How to remove EXIF data from photos on a Mac
Updated November 13, 2026
Short answer
On a Mac, Preview can remove the location from one photo, and Photos can leave the location out when you export. Neither removes the camera serial number, dates, AI tags or other metadata. exiftool removes everything with one Terminal command. PicDetox does the same from Finder's right-click menu, for one photo or hundreds, without re-encoding the image.
What EXIF data includes
- GPS position
- Date and time taken
- Camera make, model and serial number
- Lens and exposure settings
- The owner's name, on some cameras
- A small thumbnail preview
Four ways to remove it
| Method | Removes location | Removes everything | Keeps quality | Many photos at once |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preview: Remove Location Info | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Photos: export without location | Yes | No | No, it re-encodes | Yes |
| exiftool in Terminal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PicDetox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Preview
Open the photo, choose Tools › Show Inspector, open the GPS tab and click Remove Location Info. This removes the GPS position only.
Photos
Choose File › Export, turn off Location Information and export. Photos makes a new file, re-compressing JPEGs, and keeps the other metadata.
exiftool
Install exiftool and run exiftool -all= photo.jpg. It removes all metadata and keeps a backup named photo.jpg_original. It also removes the color profile unless you add -tagsfromfile @ -icc_profile to the command.
PicDetox
Right-click photos in Finder and choose Clean Metadata with PicDetox. It removes EXIF, XMP, IPTC, Content Credentials and AI prompts, keeps the color profile, and saves a clean copy next to each original.
Clean a photo with PicDetox
- Select the photos in FinderSelect one photo or as many as you like.
- Choose Clean Metadata with PicDetoxRight-click and choose Clean Metadata with PicDetox, under Quick Actions or Services. PicDetox saves a clean copy next to each original and checks it.
- Share the clean copyPost or send the file ending in -clean. Its pixels are identical to the original.
Questions
Does removing EXIF data reduce quality?
Not with exiftool or PicDetox, which don't re-encode the image. Exporting a new copy from Photos does.
Can I remove EXIF data from many photos at once?
Yes. exiftool accepts a folder, and PicDetox cleans every photo you select in Finder.
Does PicDetox work with HEIC photos?
HEIC support is coming soon. Today PicDetox reads PNG, JPEG and WebP.