How to Check Image Metadata and What It Reveals
By Akmal Ali · Published · Updated · 12 min read
Image metadata is information stored in an image file alongside the picture: its format and dimensions, and often the camera, its settings, the date taken and sometimes a GPS location. To check it, open the file in the VektraTool Image Metadata Viewer, which reads it in your browser and shows only the fields the file actually contains.
You are about to post a photo of your new flat, send a picture to a stranger who is buying your bike, or upload an image to a form, and you want to know what the file says beyond the picture itself. Sometimes the answer is almost nothing. Sometimes it is the phone model, the minute the photo was taken and the spot where it was taken. The only way to know is to look.
Image metadata in brief
Image metadata is information stored in an image file that describes the picture rather than being part of it. “Metadata” means data about data. Some of it is needed to show the image at all, such as the format and the width and height in pixels. The rest is optional: a camera or phone usually records which device took the photo, its settings and the date, and editing software can add its own name, a colour profile or a description. No two images carry exactly the same metadata, and many carry very little. How it is stored, and why it changes from app to app, is covered in image metadata explained.
File · kept by your device, not inside the image
File name, date the file was created or modified on this device
Image data · inside every image file
Format, width and height in pixels, colour type, the compressed pixels
Embedded metadata · optional
EXIF: camera, lens, exposure settings, dates, orientation. Also XMP, a colour profile, PNG text fields
GPS block · optional, inside EXIF
Latitude, longitude and often altitude, only when location was on and kept
EXIF in brief
EXIF, short for Exchangeable Image File Format, is one particular metadata standard. Cameras and phones use it to record the device, the exposure settings, the date and, when location is enabled, GPS coordinates. It is published by the camera industry body CIPA in its Exif specification. EXIF is the part of metadata that people usually mean when they worry about privacy, but it is only one part.
| Term | What it is | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Metadata | Any information stored with an image that describes it | Format, dimensions, colour profile, text fields, and everything EXIF holds |
| EXIF | One standard for camera-made metadata, stored inside the file | Camera model, lens, ISO, exposure time, date taken, orientation, GPS position |
What can an image’s metadata contain?
The table lists what image files commonly hold, and whether the VektraTool Image Metadata Viewer shows it. A field appears in the viewer only when the file contains it.
| Information | Where it comes from | Shown by the viewer |
|---|---|---|
| File name and size | Your device | Yes, size in KB or MB with exact bytes |
| Format and MIME type | The file’s contents | Yes, read from the data, not the name |
| Width and height | The image data | Yes, in pixels |
| Camera make, model, lens, serial number | EXIF | Yes, when recorded |
| Software, artist, copyright, description | EXIF | Yes, when recorded |
| Exposure time, aperture, ISO, focal length, flash, white balance | EXIF | Yes, when recorded |
| Date taken, digitised and modified | EXIF | Yes, with the time-zone offset if stored |
| Orientation and stored DPI | EXIF, JFIF, PNG, BMP header | Yes |
| Colour space, bit depth, colour profile | Image data, EXIF, ICC profile | Yes; the profile is shown as embedded, not opened |
| GPS latitude, longitude, altitude | EXIF | A warning when present; coordinates only if you choose to show them |
| XMP data and embedded thumbnail | Editing software, cameras | Shown as present; contents not listed |
| PNG text fields | Software that saved the PNG | Yes, each field and its value |
| Metadata in HEIC, AVIF and GIF files | Various | No. If your browser can open the file, the viewer shows its size, format and dimensions and says metadata isn’t read for that format |
How to check image metadata
Step 1: Open the Image Metadata Viewer
Open the Image Metadata Viewer in any current browser, on a computer or a phone.
Step 2: Choose the original file
Select or drop the image: JPG, PNG, WebP or BMP for metadata, up to 40 MB. Choose the file you actually intend to share, not a copy that went through a chat app, because the two can carry different metadata.
Step 3: Let the viewer read it
The file is read in your browser; nothing is uploaded, including any location data. This takes a moment even for a large photo.
Step 4: Look at what was found
The results are grouped into cards: File, Camera, Date and time, Exposure and Image, plus Text fields for PNGs that have them. Cards without data are left out. If the file has no EXIF, a note says so. If it has a GPS position, a warning appears at the top with a “Show coordinates” button.
Step 5: Decide what matters for your purpose
For a website you will mostly care about dimensions, format and size; before sharing, about the location, the dates and the device. The next section explains each field.
