A clean copy of your photo, without the data inside it.
Every phone photo carries GPS coordinates, a timestamp, the device model and often more. Upload the picture and the remove metadata tool generates a visually faithful new image file that carries none of the source metadata, ready to send, list or post without the trail.
BEFORE
AFTER ✨What it is
A new file, not a stripped one.
A photo is not just pixels. A JPEG from a phone typically carries EXIF with GPS latitude and longitude to a few metres, the exact date and time, the device model and often its serial number, plus XMP editing history and sometimes an author field. Most social platforms strip location on upload, but files sent by email, messaging, cloud link or uploaded to a marketplace usually arrive complete. This tool takes a different route from a byte-level EXIF stripper. Instead of editing the original file, it generates a fresh image that looks like your photo and writes it as a new file, so there is no source metadata to inherit in the first place. The trade is that the pixels are regenerated: the result is a faithful copy rather than the identical original, so check fine text and small detail at full size. Your original stays exactly as it was on your device.
How it works
Get a clean copy in three steps
Upload the photo
JPEG, PNG, WebP or HEIC. Upload the original rather than a screenshot so the copy has the most detail to work from.
Say what must stay faithful
Optional: keep the text on the sign readable, keep the colours exactly as they are. The default is a faithful reproduction of the whole frame.
Generate and download the clean copy
The cost is shown in the workbench before you generate. The download is a newly written file. Open it in any EXIF viewer to confirm the location and device fields are absent.
More than a timestamp
EXIF is the well-known part. Less well known is that a photo can also carry the camera's serial number, which links every photo you have posted to the same device, an embedded thumbnail that can survive cropping, and XMP editing history naming the software used. None of it travels into a regenerated file.
- GPS coordinates and altitude
- Device model and serial number
- Timestamps and editing history
Nothing to inherit
A byte-level stripper rewrites the container and hopes it caught every block. A regenerated image starts from a blank file: the output carries only what the workbench writes, which is the picture itself and basic format information. That is a different guarantee, and for photos you are about to send outside a platform it is the simpler one.
- New file, written fresh
- No hidden thumbnail carried over
- Original left untouched
Faithful, not identical
Because the copy is generated, it is not the same pixels as the original. For everyday photos the difference is invisible; for documents, fine text or anything that must be pixel-exact, check the result at full size, and use a byte-level EXIF stripper instead if identical pixels matter more than a guaranteed clean container.
- Check fine text at full size
- Everyday photos look the same
- Use a stripper if pixels must be exact
Why LazyKiwi
Why make a clean copy here
Nothing carried over
A new file has no source EXIF, GPS, device or timestamp fields to inherit.
Faithful copy
Same framing, same colours, same scene. Check fine detail at full size.
Original untouched
Your source photo stays as it was, metadata and all, in your own library.
Verify it yourself
Open the download in any EXIF viewer. You should see the picture and its dimensions, and no location or device.
Cost shown first
Each copy shows its credit cost before you generate.
Same workbench
Make the clean copy, then upscale, extend or retouch it with the other image tools.
FAQ
Removing photo metadata
How do I remove metadata from a photo?+
Upload the photo and generate. The tool renders a visually faithful new image and writes it as a fresh file, so the copy carries none of the original EXIF, GPS, device or timestamp fields. Download it and share that copy instead of the original.
Does it strip the EXIF from my original file?+
No. Your original is not modified; it stays on your device with its metadata intact. What you get is a new, clean file to share. If you also want the original stripped in place, use a byte-level EXIF remover on it.
Is the clean copy identical to the original?+
It is visually faithful, not pixel-identical, because the image is regenerated rather than copied. For everyday photos the difference is not visible. For documents, fine text or evidence that must be exact, check the result closely or prefer a byte-level stripper.
Does social media strip metadata automatically?+
The major platforms strip GPS on upload, and most strip EXIF broadly. Files shared any other way, such as email, messaging apps that send as a document, cloud links, forums and marketplaces, usually keep everything. That gap is where most accidental exposure happens.
Can removed metadata be recovered?+
Not from the clean copy, because it never contained the fields. Your original still has them, and any copy you already shared still has them. Make the clean copy before sharing, not after.
Does it cost credits?+
Yes, like the other image tools. The cost is shown in the workbench before you generate. One generation gives you one clean copy; make it once and reuse that file everywhere you share the photo.
Use cases
When metadata matters
Selling or listing something
Marketplace photos taken at home carry your home's coordinates. Most classified sites do not strip them.
Posting photos of children or a home
Any image shared outside a platform that strips location: email, messaging, a forum, a shared drive.
Sending work to clients
A clean copy for the client, while your original keeps its full history in your own library.
More answers
More on EXIF and privacy
What does a phone photo actually store?+
Typically GPS latitude, longitude and altitude, the date and time to the second, the device make and model, lens and exposure settings, the software version, and sometimes a serial number and an embedded preview thumbnail. Some editors add XMP history naming the app and the account.
Does a screenshot remove the metadata?+
It drops the original EXIF, but it also costs you resolution and adds the screenshot's own metadata, including a timestamp and device model. A regenerated copy keeps the full frame at full size with none of that.
Why does the clean copy still show some fields in an EXIF viewer?+
Any image file carries basic container information such as dimensions, colour space and format, and a viewer will list those. What is gone is the source photo's EXIF, GPS, device and timestamp data. If you see a location or a camera model, you are looking at the wrong file.
Should I remove metadata from everything?+
No. Metadata is useful: it is how photo libraries sort by date and place, and how copyright travels with a published image. Make clean copies of what you share outside trusted platforms, and keep the originals with their history for yourself.
Get a clean copy of your photo
Visually faithful, written fresh, no source metadata. Check the cost before you generate.
No credit card · Free to try · Results in seconds