What EXIF usually contains
Typical fields: camera or phone model, lens (on dedicated cameras), exposure settings, the app that last saved the file, orientation, and timestamps. Many phones also write GPS latitude and longitude. None of that is the picture itself. It is extra data in the container, which is why “the photo looks fine” is not the same as “the file is clean.”
EXIF vs what you see on the screen
A face, a street sign, or your name written on a whiteboard are in the pixels. EXIF removal does not blur them. Stripping EXIF only stops the easy, machine-readable leaks. Review the image, then strip the tags.
Why people search this at all
Journalists, marketplace sellers, and anyone attaching a photo to an email get surprised by GPS or a camera serial. Online EXIF viewers often upload the file to parse it. ScrubFiles is an explainer with the inspect-and-strip tool attached: same browser, no copy sent to us.
How to see whether a photo has EXIF
01
Drop the image
JPEG, PNG, or WEBP, up to 25 MB. HEIC from iPhone must be exported as JPEG first.
02
Read the tags
Camera make and model, software, dates, and GPS appear when they exist. Empty means those tags were not in the file.
03
Keep or strip
Inspection does not change the original. Download a re-encoded copy only if you want those tags gone from the file you share.
Questions
Is EXIF the same as GPS?
GPS is one optional EXIF field (plus related tags). A photo can have camera EXIF with no location, or location plus camera model. ScrubFiles lists what it actually finds.
Do PNG and WEBP have EXIF too?
Sometimes. JPEG is the usual container. PNG and WEBP can carry metadata; we re-encode those types as well when you download a clean copy.
Does deleting a photo from Instagram remove EXIF from my camera roll?
No. Social apps do not edit the original on your phone. The roll keeps its tags until you strip that file or change it in Photos.