Cleaning tool
AI metadata remover
Strip C2PA, XMP, EXIF, IPTC and PNG text chunks in one pass. Only the file header is rewritten — no re-encoding, so image quality does not change at all.
JPG · PNG · WebP · AVIF · HEIC/15 MB per file/30 per batch/No upload
Drop images here, or click to choose
JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC · 15 MB each · up to 30 per batch
You can also paste a screenshot with ⌘V / Ctrl+V
Cleaning options
What actually happens to the file
| Item | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel data | Original DCT / DEFLATE data | Identical, byte for byte |
| Resolution and colour | Original values | Identical |
| C2PA manifest | In APP11 / caBX | Block removed |
| XMP | In APP1 | Block removed |
| EXIF (incl. GPS) | In APP1 | Block removed (can be turned off) |
| ICC colour profile | In APP2 | Kept — removing it shifts colours |
| File size | Larger | Smaller, by exactly the metadata |
People assume “cleaning metadata” means “exporting the image again”. It does not. A re-export re-compresses the pixels. This is a segment-level rewrite: the unwanted APPn segments are dropped whole and every other byte is copied as-is.
What gets removed by default, and why
- C2PA: the signed provenance block, and the first thing most platforms check before adding an AI label.
- XMP: where Midjourney, Firefly and Ideogram write prompts and seeds.
- EXIF: carries GPS and device details; the Software field often names an AI editor outright.
- IPTC: attribution and AI attribution fields written by Adobe tools.
- COM comments and PNG text chunks: removed by default, with no separate switch.
Photographers can simply turn off “remove EXIF” — camera settings stay and only the AI markers go. For finer control use the AI-only mode, which also strips Software, Artist and UserComment from inside the EXIF block.
Four steps
- 1Drop the filesBatch supported: up to 30 files, 15 MB each.
- 2Check the optionsThe defaults are fine; turn off EXIF if you need camera details.
- 3Wait for processingIt runs in your browser — keep the tab open.
- 4DownloadOne at a time, or everything as a single ZIP.
Common questions
Does cleaning reduce image quality?
No. Metadata and pixels are separate data. Only the header blocks are rewritten; pixel bytes are copied verbatim and never pass through an encoder.
Are files uploaded to a server?
No. Parsing, cleaning and zipping all happen in the browser. Once the page has loaded you can cut the network and it keeps working.
The platform still labels it AI afterwards. Why?
Then the trigger was never in the file metadata. It may be an invisible pixel-level watermark such as SynthID, or the platform's own visual classifier. Neither is something a metadata tool can reach.
How are AVIF and HEIC handled?
Both are ISOBMFF containers where metadata is interleaved with structures the decoder needs, so it cannot be removed in place. They are decoded and re-encoded instead: AVIF to PNG (lossless), HEIC to JPEG. The page states the format change explicitly.
Why did the file only get slightly smaller?
Because metadata was never the bulk of it. A phone photo usually carries 5–15 KB. Only extremes — ComfyUI stuffing a whole workflow into a PNG — reach tens or hundreds of KB.
Can I process many files at once?
Up to 30 per batch, limited by browser memory. For more, run several batches, or verify the options on one sample first.