How to Remove EXIF Data From Photos on Windows

What a photo contains

A photo file holds hidden data (metadata) in addition to the image. This data can show the date and time, the camera or phone model and the GPS location. When you send the original file, the person who gets it can read this data. Windows shows part of it on the Details tab of the file.

Method 1: Remove the properties in File Explorer

This is a built-in feature of Windows 11. The same dialog is described for Windows 10.

1. Open File Explorer and right-click the photo.
2. Select Properties.
3. Open the Details tab.
4. Click Remove Properties and Personal Information at the bottom of the tab.
5. Select Create a copy with all possible properties removed.
6. Click OK. Windows saves a new file named like the original with " - Copy" added. Send this copy.

You can also select Remove the following properties from this file and tick the fields yourself. This changes the original file, so make a backup first. Use the copy option when you are not sure.

To check the result, open the Details tab of the copy. The tab shows only the fields that Windows supports.

What File Explorer cannot do

• It removes only the properties that Windows lists for that file type. "All possible" means all that Windows can remove.
• We found no official Microsoft page for this dialog or a list of the photo formats that it supports. JPEG is the common case. Check PNG, WebP and HEIC files on the Details tab of the copy.
• One third-party article from 2026 reports that XMP location data can stay in a file. It comes from a company that sells a competing tool, so test your own files.
• It gives you no report of what it removed.
• A RAW sidecar file (.xmp) is a separate file. The dialog does not change it.
• Windows Central describes the dialog as a way to clear "most metadata". For Office files, Microsoft recommends the Document Inspector.
• The file size, the image size, the file name and the file dates are computed by Windows. Based on Microsoft's documentation of property handlers, we expect the dialog to leave them in place.

Method 2: Remove all metadata with WipePic

1. Open WipePic in your browser.
2. Drag your photos into the page, or select them with the file picker.
3. WipePic shows what it found in each photo, for example the location, the device and the capture time.
4. Download the cleaned copies.

WipePic removes the location, the device details, the capture time, the author and rights fields, the editing history, comments, thumbnails and embedded C2PA data. It keeps the orientation and the colour profile, so the photo displays correctly. The photos stay on your PC. WipePic does not send them to a server. Your original files do not change.

WipePic reads JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF, GIF, TIFF and DNG files. It cleans up to 300 files in one batch, and each file can be up to 50 MB. It does not remove the contents of the picture itself, such as a visible street sign or a face.

Stop sharing the location by mistake

If the photos come from your phone, turn off the location in the Camera settings of the phone. Photos that you took before this change still contain their location. See the guides for iPhone and Android.

Sources

Checked on 2026-11-06.

• Windows Central: How to remove personal information from files on Windows 11 (2022-11-07)
• Automata Labs: limits of Remove Properties and Personal Information (2026-10-17; the company sells a competing tool)
• Microsoft Learn: Windows property system overview
• Microsoft Support: Remove hidden data and personal information from Office files