Remove Metadata from RAW Photos
Remove the location, capture time, owner name and serial numbers from camera RAW files. The photo data itself is not changed, so it edits exactly as before.
Drop a RAW photo
CR2 · CR3 · NEF · ARW · RAF · RW2 · DNG · or click to choose
What metadata is in a RAW file?
A RAW file holds far more than the photo. Your camera writes the date and time of every shot, the camera and lens, all the settings, and, if it has GPS or is paired with your phone, the exact place you were standing.
Many cameras also store the owner name and copyright notice you set up once in the menu, and the serial numbers of the camera and lens. Serial numbers are the quiet risk: they link every photo from one camera together, even photos you shared under different names.
RAW files are harder to clean than JPEGs. Editing apps rely on some of this information to read the photo, so removing the wrong part can shift the colours or stop the file opening at all. Nikon, for example, locks part of the colour information to the camera's serial number and shot count.
This tool removes the identifying parts and keeps what editors need. It then checks that the sensor data and the as-shot white balance are identical to the original, so the file stays a true RAW that edits exactly as before.
What gets removed
Location and time
GPS coordinates and the date and time the photo was taken.
Owner and serials
The owner name and copyright notice set in the camera, and the camera and lens serial numbers, which can link photos back to one camera (except on Nikon, see below).
Edit history and AI labels
Hidden editing-app metadata (XMP) and AI content labels (C2PA). The camera and lens model stay, because editing apps need them to read the file.
Why people remove it
Sending RAW files to clients and editors
Hand over the full-quality file without your home location, your name or your camera's serial number attached.
Posting RAW files for others to edit
Editing challenges and critique groups share originals. The GPS and capture time go with them unless you remove them.
Protecting sensitive locations
Wildlife and landscape photographers often keep nesting sites and quiet spots private. RAW files record them to the metre.
Keeping one camera from linking your work
A serial number ties together photos you published separately or under different names.
How it works
- Drop your file. Signed out, we show you what it carries, read in your browser without uploading it.
- Clean it. With a free account it is sent over an encrypted connection to our server in Germany and cleaned there. The original is deleted as soon as it is done.
- We check it. The clean file is read again to confirm nothing identifying is left and that the file is intact.
- Download it. The download works once. The clean file is then deleted, or after 15 minutes if you never download it.
Other ways to remove RAW metadata
Most tools either leave the RAW file untouched or change it into something else. Here is what the usual options do.
Lightroom and Capture One
When you export, you can leave out location and personal details. But the export is a new JPEG, TIFF or DNG. The original RAW file itself is never changed.
Your camera settings
Turn off GPS or phone location pairing, and clear the owner and copyright fields in the camera menu. This helps from now on, but it doesn't touch photos already taken, and the serial number is always written.
With ExifTool
Deleting everything from a RAW file is risky: ExifTool's own documentation warns it can make the file unreadable. A safer command removes only the location and hidden editing data, but it leaves the date, owner and serial numbers.
exiftool -gps:all= -xmp:all= photo.CR3Questions
How do I remove metadata from a RAW photo?
Drop the RAW file above, then create a free account (or sign in) and click Clean file. When it is done, download the clean copy. Free accounts can clean 3 RAW photos, videos or PDFs a month.
Which RAW formats work?
Canon CR2 and CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF, Panasonic RW2 and Adobe DNG.
Will it change my photo?
No. The photo data and the camera white balance are checked to be identical before and after, so it opens and edits in Lightroom, Capture One or any RAW editor exactly as before. The file stays a RAW file.
Why are the camera make and model kept?
Editing apps use them to read the photo correctly. Removing them can stop some RAW files opening at all, so they stay.
Does it remove the camera serial number?
Yes, including the hidden serial numbers Canon, Sony, Fujifilm and Panasonic keep in their own maker data. Nikon is the one exception: Nikon uses the serial number and shot count to unlock the colours in a NEF file, so removing them would ruin the photo. For Nikon files they stay, and the report says so under "Kept on purpose".
Can I convert to JPEG instead?
You can, and a JPEG is simpler to clean, but you lose the RAW file's editing latitude. This keeps the full RAW file and removes only the identifying details.
What happens to my photos after I upload them?
They travel over an encrypted connection to our server in Germany. The original is deleted as soon as it is cleaned, and the clean copy after you download it, or after 15 minutes. Nobody looks at them.
How big can a RAW file be?
Free accounts clean files up to 100MB, Pro up to 250MB and Business up to 2GB. Pro and Business can also clean up to 10 at once.
Also clean Videos and PDFs. Photos (JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC) never leave your device: clean them in your browser. Developers can do all of this through our API.