ExifTool: Remove All Metadata From Photos

Install ExifTool

ExifTool is a free, platform-independent command-line tool by Phil Harvey. On exiftool.org you find a Windows executable (a ZIP that includes Perl), a macOS package and the full Perl distribution. At the time of writing, the site listed version 13.61, dated November 5, 2026. Always try the commands below on a copy of your photo first.

See what a photo contains

exiftool -a -G1 -s photo.jpg

This lists every tag, including duplicates (-a), with the group name (-G1) and short tag names (-s). Run it again after cleaning to check the result.

Remove all metadata from one photo

exiftool -all= photo.jpg

This deletes all writable metadata. ExifTool keeps the original as photo.jpg_original. Check that the new file is fine before you delete the backup.

To replace the file without a backup, add -overwrite_original:

exiftool -overwrite_original -all= photo.jpg

Keep the orientation and the color profile

Deleting everything can also delete the tag that tells viewers how to rotate the photo, and the color profile that keeps the colors right. This command removes everything and then copies those two tags back from the original:

exiftool -all= -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile -orientation photo.jpg

The order matters. -all= comes first. The ExifTool documentation notes this for a similar example: if you write a tag before -all=, the delete also removes it.

The ExifTool FAQ gives its own command for a folder of JPEG files. It deletes everything except the ICC profile, then copies back the color space tags:

exiftool -ext jpg -all= --icc_profile:all -tagsfromfile @ -colorspacetags DIR

Remove only the GPS location

exiftool -gps:all= photo.jpg

This keeps the camera model, the date and the other tags. It removes the GPS group only. If you want the date and the camera details gone as well, use -all=.

Clean a whole folder

exiftool -r -ext jpg -overwrite_original -all= -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile -orientation photos/

-r processes subfolders, and -ext jpg limits the run to JPEG files. Without -overwrite_original, you get one _original backup for every file. Hidden files in the folder are processed too. Folders whose names start with a dot are skipped unless you use -r..

Limits you should know

• RAW files: the ExifTool documentation says not to use -all= on RAW images, except DNG, because the maker notes can hold data that conversion needs.
• TIFF: ExifTool removes XMP, IPTC, the ICC profile and the ExifIFD, but some EXIF can remain in IFD0. The FAQ explains why: in a TIFF the main image lives in IFD0, so deleting that directory would destroy the image. The same holds for TIFF-based RAW files such as DNG.
• PNG: only XMP, EXIF, the ICC profile and native text chunks are removed.
• PDF: the original metadata is never actually removed.
• No guarantee: the ExifTool site says it is not guaranteed to remove metadata completely when you delete all metadata. For JPEG, it removes all APP segments (except Adobe APP14) and trailers, which effectively removes all metadata. For other formats the results are less complete. Run the list command (exiftool -a -G1 -s) on the result and read the output.
• Damaged files: ExifTool does not rewrite a file if it detects a significant problem with the file format. Keep backups, because the site also says it might corrupt some files.

A browser alternative

If you do not want a command line, open WipePic, add your photos and select Remove Metadata. It works in your browser and your photos are not uploaded. It removes the GPS location, camera details, dates, author, edit history, AI labels and Content Credentials, and keeps the orientation and the color profile. It does not re-encode the image, so the pixels do not change, and it reads each cleaned file again before it saves it.

WipePic handles eight photo formats. ExifTool handles many more, runs offline and fits into scripts. See WipePic vs ExifTool for a table with sources.

Sources

exiftool.org (Writer Limitations), ExifTool FAQ (questions 7 and 32) and the ExifTool application documentation, read on November 8, 2026. The -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile -orientation command is a common pattern built from the documented options. It is not copied from the FAQ.