How to Check Photo Metadata on Any Device (Free Methods)

The quickest way to check photo metadata is to open the file's properties on your computer (right-click > Properties > Details on Windows, or Tools > Show Inspector in Preview on a Mac). On a phone, open the photo and swipe up or tap the info icon. If you want to see everything in one place without installing anything, the free photo metadata checker reads the file in your browser.

Which method you use matters less than which file you check. Metadata lives inside the image file, so you need to inspect the exact file you plan to send, upload or publish, not a screenshot of it or a copy that has passed through a messaging app.

What you are looking for

A photo can carry several kinds of embedded data. When you check, these are the fields that usually matter:

• GPS coordinates: latitude and longitude, sometimes altitude.
• Date and time taken: often to the second, from the camera or phone clock.
• Camera and lens details: make, model, exposure settings.
• Descriptive fields: title, description and keywords (stored as IPTC or XMP).
• Rights fields: creator, copyright notice, contact or business details.

If a field is empty, that does not mean your tool is broken. Many photos simply never had that data, or lost it along the way (more on that below).

Method 1: Windows

1. Right-click the photo and choose Properties.
2. Open the Details tab.
3. Scroll through the groups: Description (title, subject, tags, comments), Origin (date taken, authors, copyright), Image, Camera and GPS.

If the GPS group shows latitude and longitude, the file has location data. If there is no GPS group, there is probably none. Windows may need an image extension installed before it reads HEIC files, so a blank Details tab on a HEIC photo does not always mean the data is missing.

Method 2: Mac

1. Open the photo in Preview.
2. Choose Tools > Show Inspector (or press Command-I).
3. Click the i tab, then look at the extra tabs such as Exif, GPS and IPTC. Which tabs appear depends on what the file contains.

The Photos app also shows a location map and basic camera details under its Info panel, but Preview shows more of the raw fields.

Method 3: iPhone

Open the photo in Photos and swipe up, or tap the info (i) button. You will see the date, file name, camera and lens details, and a map if the photo has a location. It is a summary, not a full metadata dump. Titles, keywords and rights fields generally will not show here.

If the map is missing on a photo you took yourself, location access for the Camera app may have been off at the time. Our guide on adding location to iPhone photos covers fixing that for new and existing pictures.

Method 4: Android

In Google Photos, open the picture and swipe up or tap the info icon. You will see the date, file name, size, resolution, camera details and a location map if one is stored. As on iPhone, this is a quick look rather than a complete listing. Other gallery apps vary in how much they show.

Method 5: A browser-based checker

OS viewers hide a lot, and each one shows different fields. A dedicated checker is useful when you want to confirm that a title, keywords and GPS are all inside the file at once.

Geotagr's free metadata checker runs in your browser, and Geotagr's processing happens locally, so photo files are not uploaded to Geotagr's servers. That is worth knowing if you are checking client photos, property images or anything you would rather not send to a third party.

Method 6: ExifTool (for power users)

ExifTool is a free command-line program that reads nearly every metadata format. It is overkill for one photo but ideal for audits.

• exiftool photo.jpg lists everything it finds.
• exiftool -a -G1 -s photo.jpg also shows duplicate tags and which group (EXIF, XMP, IPTC) each came from.
• exiftool -gps:all photo.jpg shows only location fields.

It can also process a whole folder, which helps when you need to spot which photos in a batch are missing coordinates.

Quick comparison

Method	Shows GPS	Shows title/keywords	Best for
Windows Properties	Yes	Usually	Quick check on a desktop
Mac Preview Inspector	Yes	Often (IPTC tab)	Detailed look on a Mac
iPhone Photos	Map only	No	Checking if location exists
Google Photos (Android)	Map only	No	Quick phone check
Browser checker	Yes	Yes	Verifying a file before use
ExifTool	Yes	Yes	Batches and audits

How to read GPS coordinates

Coordinates may appear as decimal numbers (for example 51.5072, -0.1276) or as degrees, minutes and seconds. A negative latitude means south of the equator, and a negative longitude means west of the prime meridian.

To sanity-check them, paste the coordinates into Google Maps. If the pin lands somewhere you did not expect, the photo may have been tagged from the wrong place, or the phone had a poor GPS fix when you took it. Indoor shots are especially prone to being off by a noticeable distance.

Why metadata is missing

If you expected data and found none, one of these is the likely cause:

• Location was off when the photo was taken. The camera never recorded it.
• A platform stripped it. Some social networks, messaging apps and website image optimisers remove metadata on upload or compression. Others keep some fields. Behaviour varies and changes, so test rather than assume.
• It is a screenshot or a re-export. Screenshots do not carry the original camera data, and some export settings deliberately remove location.
• The data is there but your viewer cannot show it. Compare with a second tool before concluding it is gone.

Test what survives your upload

If you add metadata so it travels with a photo, check that it actually does:

1. Check the original file and note which fields are present.
2. Upload it to your website, listing or profile.
3. Download the file back from the live page (open the image URL and save it).
4. Check the downloaded copy and compare.

If the fields are gone, the platform or a plugin removed them. For your own site, there may be an image optimisation setting that controls this.

It is also worth being realistic about what the data does. Google has not published how it uses photo metadata, and nobody can promise rankings from it. Checking metadata is mostly about knowing what your files contain and making sure sensitive details are not shared by accident. For context on the business side, see our walkthrough on how to geotag photos for Google Business Profile.

If you find something missing

If a photo has no coordinates, or the wrong ones, you can add or correct them. The Geotagr editor writes GPS coordinates, a title, description, keywords and business details into JPG files and can open HEIC, PNG and WebP files (these are converted and saved as JPG). Our step-by-step guide to adding GPS coordinates to photos online walks through the process.

Frequently asked questions

Can I check photo metadata without software?

Yes. Windows (Properties > Details), Mac (Preview Inspector), iPhone (Photos info panel) and Google Photos on Android all show some metadata built in. A browser-based checker gives a fuller view without installing anything.

Does checking metadata change the photo?

No. Viewing metadata only reads the file. Be careful with options such as "Remove Properties and Personal Information" in Windows, which do edit the file or create a copy.

Why does my photo show no location?

The most common reasons are that location services were off for the camera, the image was a screenshot or download, or an app stripped the data when you sent or uploaded it. Check the original file from the device first.

Can I see metadata on a photo from a website?

Only if you can download the original image file and the site has not removed the metadata. Right-clicking and saving the image, then checking the saved copy, is the usual approach. Many sites strip or alter metadata, so an empty result is common.

Is it safe to use an online metadata checker?

That depends on the tool. Some upload your file to a server. Geotagr's checker works in your browser and photo files are not uploaded to its servers. For other tools, check their privacy statement before using sensitive images.