File metadata inspector Free
Read hidden file metadata on your device: photo EXIF and GPS, PNG text chunks, PDF properties, audio length and a SHA-256 checksum.
About File metadata inspector
File metadata inspector shows what a file says about itself before you share it. For JPEG photos it reads the EXIF block — camera, lens, capture date, orientation, exposure and GPS position — and warns you clearly when a location is embedded. For PNG it lists the image header and text chunks, for PDF the title, author, producer and page count, and for audio files the duration.
Every file also gets its size, type, last-modified date and a SHA-256 checksum. JPEG and PNG images can be re-encoded without their metadata, which removes EXIF, GPS and text chunks in one step.
How to use it
- Choose or drop a file.
- Review the general details, checksum and the format-specific metadata.
- If a photo contains a location or personal details, use Remove metadata to download a clean copy.
Good to know
- Files up to 100 MB. EXIF is read from JPEG files and PNG eXIf chunks; HEIC, RAW, TIFF and WebP EXIF are not parsed.
- Remove metadata re-encodes JPEG and PNG images through the browser canvas. This also re-compresses JPEGs (slightly lowering quality), drops colour profiles and applies the orientation to the pixels.
- Audio duration needs a format your browser can decode.
Questions and answers
Why is GPS location a privacy risk?
Phones can store the exact latitude and longitude where a photo was taken. Anyone who receives the original file can read it and see where you were, such as your home.
Do social networks remove EXIF?
Many large platforms strip it when they publish an image, but email, chat attachments, cloud links and many forums keep the original file intact. Removing it yourself is the safe option.
What is the SHA-256 checksum for?
It is a fingerprint of the exact bytes. If two files have the same SHA-256 they are identical, so you can confirm a download or copy was not changed.