How to view image metadata
See the hidden data inside a photo: GPS location, camera model, timestamps and editing software. Runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
· · 3 min read
Step 1: Open the viewer
Go to the Image Metadata Viewer & Editor.
It runs entirely in your browser. Your photo is never uploaded, which matters more here than on most tools, because the whole point is that these files contain private information.
Step 2: Add a photo
Drag the image in or click to choose one. JPEGs from phones and cameras carry the most metadata; PNGs and screenshots usually carry very little.
Step 3: Read the findings
Rather than a raw dump of tag names, findings are written in plain English and sorted by risk, highest first.
Location (high risk). GPS coordinates decoded into a readable position, including altitude where the photo has it. This is the one that surprises people: a photo taken at home carries your address.
Date and time. When the photo was taken, and sometimes when it was digitised or last modified.
Camera. Make and model, and the lens where recorded. This ties a photo to a specific device.
Software. What edited or exported it. Quietly tells anyone which tools you use.
Creator and copyright. Artist, by-line, or copyright fields, which often carry a real name.
Below the plain-English findings you can expand the full tag groups if you want the raw EXIF, IPTC and XMP values.
What to check before you post a photo
Three things, every time:
- Location. If coordinates are there, decide whether the recipient should have them.
- Creator fields. These carry real names more often than people expect, especially in photos exported from editing software.
- Timestamps. They can contradict a story about when something happened.
If any of those are a problem, remove the metadata and share the clean copy.
Social networks usually strip metadata on upload. That protects you on those platforms but not when you send the original file by email, message, or cloud link. The original still carries everything.
Still stuck?
Nothing is found. Common and usually correct. Screenshots, most PNGs, and images already through a social platform carry little or nothing.
The reader couldn't load. If the metadata reader fails, the page says so plainly, and the clean-copy function still works, so you can still strip a file you can't inspect.
The file couldn't be read. Very large or unusual files can fail. The clean copy still removes everything even when the preview can't parse it.