What is EXIF data? A plain guide to photo metadata
EXIF, XMP, IPTC and the other blocks hidden in your photos: what they contain, who adds them, what they reveal, and how to see them.
· 6 min read
When a phone or camera saves a photo, it writes more than the picture. Alongside the image it stores a block of facts about how the photo was taken: the device, the settings, the date and time, and often the place. That block is called EXIF, and it travels with the file wherever you send it.
What EXIF stands for
EXIF is short for Exchangeable Image File Format, a standard from the camera industry first published in the 1990s and now maintained by the Japanese industry bodies CIPA and JEITA. Almost every digital camera and phone writes it into JPEG photos, and it can also be stored in PNG, WebP, HEIC and TIFF files.
What EXIF can contain
| Field | What it records |
|---|---|
| Make and Model | The camera or phone, for example the brand and model name. |
| DateTimeOriginal | The date and time the photo was taken, often with the time zone offset. |
| GPSLatitude, GPSLongitude | Where the photo was taken, usually accurate to a few metres. Often with altitude and direction. |
| ExposureTime, FNumber, ISO | Shutter speed, aperture and sensitivity. |
| LensModel, FocalLength | The lens and the focal length used. |
| Software | The app or firmware that saved the file, such as a camera version or an editor. |
| BodySerialNumber | On many cameras, a serial number that links every photo to one device. |
| Orientation | Which way up to display the photo. Removing it can make photos appear sideways. |
| Thumbnail | A small preview image that is not always updated when the photo is edited. |
EXIF is not the only metadata
A photo can carry several other blocks next to EXIF:
- XMP, an XML format introduced by Adobe, stores edit history, ratings, keywords, rights, and the IPTC digital source type that marks AI-generated images.
- IPTC-IIM, an older newsroom standard, holds captions, bylines, credit lines and keywords.
- Content Credentials (C2PA) are signed records of where an image came from and how it was edited. See what Content Credentials are.
- PNG text chunks can hold anything an app chooses, including the full prompt and settings of AI image generators. See AI prompts in PNG files.
- A colour (ICC) profile describes how to display the colours. It contains nothing personal and should be kept.
Why it matters
Most of this data is useful: it lets photo apps sort by date, map your holidays and show camera settings. The problem is that it leaves with the file. A photo of a sale item can reveal your home address; a photo sent to a stranger can show which phone you use and when you are usually at a place. Many large social networks remove most metadata from the copies they publish, but files sent as email attachments, as documents in messaging apps, through cloud links, or uploaded to websites and marketplaces often keep it.
How to see a photo's metadata
- Any browser: drop the photo into Exifo Inspect. It lists every EXIF, GPS, XMP and IPTC field and the file's full structure, without uploading the photo.
- Windows: right-click the file, choose Properties, then the Details tab.
- Mac: open the photo in Preview and choose Tools, then Show Inspector.
- iPhone: open the photo in Photos and swipe up, or tap the info button, to see the date, camera and location.
How to remove it
To remove metadata without re-compressing the photo, use Exifo Clean: it copies the image data byte for byte and leaves the metadata out. To remove only the location and keep the rest, follow how to remove location data from photos.