EXIF Viewer
Inspect supported EXIF, GPS, IPTC, and XMP fields embedded in a selected photo. The viewer parses the file in your browser rather than sending it to our server for metadata analysis.
What EXIF Viewer is useful for
Photographers use it to review the settings behind a shot without opening Lightroom or the camera. Drop in a JPG and you can confirm the focal length, whether the lens was wide open at f/1.8, the shutter speed, and the ISO the camera chose in auto mode — handy when you are trying to reproduce a look or diagnose why a frame came out soft or noisy.
It can support a metadata privacy check before you upload a photo to a forum, marketplace, or profile. A file may contain GPS coordinates, a recorded capture time, and device details. Their presence and accuracy vary, but seeing the parsed fields helps you decide whether to remove supported metadata from the copy you plan to share.
Editors and stock-image buyers can inspect IPTC/XMP fields such as an embedded caption, author or copyright text, and software tags. These fields are editable and may be missing or inaccurate, so they are useful leads rather than proof of authorship, licensing, editing history, or the true capture time.
How to use it
Open the tool and add a photo. After the parser library loads, the table shows the supported EXIF, GPS, IPTC, and XMP fields it recognizes. Use Download JSON to save the parsed result, or Reset to clear the view before inspecting another file.
A practical example workflow
As an illustrative example, suppose a marketplace photo shows camera settings, a recorded capture time, and GPSLatitude/GPSLongitude fields. Those values may reveal more context than the listing needs, although the coordinates' accuracy cannot be assumed from the tags alone.
Save the parsed JSON if you need a record, then use the companion Remove Metadata tool on a copy. For JPEG, it removes supported descriptive segments without re-encoding the compressed picture stream; other supported formats may be rewritten. Re-open the exported copy here and review any fields that remain before sharing it.
Supported input and output
Input: JPG is the most reliable, since EXIF was designed for it. HEIC (the default on recent iPhones), TIFF, and PNG are also supported when they actually carry an EXIF, GPS, IPTC, or XMP block — many do, but not all. WebP files can occasionally hold metadata too. The tool accepts files via drag-and-drop, the Choose File button, or pasting an image from the clipboard.
Output: an on-screen table of every tag and value the parser recognised, plus a downloadable JSON file (saved as exif.json) containing the full structured data for archiving, scripting, or sharing with someone else.
How your file is processed
EXIF Viewer uses the exifr library, loaded from a public CDN, to parse the selected file in your browser. The tool does not send that photo to our server for metadata inspection. The CDN download and ordinary page, consent, analytics, or advertising requests still use the network.
Quality and limitations
This tool reads metadata without overwriting the selected photo. To remove supported descriptive fields, use the Remove Metadata tool on a copy. JPEG cleanup removes segments without a fresh picture encode, while PNG, WebP, and AVIF outputs are rewritten. Inspect the result before replacing or sharing anything.
If a file has no metadata, the table will say so. Screenshots, images exported by many web apps, photos already stripped by a social platform, and most freshly created graphics carry little or no EXIF — that is expected, not a fault.
Very long values are truncated in the on-screen table (roughly the first 400 characters) to keep it readable. This mainly affects large XMP blocks or embedded edit histories; the Download JSON export is more complete than the visible table, so use it when you need the full text.
Tag names are shown as the parser reports them (for example FNumber, ExposureTime, GPSLatitude) rather than friendly labels, and not every proprietary maker-note field is decoded. The tool also does not map GPS coordinates for you — it gives you the raw latitude and longitude to look up yourself.
Common problems and fixes
'No EXIF metadata found' on a photo: the file may never have carried supported EXIF, or an editing or sharing step may have removed it. Screenshots and exported graphics also vary. Compare with the original camera or phone file if you expected fields, and remember that this message does not prove anonymity.
HEIC or PNG shows fewer tags than expected: EXIF support in these formats is optional. If the device or export setting did not write a full block, only partial data (or none) will appear. The same shot saved as JPG often carries more.
GPS fields are missing: location recording may have been disabled, removed later, stored in an unsupported form, or never added. The viewer found no supported GPS fields in this copy, but other metadata and visible landmarks can still reveal context.
'Could not load exifr' or a parse error: the parser library is fetched from a CDN on first use, so a blocked connection, an offline session, or an ad/script blocker can stop it loading. Re-check your connection, disable the blocker for this page, and reload. A genuine parse error can also mean the file is corrupted or is not actually an image despite its extension.
The preview shows but the table is empty: the image rendered fine but contains no readable metadata. Confirm you opened the original capture rather than an edited or web-optimised version.
Frequently asked questions
Does EXIF Viewer delete or change my photo's metadata?
No. It reads and displays supported metadata without overwriting the selected file. To remove fields, use the Remove Metadata tool on a copy: JPEG descriptive segments are removed without a fresh picture encode, while other supported formats are rewritten. Verify the exported copy afterward.
Can it really show where a photo was taken?
If the file contains supported GPS tags, the viewer displays the recorded latitude and longitude. Their accuracy depends on the device, signal, camera settings, and later editing, so they are location clues rather than proof of an exact capture point. Missing fields may mean location was disabled, removed, unsupported, or never recorded.
Why does my photo show 'No EXIF metadata found'?
The file was likely stripped before it reached you. Images saved from Instagram, Facebook, or WhatsApp usually have their metadata removed by the platform, and screenshots never contained any. Open the original capture straight from the camera or phone to see the full data.
Related tools and guides
Remove Metadata from images · Convert HEIC to JPG · Compress an image · Resize an image · Blur or pixelate sensitive details · How to remove image metadata before sharing · HEIC files explained · Social media image size guide