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Does compressing a photo remove the GPS location and phone details stored in it?

Yes. The compressor redraws the image before encoding it, so EXIF data such as GPS coordinates, phone model and the date taken does not carry into the output. Orientation is applied first so the picture stays upright. That is good for your privacy, but it also means the capture date is gone if you rely on it.

Published · 2 min read

What a phone photo usually stores

Alongside its pixels, a phone photo carries a block of data called EXIF. It can include the location coordinates if location is enabled for the camera, the phone model, the date and time taken, camera settings and the orientation. If you shoot products at home or in your storeroom and then publish the original file, you may be publishing a location you would rather keep to yourself.

Why it all disappears after compression

The Image compressor does not edit the original file; it builds a brand new one. It opens the image, applies the correct orientation, draws the pixels onto a Canvas, and the browser encodes that canvas as JPEG or WebP. A canvas knows nothing about EXIF, so the new file comes out without that block.

Worked example

A test JPEG of 800×600 and 95.4 KB containing an EXIF block.

Compressed in Chrome as JPEG at quality 80, it came out at 58.4 KB.

We checked the output's bytes and found no EXIF block at all.

What else you might lose

  • The capture date: some photo apps sort by it, so the compressed copy may show up under its download date instead.
  • Author or copyright fields written into the file: they vanish too, so do not rely on them to protect your photos. For visible protection, use a watermark.
  • Camera settings: most sellers will not miss them, but photographers may want them kept in the original.

The fix is simple: keep the original in your own archive and publish the compressed copy. You keep the date and details for yourself, and the public sees only the picture.

Confirm it before you publish

  1. Open the Image metadata inspector and remover tool and add the original photo to see what it carries, including a location if there is one.
  2. Compress the photo in the compressor and download the result.
  3. Put the compressed file into the metadata tool again, and you will find the EXIF block is no longer there.

Common questions

Does the photo stay upright without its orientation tag?

Yes. The tool applies the orientation to the pixels first, so the picture stays upright with no tag needed.

Does WebP output drop the data as well?

Yes, the result is the same for JPEG and WebP, because the image is redrawn in both cases.

I want to remove the location without compressing. Is that possible?

The Image metadata inspector and remover tool is built for inspecting and removing metadata, so use it when you do not want to change the quality.