How to remove EXIF data from a photo on Mac
Strip image metadata on macOS using Preview, the Terminal, or straight at share time.
Published by AnonShot · Updated
The short answer
macOS can remove an image's location through the Preview app, but not the whole metadata block. For a complete clean-up, use exiftool in the Terminal — or just drop the file onto AnonShot if the photo is going to be shared as a link anyway.
With Preview, nothing to install
Open the image in Preview, then Tools, Show Inspector. The tab marked "i" holds the metadata; when a GPS tab exists, a button removes the location information.
Preview offers no way to wipe everything at once. The EXIF and TIFF blocks — camera, lens, date, settings — stay put. It is a decent fix for location alone, not for a full clean-up.
With the Terminal, to remove everything
exiftool is the reference tool. Install it with Homebrew, then process a single file or a whole folder.
- Install: brew install exiftool
- Clean one file: exiftool -all= photo.jpg
- Clean a whole folder: exiftool -all= -r ~/Pictures/to-share
- Verify: exiftool photo.jpg should no longer show anything sensitive
The screenshot trick
A roundabout but effective method for a single image: open it full size and take a screenshot with Command, Shift and 4. The new image carries none of the original's metadata.
The trade-off is real: you lose resolution and colour fidelity. Keep this trick for cases where quality hardly matters.
Cleaning at share time
If the photo is headed to someone anyway, the most direct route is dropping it onto AnonShot from Safari or Chrome. Sensitive metadata is stripped on upload and you get a short link, with password and self-destruct when needed — no Homebrew, no Terminal.
The three methods suit different rhythms. Preview is right for the occasional photo where only the location bothers you. exiftool is right when you handle images regularly and want a repeatable command you can trust. Uploading is right when sharing was the point all along, because it collapses cleaning and sending into one step.
Whichever you pick, verify once rather than assuming. Download the file you are about to send, open it in Preview, and check the inspector: if the camera and lens fields are gone, the clean-up worked.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Preview remove all metadata?
- No. Preview handles location but leaves the EXIF and TIFF blocks holding camera, lens, date and settings.
- Is exiftool risky to use?
- The -all= command overwrites metadata and creates a backup copy by default. Work on a copy if the original file matters.
- What about a batch of photos?
- exiftool processes a whole folder with the -r option. For a handful of files headed for sharing, a batch upload to AnonShot is faster.