How to remove location data from a photo
Hiding a face in a photo doesn't touch the GPS coordinates saved inside the file. They're a separate thing, stored separately, and removed a different way.
What location data actually is
Every photo an iPhone takes carries a block of metadata called EXIF, saved inside the file alongside the image itself. If Location Services is on for the Camera app, that block includes GPS coordinates — latitude and longitude, sometimes altitude and direction — for exactly where the photo was taken, along with the date, time, and details about the device and camera settings used. This is separate from the pixels you see. Editing, cropping or blurring the image does not touch it, because it lives in a different part of the file.
That's the gap that catches people out: you can carefully blur a face out of a photo and still be publishing the exact coordinates of the house it was taken outside, because the two are stored independently and only one of them is visible when you look at the picture.
How to check what's in a photo
You can see whether a photo has location data attached before deciding what to do about it.
- Open the photo in the Photos app and swipe up, or tap the info (ⓘ) button. If location data is present, you'll see a small map with a pin showing where it was taken, along with the date and time.
- If there's no map shown, either Location Services was off when the photo was taken, or the location data has already been stripped — screenshots, for instance, don't carry GPS data at all.
- This same info panel shows the date, time and, further into details, the device and camera settings — all part of the same EXIF block as the location.
The share sheet's location toggle, and what it doesn't cover
iOS has a built-in option for this: when you share a photo from the Photos app — to Messages, Mail, AirDrop or elsewhere — the share sheet has an Options screen with a Location toggle you can switch off before sending. Turned off, the copy that goes out through that share doesn't carry GPS data.
It's a real safeguard, with real limits. It only affects the specific copy created by that specific share action — the original in your library keeps its location data untouched, and if you share the same photo again later without checking Options, it goes out with the data intact. It's also easy to forget: there's no persistent setting that applies it everywhere, so it depends on you remembering to check on every single share, through every app and every route a photo might leave your phone by.
Turning off the location toggle isn't the same as stripping the file. It's a per-share setting you have to actively choose, it typically addresses GPS specifically rather than the whole EXIF block, and it does nothing for photos you've already sent, saved to Files, backed up, or shared through an app that doesn't offer the same option. If you want a photo's metadata gone by default rather than by remembering a toggle, the removal needs to happen once, on export, every time.
How Deface strips it
Deface re-renders photos without source EXIF or GPS data. Video has a separate Remove metadata control.
- Import the photo or video. From your library, same as any other edit.
- Make whatever changes you want — blur a face, cover a license plate, or none at all.
- Export. The photo is re-rendered as a new image without the source EXIF or GPS fields. For a video, use the separate Remove metadata control before export.
Photos you didn't take yourself
Metadata handling isn't consistent once a photo leaves the phone that took it. Most large social platforms strip EXIF, including GPS, from images on upload — partly for privacy, partly to save bandwidth — so a photo you download from a typical public post usually doesn't carry the original location. Direct transfers are a different story: photos sent by AirDrop, email attachment, or saved straight from a Messages thread commonly keep their full metadata intact, including whatever location data the original device attached.
That means a photo someone sends you directly can carry more information than the same photo would after going through a social feed, which is easy to assume is the safer direction when it's often the opposite.
Why this matters even when the photo looks harmless
A photo of a front door, a street view for a listing, a kid's school photo, a package on a porch — none of these look like they're revealing anything, because the GPS coordinates aren't visible in the image. They're sitting in the file regardless, readable by anyone who downloads the original and checks its metadata, which most photo-viewing and file-management tools make trivial to do. Posting the photo publicly, not just the visible content of it, is what exposes the location.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove EXIF data from a photo on iPhone?
The Photos share sheet has a per-share Location toggle. Deface re-renders photo exports without the source EXIF or GPS fields, so the exported image does not retain that source data.
Does deleting a photo's location in the Photos app info panel remove it from the file?
The Photos app doesn't offer a way to edit or delete a photo's existing EXIF location directly from that info panel — it's a read-only view. Removing it requires either the share sheet's Location toggle for an outgoing copy, or an export tool that strips metadata from the file.
Does blurring a face in a photo also remove its location data?
No, they're unrelated. Blurring changes visible pixels; location data is stored separately. Deface re-renders photo exports without source EXIF or GPS, so the exported image does not retain the original location field.
What information is actually in a photo's metadata besides location?
The EXIF block typically includes the date and time taken, the camera or device model, and shooting settings like exposure. GPS coordinates are included separately, and only if Location Services was enabled when the photo was taken.
Do screenshots have location data in them?
No. Screenshots are generated by the device rather than captured by the camera, so they don't carry GPS or camera EXIF data the way a photo taken with the Camera app does.
Does this apply to videos too, or just photos?
Videos can carry GPS, date and device details. In Deface, use the separate Remove metadata control when exporting a video to clear those details.
Check the data before you share.
Detect and cover faces in photos and video, right on your device.
