How to Remove GPS Location From Photos Before Sharing

What location data a photo carries

A phone camera with access to location stores where each picture was taken inside the file itself. Apple explains that the iPhone Camera works out the coordinates from cellular, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth signals, embeds them in each photo and video, and that people you share those files with may be able to read them (Manage location metadata in Photos).

The coordinates sit in the photo's EXIF data, next to fields such as the camera make and model and the moment the shot was taken (ExifTool's list of EXIF tags). EXIF keeps location in its own GPS section, which has room for latitude, longitude, altitude, a GPS date and time, and even the direction the camera was pointing (ExifTool's list of GPS tags). None of it is visible in the picture itself.

What happens to that data after you upload a photo depends on the app or site you send it through. The dependable habit is to share files that do not carry it.

Stop recording location on iPhone and Android

The best fix happens before the picture exists: if the camera never writes a location, there is nothing to remove later. The cost, as Google notes for Google Photos, is that those pictures may no longer show up on the map or in location searches.

• iPhone camera. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera and choose Never. Apple notes that location metadata can be collected only while the Camera app has access to Location Services (Apple Support).
• Sharing from an iPhone. In Photos or Camera, select the pictures, tap the Share button, tap Options and turn off Location. Location Not Included then appears above the Options button.
• A photo already on your iPhone. In Photos, open the picture, tap the More button, then tap Adjust Info, Adjust Location and No Location.
• Android camera. Open your camera app's settings and switch off the location option. Google lists what each brand calls it: Save location on Google and Motorola phones, Location tags on Samsung, Store location data on OnePlus and Save location info on Xiaomi (Change your camera location settings).

Menu names can differ between iOS versions and Android camera apps. On Android there is a catch for photos you have already taken. Google Photos can change or remove a location it estimated or one you added by hand, but not a location the camera wrote into the file (Google Photos Help). Those pictures, and any you receive from someone else, need a tool that writes a new file.

Strip location from photos you already took

Docubox's Remove image metadata tool decodes each picture and saves it again as a new file, writing none of the original's EXIF, GPS, XMP or comment data. Each image comes back in the format it arrived in.

1. Add your photos. Open Remove image metadata and drag the images in, or pick them from your files. Before the upload, the page tells you that Docubox processes them on its servers and that downloading the clean copies needs a free account.
2. Decide about Keep color profile. The checkbox appears under the file list and starts ticked. A color profile tells apps how to display the colors; leave it on unless you want that removed as well.
3. Select Run Strip metadata. The images upload and Docubox writes a clean copy of each. It then opens every copy to check it, and if EXIF, XMP, a comment or Photoshop data is still there, the run stops with an error instead of giving you the file.
4. Sign in and download. Signing in uses Google or a one-time email code; nothing is charged and no password is created. Each image then has its own Download button.
5. Save only if you want Docubox to keep a copy. Save to my documents keeps the clean copy until you delete it. If you skip it, the copy expires on its own.

What else is removed, and what changes

• Every EXIF field goes, not only the location. Camera make and model, the date and time and the camera settings are dropped along with the GPS section.
• The photo stays upright. If a picture carries an EXIF rotation flag, Docubox turns the pixels to match before the flag is dropped, so it does not come out sideways.
• JPEG and WebP files are compressed again. Their pixels can change slightly. Ordinary 8-bit PNG files keep their exact pixels.
• Some unusual files are converted. CMYK images become RGB, 16-bit grayscale is saved at 8 bits, and an animated image keeps only its first frame. The result page says when any of this happened.
• The file name stays. Each copy keeps your file name, apart from some punctuation and the ending (.JPEG becomes .jpg). Rename a file before you upload it if the name itself gives a place away.
• What the picture shows stays too. A house number, a street sign or the view from a window is still visible. Docubox does not crop or blur anything, so check the image itself before you post it.

iPhone HEIC photos

iPhones can save photos in the HEIF format, as files ending in .heic. Docubox does not accept HEIC yet, and a file that reaches the upload box with a .heic ending is marked as an unsupported type. There are two ways around it.

• Take new photos as JPEG. Open Settings, tap Camera, tap Formats, then choose Most Compatible. Apple says new photos and videos then use JPEG or H.264 (Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices).
• Make a JPEG copy of an existing photo. Export or share the picture as a JPEG first, then upload that copy.

Check that it worked

On a Mac, open the clean copy in Preview and choose Tools > Show Location Info. Apple notes that when this command is gray, the image has no location information (See where a photo was taken using Preview on Mac).

On Windows, right-click the file in File Explorer, choose Properties and open the Details tab, where a photo's coordinates can appear under GPS. Explorer does not show them for every image (Microsoft Q&A), so first check that the original shows a GPS section; if it does, the clean copy should not. The same tab has a Remove Properties and Personal Information link; an archived Microsoft tip for Windows 7 says it can make a copy without the properties Windows is able to change (Microsoft Learn), so on Windows you may not need to upload anything. Check the copy's Details tab afterwards.

What happens to your files

Docubox cleans your photos on its servers, not on your device. The originals upload to private storage with their location still inside, and Docubox's systems can read them during processing. If that is a problem for a particular picture, use the phone settings above instead, which never upload the photo to Docubox.

Downloading does not delete a file or extend its time, and signing in does not keep anything. The retention policy has the details.