
  2. Click Process.
  3. Download the cleaned copy.

It removes Content Credentials, XMP, IPTC and camera data in your browser, without uploading the photo, keeps the colour profile so colours still look right, and re-checks the new file to confirm nothing is left.

Option 2: ExifTool

If you're comfortable with the command line:

exiftool -all= -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile image.jpg

-all= removes the metadata; -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile puts the colour profile back so the image doesn't shift colour. Open the result in a metadata viewer afterwards to confirm the Content Credentials are gone. Our ExifTool comparison covers the details.

Option 3: A new file without the history

Screenshots and "copy into a new document" workarounds produce a file without the original's Content Credentials, but they also lose resolution or colour information. Cleaning the original file is the better route.

Can you stop Adobe adding them?

Adobe attaches Content Credentials to images made or changed with its generative AI features, and you shouldn't count on a setting to turn that off. What you control:

  • Use non-AI tools for small fixes. Spot Healing Brush, Clone Stamp and Content-Aware Fill don't add the generative AI note.
  • Clean the exported file before you share it.

What removing Content Credentials doesn't do

It removes the record in the file. It doesn't change the pixels. Some generators, such as Google's with its SynthID watermark, also hide an invisible mark in the image itself, and no metadata cleaner removes that. It also doesn't change whether you're expected to disclose AI use: if a realistic image was made by AI, platforms and some laws still expect you to say so.

For more on the other kinds of metadata in a photo, see our EXIF, IPTC and XMP guide.

Frequently asked questions

What are Content Credentials in a photo?

A signed record inside the file, based on the C2PA standard, that says how the image was made and which tools changed it, including whether generative AI was used.

How do I remove Content Credentials from an image?

Run the image through a metadata cleaner such as AI Metadata Cleaner, or use ExifTool with -all=. Then check the new file to confirm they're gone.

Why does my photo have Content Credentials?

Usually because it was made by an AI generator such as ChatGPT or Gemini, or edited with a generative AI feature in Photoshop or Lightroom. A few cameras also add them at capture.

Does removing Content Credentials remove the Instagram AI label?

Instagram labels images from AI data it reads in the file, including Content Credentials. Removing that data before uploading takes away what it reads. A label already on a post stays until you delete it and upload a clean copy.