Image Metadata Viewer
Read the camera, settings, dates, colour details and any GPS position in a JPG, PNG, WebP or BMP, in your browser, with coordinates hidden until you ask.
On your own devices, the built-in apps show much of the same information. On iPhone and iPad, open the photo in Photos and tap the info button. On Windows, right-click the file, choose Properties and open Details. On a Mac, open it in Preview and choose Tools › Show Inspector.
Use these apps for a HEIC photo. The VektraTool viewer accepts HEIC files but does not read their metadata. In a browser that can open HEIC, such as Safari, it shows only the File card (size, format and dimensions) and a note that metadata isn’t read for this format: no camera, no dates, and no location warning, even if the photo has a GPS position. Other browsers can’t open HEIC at all, and the viewer says so.
How to read the metadata results
Dimensions
Width × height in pixels, such as 4,032 × 3,024 px. This is the real size of the image, which decides how much detail it has and how large it can be shown or printed. Phones often store photos sideways with an orientation flag; the viewer reports the size the right way up.
Size
How much storage the file takes, shown in KB or MB with the exact number of bytes. Upload forms usually limit this figure, not the dimensions. Here, 1 KB is 1,024 bytes.
Format
The real format, read from the file’s contents, with its MIME type: for example “JPG (image/jpeg)”. If it differs from the extension in the name, the file was renamed, and the format shown is the one programs will see.
Camera: make, model, lens and software
The device that created the image, as the device describes itself. “Software” is often the phone’s operating system version or the editing app that last saved the file. A camera serial number, which some cameras record, identifies the individual camera, so treat it like a location before publishing.
Exposure settings
| Field | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure time | How long the sensor collected light. Longer times blur movement. | 1/94 s |
| Aperture | How wide the lens opening was. A smaller f-number lets in more light and blurs the background more. | f/1.5 |
| ISO | How much the sensor signal was amplified. Higher ISO brightens dim scenes but adds grain. | 125 |
| Focal length | How zoomed in the lens was, also given as the equivalent on a full-frame (35 mm) camera. | 5.7 mm (26 mm in 35 mm terms) |
| Flash, white balance, metering | Whether the flash fired, and how the camera judged colour and brightness. | Did not fire; Auto; Pattern |
Date and time
“Taken” is when the shutter fired, by the device’s clock; “Digitised” is when the image was stored, the same for a phone photo but later for a scanned print; “Modified” is when software last changed the file. A time-zone offset such as UTC+01:00 appears only if the device recorded one.
Orientation, resolution and colour
Orientation tells apps which way up to show the photo. The resolution rows show the DPI values stored in the file, which affect printing only; how to check image DPI and PPI explains why a photo can store two different values. Colour space, bit depth and an embedded colour profile tell apps how to show the colours correctly.
GPS location
If the file contains a GPS position, the viewer shows a warning and keeps the latitude and longitude hidden until you select “Show coordinates”. A position in a photo of your home, school or workplace tells anyone with the file where that is, often to within a few metres. If the warning appears for a file you meant to share, read the privacy section below first.
Example: one iPhone photo, checked
This is the real output for the photo we use for every measured example on the site, a CC0 picture taken on an iPhone 14 and published on Wikimedia Commons. We’ll call it IMG_2048.jpg here.
| Card | What the viewer showed | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| File | 3.7 MB (3,877,205 bytes) · JPG (image/jpeg) · 4,032 × 3,024 px | Too large for most upload limits; a 12-megapixel photo |
| Camera | Apple iPhone 14 · back dual wide camera 5.7mm f/1.5 · Software 26.1 | The phone model and its system version |
| Date and time | Taken 2025-12-02 13:55:17 (UTC+01:00) | The minute and time zone it was taken, by the phone’s clock |
| Exposure | 1/94 s · f/1.5 · ISO 125 · flash did not fire | An indoor shot in reasonable light |
| Image | Resolution 300 DPI (JFIF) and 72 DPI (EXIF) · XMP, colour profile and thumbnail embedded | Print settings only; more data than the picture alone |
| Location | “Location metadata detected”, with a complete position and altitude | Anyone with this file can find where it was taken |
We have not printed the coordinates; the point is that they are there. For a photo of a product on a public licence, that may not matter. For a photo taken at home, it would.
Why check image metadata?
