How to Remove Location From Photos on iPhone

By Chris Clark, founder of Senior Tech Cafe

Here’s how to remove location from photos: turn off the Location switch in your phone’s share options before you send a picture, and tell your camera to stop saving location for the pictures you take from now on. Both take seconds, on iPhone and Android.

Here’s why it matters. Every time you take a picture, your smartphone stores metadata with it, without asking your permission. I know, metadata sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s just fancy talk for data about data.

For a phone photo, that includes the date, the camera settings and, brace yourself, the exact spot where you were standing when you snapped it. Your phone is like that nosy neighbor who knows a little too much, and it tells anyone who gets a copy of the file.

Before your photos turn into little blabbermouths, let’s teach them to keep a secret.

Why Bother Removing Location Data?

Before we get into the how, you might wonder, “Why should I even bother?”

Take a photo of your beautiful garden, your new couch or the antique clock you’re selling online. If the picture was taken at home, its location points to your front door, accurate enough to find the house. Text it to a buyer you don’t know, or post the original file somewhere that keeps the details, and you’ve handed over your address along with the clock.

Removing location data is a simple way to keep your private life private.

How to Remove Location From Photos on iPhone

To remove location from photos on an iPhone, you can strip it each time you share, remove it from photos already in your library, or stop the camera saving it at all. Here’s each one.

To remove the location from a photo on your iPhone before you send it, tap Share, tap Options at the top of the share screen, and turn off Location. The photo goes out without it, and the original on your phone stays as it was.

Step 1: Open the photo you want to share and tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up).

Step 2: Tap Options near the top. Turn off the Location switch. The top of the screen now says Location Not Included.

Step 3: Just kidding. There is no step 3, because you’re already done.

You’ll need to do this each time you share, since the switch doesn’t stay off.

Remove Location From Photos Already on Your iPhone

You can also wipe the location from pictures already in your library, so it’s gone no matter how you share them later.

Open the Photos app and open the photo. (To do several, tap Select and tap each one.)
Tap the More button (three dots).
Tap Adjust Info, then Adjust Location, then No Location.

Changed your mind? The same menu has a Revert option that puts the original location back.

How to Turn Off Location on Photos for Good

To turn off location on photos for every picture you take from now on, tell the Camera it can’t use your location. If you’re thinking, “I don’t want to do this for every photo,” this is the fix:

Go to Settings.
Tap Privacy & Security.
Tap Location Services.
Find Camera and set it to Never.

Now you can snap away to your heart’s content. Photos you’ve already taken keep their location, so use the steps above for those.

If you ever want it back (it’s handy for remembering where that great little restaurant was), set Camera to While Using the App.

How to Remove Location From Photos on Android

Android phones vary more than iPhones, so the steps below cover Samsung Galaxy phones and Google’s Pixel phones. On other brands, look for the same words (Details, Location) in your gallery and camera settings.

Remove Location From a Photo on a Samsung Phone

Samsung’s Gallery app can remove the location when you share, or wipe it from the photo itself.

When you share: In Gallery, select the photo, tap Share, and tick Remove location data before you pick where it’s going.

From the photo itself:

Open the photo in Gallery.
Tap More options (three dots), then Details.
Tap Edit, tap the red minus sign next to the location, then tap Save.

On a Pixel, photos live in Google Photos, which has its own rules (see below).

How to Turn Off Location on Photos on Android

To stop your camera adding location to new photos, switch it off in the camera’s own settings:

Samsung: Open Camera, tap the Settings gear, and turn off Location tags.
Pixel: Open Camera, tap Settings, then More settings, and turn off Save location.

Doing this stops your camera embedding location in any photo you take from now on. While you’re in there, it’s worth checking which other apps track your location in the background.

Do You Need an App to Remove Location From Photos?

Usually not. iPhones and Samsung phones now do it themselves, as above. If you want an app that shows everything hiding in a photo’s details and scrubs it, Metapho and ViewExif are both in the iPhone App Store. Metapho charges for its removal feature. Think of them as professional cleaners for when the built-in broom isn’t enough.

Removing Location in Google Photos

Google Photos has a catch: it won’t remove a location your camera added when it took the picture. It can only remove locations it estimated itself or ones you typed in.

What you can do is stop locations going out when you share. In a shared album, open the album, tap Share, then Options, and turn off Share photo locations. For a single photo, use your phone’s own share options or remove the location in your phone’s gallery app first.

For locations Google Photos did add, open the photo, tap More (three dots), then Edit, then Remove location.

Does Facebook Remove Location Data?

Facebook appears to strip location details from the photo files people can download, but it doesn’t promise to, so don’t rely on it. The location you tag in a post, check-in or caption is a different thing and shows up for everyone who can see it, and other sites and apps have their own rules.

The safe habit is to remove the location yourself before you share anywhere. Our Facebook privacy guide covers the rest, and if you post family pictures, it’s worth reading about the risks of posting photos of your grandkids.

Your Photos, Minus the Address

So that’s the whole trick: turn off Location when you share, and stop your camera adding it if you don’t need it. Your photos still show the garden, the grandkids and the antique clock. They just stop telling everyone where to find them.

For more ways to keep your personal information to yourself, see our online safety guide for seniors.

Questions About Location in Photos

Does Texting a Photo Send Its Location?

It can. When you text or email a photo, the file can carry its location along with it, and the person who gets it may be able to see where it was taken. On an iPhone, tap Options on the share screen and turn off Location first. Samsung’s share screen has a Remove location data box.

If I Turn Off Location for My Camera, Are My Old Photos Fixed?

No. Turning off location for the camera only affects photos you take from then on. Pictures already on your phone keep the location they were saved with. Remove it from those one at a time or in batches, or turn off location each time you share one of them.

How Can I See Where a Photo Was Taken?

On an iPhone, open the photo and swipe up or tap the Info button. If a location was saved, you’ll see it on a small map. On a Samsung phone, open the photo, tap the three dots and choose Details. If there’s no map or place name, the photo has no saved location.

Why Can’t I Remove the Location in Google Photos?

Google Photos won’t remove a location your camera added when it took the picture. It only removes locations it estimated itself or ones you typed in. To share a camera photo without its location, use your phone’s own share options, like Samsung’s Remove location data box, or turn off Share photo locations for the album.