How to Remove EXIF Data from Photos on Mac

Every photo your iPhone takes embeds hidden metadata: GPS coordinates, camera model, lens settings, date, time, and more. When you share photos online, you're sharing your exact location with every viewer. Stripping this data before uploading protects your privacy.

Here are two ways to remove EXIF data on macOS: the manual approach and the right-click approach.

Option 1: The Hard Way (Terminal + exiftool)

Powerful, but requires installation and command-line knowledge.

  • 1
    Install Homebrew (if not already installed)
  • 2
    Run brew install exiftool
  • 3
    Open Terminal and navigate to your photos
  • 4
    Run exiftool -all= photo.jpg for each file
  • 5
    Or exiftool -all= *.jpg for a whole folder
  • ✗
    Third-party tool — must install and maintain
  • ✗
    No visual confirmation — trust the command worked

Result: Works great if you're comfortable with Terminal. Most people aren't.

Option 2: The Sane Way (SaneClick)

Right-click photos, strip metadata instantly.

  • ✓
    Remove Photo Info: Strips EXIF, GPS, camera data in one click
  • ✓
    Batch support: Select dozens of photos, clean them all at once
  • ✓
    No install needed: Uses macOS built-in sips — no Homebrew
  • ✓
    Smart filtering: Only appears for image files (JPG, PNG, HEIC, etc.)
  • ✓
    Notification: Confirms when metadata removal is complete
Get SaneClick — $6.99

What About Preview?

macOS Preview can show some EXIF data (Tools > Show Inspector), but it has no built-in way to remove it. You can export the image to strip some metadata, but this changes the file format and quality settings. It's not a clean solution, and it doesn't handle batch operations at all.

What Data Gets Removed?

SaneClick's "Remove Photo Info" script re-encodes the image through macOS's sips engine, which strips all embedded metadata: GPS coordinates, camera make and model, lens info, ISO, shutter speed, date/time stamps, and any custom EXIF tags. The image quality and pixel dimensions stay the same.

When Should You Strip EXIF Data?

Before uploading photos to forums, marketplaces, social media (some platforms strip it automatically, many don't), or sending to strangers. If you sell products online, strip the EXIF from product photos so buyers don't see your home GPS coordinates in the file metadata.

Conclusion

If you're already a Terminal power user, exiftool is excellent. If you want to protect your privacy with a right-click instead of installing tools and typing commands, SaneClick makes EXIF removal as simple as it should be.