How to check if a photo shows where it was taken
Open the photo's info panel on your phone or computer, or drop the file into our free photo checker. If you see a map or GPS coordinates, the file records where it was taken. Anyone you send that same file to can see the spot too. Below are the steps for iPhone, Android and Mac, what we found when we tested 11 photos, and how to stop it happening.
The quickest check: any photo, any device
- Open the photo checker on this site.
- Choose the photo, or drop it on the page.
- Read the first line. It says either “This photo records where it was taken” with the coordinates, or “No location found in this photo.”
The checker reads the actual file, the same bytes you would send or upload. It also lists the camera, dates, names and other notes, and it can save a clean copy. Your photo stays on your device.
Check on your phone or computer
iPhone or iPad (Photos app)
Apple says: open the photo in Photos, then swipe up or tap the Info button. Depending on the photo, you'll see the device that took it, the date and time, camera details, and “where the photo or video was taken.” Tap the link to see it in Maps. (Apple Support, checked Nov 10, 2026.)
Mac (Preview)
Apple says: open the photo in Preview, then choose Tools > Show Location Info. If that menu item is grayed out, the image has no location data. A pin on a world map marks the spot. (Apple Support, checked Nov 10, 2026.)
Android (Google Photos)
Open the photo in Google Photos, then tap More to see its details, including the location if it has one. One thing to know: Google says that if your camera added the location, “you can't update or remove the location in Google Photos.” (Google Photos Help, checked Nov 10, 2026.) To get a copy without it, use the photo checker.
An app's info panel shows what that app chooses to show. A file can also hold things most panels skip, like owner names, serial numbers or a small preview image. The checker lists every tag in the file.
What we found in 11 test photos
We ran 11 photos through the checker, then cleaned each one. To be sure the cleaning worked, we re-read every clean copy with exifr, a separate open-source reader. This table is built straight from those files each time we update the site.
| File | Location | Camera | Date taken | Other personal details | After “Clean my photo” |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
iphone14-gps.jpgReal iPhone 14 photo (JPEG) of a café in Ghent, by Zblace. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 | Yes: 51.0588, 3.7415 | Apple iPhone 14 | November 5, 2026 at 12:08 PM (UTC+01:00) | 2 (names, preview image) | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
pixel7a-gps.jpgReal Google Pixel 7a photo (JPEG) of a police box in Niigata, by Suikotei, made smaller before upload. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 | Yes: 37.7998, 139.1219 | Google Pixel 7a | May 11, 2025 at 5:23 PM | None | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
DSCN0010.jpgSample photo from a Nikon camera | Yes: 43.4674, 11.8851 | NIKON COOLPIX P6000 | October 22, 2008 at 4:28 PM | 1 (preview image) | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
DSCN0021.jpgSample photo from the same camera | Yes: 43.4671, 11.8845 | NIKON COOLPIX P6000 | October 22, 2008 at 4:38 PM | 1 (preview image) | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
nikon-gps.heicDSCN0010.jpg converted to HEIC with the Mac's built-in sips command | Yes: 43.4674, 11.8851 | NIKON COOLPIX P6000 | October 22, 2008 at 4:28 PM | None | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
nikon-gps.webpDSCN0010.jpg converted to WebP with cwebp -metadata all | Yes: 43.4674, 11.8851 | NIKON COOLPIX P6000 | October 22, 2008 at 4:28 PM | 1 (preview image) | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
gps-text.pngTest PNG we made, with EXIF, XMP and text notes | Yes: 43.4671, 11.8845 | NIKON COOLPIX P6000 | October 22, 2008 at 4:38 PM | 5 (names, place names, captions or notes, preview image) | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
synthetic-owner.jpgTest JPEG we made with every field filled in (names are made up) | Yes: 48.8584, 2.2945 | Canon EOS 40D | June 14, 2025 at 5:45 PM (UTC+02:00) | 14 (serial numbers, names, place names, captions or notes, preview image) | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
Canon_40D.jpgSample photo from a Canon camera, edited in GIMP | No | Canon EOS 40D | May 30, 2008 at 3:56 PM | 1 (preview image) | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
portrait_6.jpgSample photo that has to be turned to display upright | No | — | — | None | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
iphone.heicSample HEIC photo whose camera fields were already empty | No | — | — | None | Nothing personal left. Picture data identical. |
“Picture data identical” means we compared the image data in the original and the clean copy, and every byte matched. exifr can't read WebP files, so the WebP row was checked with our own reader and with Google's webpmux tool. The two phone photos are real photos that their owners shared on Wikimedia Commons, credited above. Both are JPEGs. We haven't yet tested a HEIC file straight from an iPhone that holds a location.
Three things the test shows
- Real phone photos hold the exact spot. Both phone photos held GPS coordinates. The iPhone photo also held its height and which way the camera faced.
- Converting a photo doesn't remove its location. When we turned
DSCN0010.jpginto a HEIC file with the Mac's built-insipscommand, the HEIC copy still held the GPS coordinates. Changing the format is not the same as cleaning it. - Small details add up. The test JPEG we built shows how much one file can carry: a location, an owner name, a camera serial number, the computer's name, keywords and a hidden preview image. Real files don't always have all of these, but each one is a standard field that cameras and apps can fill in.
How to stop new photos recording your location
iPhone
Apple says: go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera, then tap Never. (Apple Support, checked Nov 10, 2026.)
To share one photo without its location, Apple says: in Photos, tap Share, tap Options, then turn off Location. “Location Not Included” shows above the Options button. To remove the location from a photo already on your iPhone, tap Adjust Info, then Adjust Location, then No Location. (Same Apple page.)
Android
Google says to open your camera app's settings and turn off its location option. The name depends on the phone maker, for example “Save location” (Google and Motorola), “Location tags” (Samsung) or “Tag locations” (LG). (Google Photos Help, checked Nov 10, 2026.)
Turning location off only affects new photos. Photos you already took keep their location until you clean them.