How to remove location data from photos before sharing (iPhone and Android)

Why photos can reveal where you were

When Location Services is allowed for the Camera app, Apple explains that the phone uses information from mobile networks, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth to work out where a photo or video was taken, and embeds those coordinates into the file. That is useful for searching by place, but it can also reveal a home, workplace or school when you post a picture.

Apps and messaging services handle this differently, and some strip location themselves. You cannot always tell which, so for pictures that go to strangers, a public listing or a group chat it is safer to remove location yourself before sending.

iPhone: share without location, or remove it from the photo

Apple lets you leave location out for a single share without changing the photo itself. After you turn it off, the Share Sheet shows Location Not Included above the Options button.

1. Select the photos in Photos or Camera, then tap the Share button.
2. Tap Options and turn off Location.
3. Share through your chosen method from the Share Sheet.
4. To remove location from the saved photo, open it in Photos, tap More, then Adjust Info, then Adjust Location, and choose the no-location option.
5. To stop future photos from carrying a location, go to Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Camera, and choose Never.

Samsung Galaxy: Gallery options

Samsung’s guide for Galaxy phones describes a Remove Location data tick box in the Gallery share screen: select the photos, tap Share, tick Remove Location data and then choose the app. It applies to the shared copies. Samsung’s English Gallery help also describes editing a photo directly instead.

For a saved photo, select it, tap More options, then Details, then Edit, tap the red minus beside the location and tap Save. Samsung states that you may want to do this before you share media, since the location is stored in the photo. Menu names can vary by model, region and One UI version, so look for similar wording if yours differs.

Google Photos: sharing settings and editing locations

Google says Photos keeps locations private by default. New albums, links and conversations leave out location details, except partner sharing, which includes location details on everything you share. You can turn Share photo locations on or off for a shared album under Share, Options.

To remove a location from your own library item, open it, tap More, then Edit, then Remove location, or select several photos and use Edit location. There is an important limit: Google says a location your camera added automatically cannot be edited or removed in Google Photos, and it only lets you change estimated locations and ones you added. For those photos, stop the camera from saving location in future and share with a method that strips it.

Google also warns that people may still guess where a photo was taken from landmarks in the picture, so check the image itself as well as the data.

A quick check before you post

Look at what is visible, not only what is hidden in the file: street signs, house numbers, school logos and car plates tell the same story. If a photo shows more than you want to reveal, crop it or choose a different one.

Reviewing photos before sharing is a good moment to decide what to keep at all. GallerySort lets you swipe through photos to keep or delete them and add keepers to albums. It does not edit or strip location data, so use the steps above for that.