How to remove GPS location data from photos on Windows

Every time you take a photo with your smartphone, GPS coordinates are silently embedded in the image file. Here's why that matters — and exactly how to remove them on Windows.

What GPS data is in your photos?

Modern smartphones embed precise location data into every photo by default. This typically includes:

• Latitude and longitude — precise to within a few meters
• Altitude — your elevation above sea level
• GPS timestamp — the exact time the location was recorded
• Direction — which way the camera was facing (on some devices)

When you share a photo taken at home, anyone who knows how to read EXIF data can extract your home address. A photo taken at work reveals your workplace. A series of photos over time reveals your daily routine, frequented locations, and travel patterns.

Do social media platforms strip GPS data?

Some platforms strip EXIF data on upload — but not all of them, and not consistently:

• Facebook and Instagram — strip EXIF from uploaded photos (but Facebook stores the location data internally)
• Twitter/X — strips EXIF from uploaded images
• WhatsApp — strips EXIF when sending as a regular photo, preserves when sending as a document
• Email attachments — full metadata preserved
• Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive) — full metadata preserved
• Your own website or blog — full metadata preserved unless you explicitly strip it
• Online marketplaces (eBay, Etsy, Craigslist) — varies by platform, often preserved

The takeaway: don't rely on platforms to protect your location data. Strip it before the image leaves your device.

Method 1: Using Simple Exif (recommended)

Simple Exif gives you the most control — you can see exactly what data exists, verify it was removed, and process multiple files at once.

Step 1: Open your images

Launch Simple Exif and click Open Folder (or press Ctrl+O). Navigate to the folder containing your photos. Enable "Recursive" if you want to include subfolders.

Step 2: Inspect the GPS data

Select any image. In the metadata grid, look for tags in the GPS group — you'll see GPS Latitude, GPS Longitude, GPS Altitude, and related fields. This is the data that reveals your location.

Step 3: Remove all metadata

Click Remove EXIF to strip all metadata from the selected image, or Bulk Remove EXIF to strip every image in the folder. Simple Exif performs a full pixel re-encode, ensuring no residual metadata survives.

Step 4: Verify removal

Re-select the stripped file. The metadata grid will show only minimal format headers — no GPS data, no camera information, no timestamps, no identifying information of any kind.

Method 2: Using Windows built-in tools

Windows offers a basic option, though it's less thorough:

1. Right-click the image and select Properties
2. Go to the Details tab
3. Click "Remove Properties and Personal Information" at the bottom
4. Choose "Create a copy with all possible properties removed" or select specific fields

The limitation: Windows only removes a subset of metadata. It doesn't touch ICC profiles, XMP data, PNG-specific chunks, or many EXIF fields. For complete removal, a purpose-built tool like Simple Exif is more reliable.

Preventing GPS data in the first place

You can also disable location tagging at the source:

• iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera > set to "Never"
• Android: Open Camera app > Settings > toggle off "Save location" or "Geo tag"
• Dedicated cameras: Menu > GPS/Location settings > Disable

Even with location tagging disabled, your photos will still contain other EXIF data (camera model, timestamp, serial number). For complete metadata control, a removal tool is still recommended.