Windows guide · November 2026
Remove metadata from photos in Windows 11 and 10
Windows has a metadata remover hidden in a file’s Properties window. It’s quick for one photo, and it has two limits worth knowing before you rely on it: it only clears what File Explorer can edit, and it never tells you what was left. Here are the steps, the gaps, and the way to clean whole folders and know it worked.
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Short answer
Right-click the photo › Properties › Details.- Click Remove Properties and Personal Information and choose Create a copy with all possible properties removed.
- Know the limit: Content Credentials and AI tags aren’t in that list, and Windows doesn’t confirm what was removed.
- For those, and for folders: drop the files into MetaClean and save checked clean copies.
Get MetaClean freeFree for 3 days · then $5 once · no subscription
File Explorer, step by step
The steps are the same in Windows 11 and Windows 10.
- 1
Open Properties
Right-click the photo and choose Properties, or select it and press Alt + Enter. To do several at once, select them all first. - 2
Go to the Details tab
This is the list Windows can read: date taken, camera maker and model, exposure, GPS, author, program name.
- 3
Click the link at the bottom
Remove Properties and Personal Information opens a small window with two choices.
- 4
Choose and confirm
Pick one of the two options below and click OK.
The two options, explained
Create a copy with all possible properties removed
Windows saves a second file next to yours. Your original keeps everything. This is the safer choice.
Remove the following properties from this file
You tick fields one by one, or Select All, and Windows changes the original itself.
Only want the location gone? Tick the GPS fields in the second option. The location guide has that
What File Explorer misses
The phrase to notice is “all possible properties”. Windows clears the fields it knows how to edit, and that isn’t the whole file:
- Content Credentials and the AI source tag. The Details tab has no entry for them, so there’s nothing to tick. These are what make Instagram and Facebook label a photo as AI.
- No report. Windows doesn’t say which fields it cleared or whether any stayed. You find out by opening Properties on the copy and reading down the list.
- One folder at a time. A selection works; subfolders are not included.
To see what a photo carries beyond the Details tab, drop it into the free EXIF and C2PA viewer. It reads the file in your browser.
“All possible properties”is notall the metadata.
What Windows can’t list, it can’t remove.A full clean with MetaClean
MetaClean reads the file directly instead of going through File Explorer’s property list, so it sees and removes the parts Windows doesn’t show.
DSC_0871.jpg5 findings- GPS location51.5072° N, 0.1276° WFoundRemoved
- Camera and serial numberBody, lens and serialFoundRemoved
- Date takenTo the secondFoundRemoved
- Editing softwareApp name and versionFoundRemoved
- Content CredentialsNot in the Details tabFoundRemoved
- Image and colour profileKept · not recompressedFoundKept
- 1
Install it from the Microsoft Store
Windows 10 (version 2004 or later) and Windows 11,
64-bit . Free for 3 days. - 2
Drop in a photo or scan a folder
JPG and PNG photos, MP4 and MOV videos, subfolders included.
- 3
Choose the clean level
Credentials only for the AI label, Privacy clean for location and camera too, All removable, or Custom field by field.
- 4
Use the
clean_copiesEach one is read again before it’s saved. Your originals are never changed.
Which one for which job
| You need to… | File Explorer | MetaClean |
|---|---|---|
| Clear the basic properties of one photo | Yes | Yes |
| Stop a photo being labelled AI | No | Yes, Credentials only |
| Clean a folder with subfolders | No | Yes, Batch folder |
| Remove Content Credentials from a video | No | Yes, without |
| Know nothing was left | Check by hand | Every copy verified |
| Catch new files automatically | No | Yes, Watch Folders |
On a Mac instead? See removing photo metadata on a Mac. For documents, Windows has a separate tool: the Document Inspector in Office.
Your photos stay on your PC
MetaClean works on your own computer: no uploads, no account, no file size limits. More about privacy →
People are asking
Did Windows remove it all?
Photo metadata on Windows: your questions
How do I remove metadata from a photo in Windows 11?
Does “Remove Properties and Personal Information” remove everything?
No. Its own wording is “all possible properties”: it clears the fields File Explorer knows how to edit. The Details tab has no entry for Content Credentials or the AI source tag, and Windows doesn’t report what, if anything, it left in the file.
Can I remove metadata from several photos at once in Windows?
You can select several files in one folder and open Properties for all of them. Subfolders aren’t included. MetaClean’s Batch folder cleans a folder with everything inside it in one pass.
How do I remove EXIF data in Windows 10?
The steps are the same as Windows 11: Properties › Details › Remove Properties and Personal Information. MetaClean runs on Windows 10 (version 2004 or later) and Windows 11,
Is my photo uploaded when MetaClean cleans it?
No. Everything happens on your PC, with or without an internet connection. Online EXIF removers work by uploading the photo to their server first.
Clean the whole folder.
See the proof.
MetaClean removes metadata and AI tags from photos and videos on your Windows PC and checks every copy. Free for 3 days, then $5 once.
Download free trial