How to remove location from photos on iPhone and Android
Your phone can leave the location out when you share, remove it from photos already in your library, or stop recording it at all. Here is how to do each, and what each one leaves behind.
Short answer: on iPhone, tap Share, then Options at the top of the share sheet and turn off Location. On Android, remove the location in the photo's details in your gallery app, or turn off location tags in the camera settings. To remove the date, device and every other field as well, run the photo through Simple EXIF Remover before you send it.
Three different jobs
People mix these up, and they protect you in different ways:
| What you want | iPhone | Android |
|---|---|---|
| Share one photo without its location | Share sheet → Options → Location off | Depends on the gallery app; some have a share option |
| Remove location from photos already taken | Photos → ⓘ → Adjust → No Location | Gallery or Google Photos → details → edit or remove location |
| Stop new photos recording location | Location Services → Camera → Never | Camera settings → location tags off, or deny the Camera app location access |
| Remove all metadata, not just location | Use a metadata remover such as Simple EXIF Remover | |
iPhone
Share a photo without its location
- Open the photo in Photos and tap the Share button.
- At the top of the share sheet, under the number of selected items, tap Options.
- Turn off Location. Leave All Photos Data off as well. That option sends the original file with everything in it.
- Tap Done and share as usual: Messages, Mail, AirDrop, Save to Files and so on.
This only affects that one share. The setting resets, so check it each time. It removes the GPS position but not the date, the device model or the other EXIF fields.
Remove location from a photo in your library
- Open the photo and swipe up, or tap ⓘ.
- Under the map, tap Adjust.
- Choose No Location.
On recent iOS versions you can select several photos, tap the ••• menu and adjust the location for all of them at once. If you change your mind later, the same menu can usually revert to the original location, so Photos is hiding the location rather than destroying it. That is fine for sharing from your own phone, but it is not the same as a clean file.
Stop iPhone photos recording location
Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera and choose Never. New photos will no longer get GPS coordinates. Photos you already took keep theirs. You also lose "Places" in your own library, which is why many people prefer to leave it on and strip the location when they share.
A note on HEIC
iPhones save photos as HEIC by default. When you share to most apps, iOS converts them to JPG automatically. If you need a JPG file yourself, you can set Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible for new photos, or convert existing ones with a HEIC to JPG converter (that one also drops the metadata as it converts).
Android
Android phones differ by manufacturer and by gallery app, so the menu names below may look slightly different on your phone. The ideas are the same everywhere.
Remove location in Google Photos
- Open the photo and swipe up to show its details.
- Tap the location or the edit (pencil) icon next to it.
- Choose the option to remove the location.
Google Photos also has a setting to remove the geo location from items you share by link. Look under Google Photos settings, in the privacy or sharing section. It only applies to link sharing. A file you download and send elsewhere can still carry its location.
Samsung Gallery and other gallery apps
Open the photo, swipe up for details and tap Edit. Many versions let you delete the location there. Some versions of Samsung's Gallery also offer a "remove location data" switch on the sharing screen. If your gallery app has neither, use the browser method below.
Stop new photos recording location
Two ways, and either works:
- Open the Camera app, go to its settings and turn off Location tags (Samsung) or Save location (Google Pixel). Other brands use similar names.
- Go to Settings → Apps → Camera → Permissions → Location and choose Don't allow. Without permission, the camera cannot add coordinates.
Any phone: remove all metadata in the browser
The built-in options remove the location and leave everything else. To send a photo with no date, device, serial number or software fields, use Simple EXIF Remover in your phone's browser:
- Open the site and tap the drop area to choose one or more JPG or PNG photos.
- Look at the tags listed under each photo. A red Location found badge means GPS coordinates are embedded.
- Tap Remove metadata, then Download. The clean copy is saved with "-clean" added to its name.
- Share the clean copy. On iPhone, Safari puts downloads in the Files app, under Downloads.
The photo is processed on your phone and never uploaded. It is rebuilt from its pixels, so the correct rotation is kept but every metadata block is gone.
Check that it worked
Do not just trust a switch. Send the photo to yourself (by email, or to a second device), save the copy you received, then:
- open its details in your gallery and confirm there is no map, or
- drop it on the EXIF remover and look for the "No EXIF found" badge.
This also shows you how a particular app handles photos. For a rundown of which apps strip metadata on their own, see which apps remove photo metadata.
Pitfalls
- Removing the location leaves the timestamp. If the time and date matter, strip everything.
- Edited copies may keep the original data. Cropping or applying a filter does not usually remove EXIF.
- Live Photos and videos are separate. Videos carry their own metadata, including location. The browser tool works on still JPG and PNG images only.
- The picture itself can give you away. House numbers, car number plates, school uniforms and views from windows are often more revealing than any metadata.
Frequently asked questions
Does turning off Location in the iPhone share sheet remove all metadata?
No. It removes the GPS position only. The date, time, device model and camera settings are still in the file. To remove everything, use Simple EXIF Remover before you share.
If I take a screenshot of a photo, is the location gone?
The screenshot does not copy the original's EXIF, so the GPS position is gone. You lose resolution and gain your screen's status bar, so cropping it out or stripping the original is usually the better option.
Will removing the location delete the photo from my map view?
Yes. Photos without a location disappear from the Places or map view in your gallery. If you want to keep your own map, leave location on and remove it from the copy you share instead.
Can I remove location from many photos at once?
On recent iPhones you can select several photos and adjust the location for all of them from the ••• menu. In the browser, Simple EXIF Remover accepts a batch of JPG and PNG files and lets you download them all.