How to Remove EXIF Metadata on Linux
Linux gives you precise command-line control over metadata with tools like exiftool and ImageMagick. This workflow covers the terminal approach and a quick browser-based alternative.
Updated: 2026-06-30
Workflow
Step-by-step workflow
Follow the same privacy pattern as the remover: inspect, strip only metadata, then share the clean copy.
Run exiftool -all= image.jpg to remove all metadata. exiftool keeps a backup named image.jpg_original by default.
Run mogrify -strip image.jpg to remove profiles and metadata. Work on a copy so your master stays intact.
Re-run exiftool image.jpg, or load the file in the EXIF Viewer, to confirm GPS and camera fields are gone.
- Operate on copies and keep your original masters archived.
- Use exiftool -gps:all= when you only want to drop location.
- Script the command to batch-clean whole folders.
- Forgetting exiftool leaves a _original backup that still has full EXIF.
- Assuming -strip handles image orientation correctly in every viewer.
- Sharing files before re-checking metadata after edits.
FAQ
Linux questions
exiftool -all= file.jpg for a complete strip, or mogrify -strip file.jpg with ImageMagick. Both run from the terminal.
No. Stripping metadata edits the file header, not the pixels. Use metadata-only options so the image is not re-encoded.
Change the format
Convert this photo without uploading it
Re-encoding writes a new file from the pixels, so the source metadata block does not come along. Each converter runs in this browser tab.
Keep going