Glossary · EXIF metadata
What is EXIF metadata? The hidden data inside photos
Short answer
EXIF metadata is information written inside an image file by the camera: the date and time, phone make and model, exposure settings, orientation and often GPS coordinates. It follows the Exif standard maintained by CIPA in Japan. Galleries use it to sort and map photos, and anyone who receives the original file can read it.
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What does EXIF store?
| Field group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Time | Date taken, time zone offset |
| Device | Make, model, lens |
| Exposure | Shutter speed, aperture, ISO, flash |
| Image | Width, height, orientation |
| Location | Latitude, longitude, altitude |
The standard is CIPA DC-008. Its latest edition, published in January 2026, describes Exif version 3.1.
Phones also write maker notes, a block of private tags each brand uses for its own processing data. Galleries ignore it, but it adds to file size and can reveal details such as the camera mode used.
Who can see a photo's EXIF data?
Anyone holding the original file. Emailing a photo or uploading it to cloud storage usually keeps EXIF intact. Many social networks and WhatsApp strip most metadata when they re-compress, which is one reason a forwarded copy has no date or place.
On Android 10 and later, apps get location data redacted by default. An app that wants unredacted GPS tags must declare the ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION permission and ask you at runtime. That rule is part of scoped storage, and it is worth checking when you grant photo permissions.
Location tags are the sensitive part. A photo of your front door with GPS tags pinpoints your home, so check the location setting in the camera app before you post originals online.
How does EXIF help with cleaning?
Date taken is the main signal for grouping a burst or a holiday into moments. Width and height reveal shrunk chat copies. Camera make tells a real photo from a screenshot, which has none. A careful cleaner does not need GPS for any of this.
GalleryJury reads the date on the phone to group shots, and sends only shrunk copies of the pictures (512 to 1024 pixels) for analysis; location and camera make and model are never sent. More on that in privacy and safety.
Orientation is another quiet helper. Phones store a rotation flag instead of rotating the pixels, so two files that look different in a basic viewer may be the same photo.
How do you remove EXIF location?
- Turn off location tags in the camera app for future shots.
- In Google Photos, open a photo, swipe up and remove or edit the location estimate.
- When sharing, use the share sheet option to remove location if your phone offers it.
Removing tags from an existing file creates a new copy in some apps, so delete the tagged original afterwards if privacy is the goal.
Frequently asked questions
Is EXIF the same as XMP?
No. XMP is a separate, extensible metadata format. Phones often write both; motion photos use XMP to describe the embedded clip.
Does editing a photo erase EXIF?
Most editors keep it. Screenshots of a photo do not carry the original EXIF.
Why do some photos have the wrong date?
The date comes from the phone's clock at capture time. Photos received in chats often have no EXIF date, so galleries fall back to the file's saved date, which is the day you received it.
Sources
- CIPA: Exif standard (DC-008) (checked 31 October 2026)
- Android Developers: Access media files from shared storage (checked 31 October 2026)
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