- Before sharing. To see whether a photo carries a location, the device or the exact time.
- Photography. To learn which settings produced a photo you like, or why one came out blurred or grainy.
- Websites and uploads. To confirm the real dimensions, format and size before a form or a page gets them.
- Troubleshooting. To find out why an image is huge, shows up sideways in one app, or is rejected as the wrong type even though the name looks right.
- Context. To see which device and date a file claims, as a starting point rather than as proof.
Can image metadata reveal your location?
It can, when three things are true: the device recorded the position, which phones do only when location access is allowed for the camera; nothing removed it afterwards; and you share the original file. Many photos fail at least one of these, so not every phone photo contains GPS coordinates. Equally, a photo that passed through several apps may still have them. Checking the file you are about to send is the only reliable answer.
Before you share: metadata and privacy
Metadata can say more than the picture shows: where it was taken, when to the minute, and which device took it. That is harmless for most photos and sensitive for some, such as pictures of your home, your children, or anything you post anonymously. Not every file carries these details, and apps, exports and edits often remove them already.
Check sensitive photos before sharing them publicly.
To make a copy without metadata:
- In VektraTool: save the photo again at the same size with the image resizer, which always writes a new file containing only the picture, without EXIF or GPS data. The format converters and the cropper do the same. The image compressor does too, except when it keeps your original because compressing could not make it smaller. Open the new file in the viewer to confirm.
- On your device: the iPhone share sheet has an Options link with a Location switch; Preview’s Inspector on a Mac has a Remove Location Info button on its GPS tab; Windows Properties has a “Remove Properties and Personal Information” link on the Details tab.
Does social media remove image metadata?
Many platforms drop most metadata from the copy other people see, but this varies by service, app and upload method, and sending an image as a file or by email usually delivers the original. Remove what you don’t want shared before you upload; image metadata explained shows what happens to metadata at each stage, from export to upload.
Does a screenshot remove metadata?
It leaves out the original photo’s EXIF, GPS position and camera details, but it is a new file with metadata of its own: a screenshot of a guide page on this site, saved as JPG, showed no EXIF in the viewer but did show its colour type, bit depth and an embedded colour profile. Crop out notifications and anything else on the screen before you share it.
Can metadata prove when or where a photo was taken?
No. The date follows the device’s clock, any field can be edited without leaving a trace, and missing metadata proves nothing; the viewer reports what the file says, not whether it is true. Why metadata can’t prove a photo is authentic, and what Content Credentials add, is covered in image metadata explained.
Which image formats can contain metadata?
JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC and AVIF can all carry EXIF, including a GPS position; BMP stores only a DPI value, and GIF very little. The viewer reads JPG, PNG, WebP and BMP. Where each format keeps its metadata, and why converting can lose some of it, is in image metadata explained.
Metadata, dimensions and file size
If you only need the width and height, for example to check several photos against a form’s pixel rules, the image dimensions checker is quicker: it takes up to 20 images at once and shows the aspect ratio and megapixels too. Metadata is rarely why a file is too large: in the iPhone photo above it is 15,081 bytes, under 0.4% of the file, so to reduce the size use the image compressor.
Common misunderstandings
Metadata is more than EXIF, not every photo has a GPS position, and removing metadata leaves the pixels alone, provided the tool turns the picture upright before it drops the orientation flag, as VektraTool does. Renaming a file changes none of it: a .jpg renamed to .png keeps its EXIF, dates and GPS position, and is still a JPG. More myths are answered in image metadata explained.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone see the metadata if I send a photo by email?
Yes, if you attach the original file: an email attachment is the file itself, with everything stored in it, including any GPS position. Check the file first, and attach a copy without metadata when the photo is sensitive.
Does turning off location for the camera remove it from old photos?
No. It stops new photos from recording a position. Photos taken while location was on keep their coordinates until you remove them, for example by saving a new copy without metadata.
Which VektraTool tools remove metadata from an image?
The resizer, the cropper and every format converter always write a new file without EXIF or GPS data. The compressor does too, except when it keeps the original because it couldn’t make it smaller, and the target-size tools return a file unchanged if it is already under the limit.
Why does the colour space say Uncalibrated?
EXIF can only name sRGB as a colour space. Phones that shoot in wider colour, such as Display P3 on recent iPhones, write Uncalibrated there and embed a colour profile that describes the colours instead. It is normal and not a fault.