Maintaining anonymity in the photos we share online and refraining from giving away personal information in pictures is becoming harder by the day. Personal information in pictures such as the location, date and time when the picture was taken, GPS location coordinates, camera settings like make, model, ISO speed and focal length are all attached to every photo and stored as hidden Exchangeable Image File Format or EXIF meta tags. Though this information is useful for photographers, it should be deleted before uploading the pictures on the web or sharing your photos online.

Steps to Remove Personal Information in Pictures in Windows 10

One of the simplest ways to remove meta tags and EXIF info in Windows 10 is by removing it manually. To remove sensitive and personal information in pictures in Windows 10, follow the steps below:

Step1: Select all the pictures that need to be protected and put it in a single folder. This step is not mandatory but it helps to finish your job quickly and avoid repetition.

Step2: Select all the pictures, right-click them and select “Properties.”

Step 3: When the “Properties” dialog window opens, click on the “Details” tab from which allows you to delete personal information in pictures.

Step 4: Click on the “Remove Properties and Personal Information” link at the bottom of the dialog window.

Step 5: When the “Remove Properties…” dialog window opens there are two options available. You can select the first option “Create a copy with all the possible properties removed,” which will remove all possible info and create a set of identical copies but without the personal information, click OK. To choose the information to be deleted specifically, you can select the second option “Remove the following properties from this file” and manually check each box for the properties to be removed from the list or click “Select All” and click OK. It should be remembered that this will not create a copy.

Remove Personal Information in Pictures in Windows 10 Using Third Party Tools

If you have plenty of pictures to upload and do not have time to manually remove the personal information in pictures, you can use a software tool to remove the meta tags from all your pictures in one go. A number of meta data removal tools are available on the internet. Any of the meta data removal tools will do the job successfully. Some of the free tools available are Metability QuickFix, BatchPurifier LITE etc. You have to install the software on your system and it is then possible to erase meta data information quickly from all your pictures.

Steps to Stop Windows 10 Mobile Camera from Saving Personal Information in Pictures to be Taken

It is not possible to stop mobile cameras from saving EXIF metadata. But including GPS location can be prevented in pictures that are to be taken in the future. The steps to turn off location on a Windows 10 mobile camera are:

Step 1: Open Settings on your mobile.

Step 2: Tap “Privacy”. Tap “Location”

Step 3: Scroll down and tap the switch under option “Camera” in “Choose apps that can use your location.” This will turn off logging of GPS location.

Even though meta tags can be removed from photos within minutes, users often forget to remove the meta tags. You should always make it a practice to remove meta tags while editing photos. This simple act will go a long way in helping to protect personal information in pictures from getting into the wrong hands and will protect your privacy online.