Online metadata remover for documents, photos, and video

Files contain more than they show. A photo carries the GPS coordinates of where it was taken. A Word document carries the author's name and the path of every machine it has touched. A PDF carries the editing history. A video carries the device and the location.

Metacleaner is an online tool that removes this hidden metadata. It runs in the browser, supports more than forty file types, and doesn't store the files you upload.

Drop a file to clean it See pricing

A range of file types that Metacleaner can clean

Drop any supported file

Documents, images, audio and video. The cleaned file downloads automatically.

What metadata is, and why it's worth removing

Metadata is information about a file that isn't part of what you see when you open it. Every file format has a slightly different structure, but the principle is the same: alongside the visible content, the file carries data describing where it came from, who made it, when, and how.

For most personal and business uses, you don't need any of that information to travel with the file. A contract sent to a client doesn't need the editor's username. A holiday photo posted online doesn't need the GPS coordinates of your home. A training video for staff doesn't need the device serial number of the marketing team's iPhone.

Metadata is useful while the file lives on your machine. It often becomes a privacy or operational issue the moment the file leaves it.

Files Metacleaner can clean

Documents: PDF, Word (.doc, .docx, .docm, .dot, .dotx, .dotm), Excel (.xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlt, .xltx, .xltm), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx, .pptm, .pot, .potx, .potm), OpenDocument (.odt, .ods, .odp), Visio (.vsd).

Images: JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe), PNG, TIFF (.tif, .tiff), GIF, HEIC/HEIF, JPEG 2000 (.jp2, .jpf, .jpm, .jpx), JNG, MNG, Photoshop (.psd, .psb).

Video and audio: MP4, MOV, QT, M4V, M4A, M4B, M4P.

The full list lives on the homepage.

How it works

  1. Open metacleaner.com.
  2. Drop your file onto the upload area, or click to browse.
  3. The file is uploaded over an encrypted connection. The metadata is stripped. The visible content is preserved.
  4. Download the cleaned file.

There's no software to install, no plugin, no account required for one-off use.

Free and paid tiers

The free tier is designed for occasional use:

  • Unregistered: one file per day, 5 MB file size limit, web access only.
  • Registered (free account): five files per day, 5 MB file size limit, web access only.

Paid plans for heavier use:

  • Basic. €5/month. 30 MB file size, 1 GB monthly traffic, view and edit metadata (images, video, PDF), bulk cleaning.
  • Advance. €30/month. 50 MB file size, 10 GB monthly traffic, web plus three API integrations, bulk cleaning.
  • Enterprise. €50/month. 50 MB file size, 100 GB monthly traffic, web plus unlimited API integrations, bulk cleaning.

Pricing details →

Page-specific guides

The principles are the same across formats, but each file type has its own quirks. Pick the one that matches what you need to clean:

Privacy and how your files are handled

Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection. They are processed to remove metadata, the cleaned file is returned, and the original is not retained. We don't keep a copy, we don't keep the metadata we strip, and we don't pass anything to third parties.

The full terms are in the Privacy Policy and the Service Agreement.

When you'd use the API instead

If you're cleaning more than a handful of files at a time, or if metadata removal is a step in a workflow rather than a one-off task, the API is the way to do it. OAuth 2.0 authorisation, multipart upload, JSON response containing a download URL for each cleaned file.

Common use cases:

  • A document management system that strips author data before files go to external parties
  • A publishing platform cleaning images before they go live
  • Legal e-discovery, where a batch of documents needs metadata cleared
  • A photo-sharing service that strips GPS data from user uploads

Full API documentation →

Frequently asked

Is it really free?

Yes for occasional use. The free tier covers one to five files a day depending on whether you have an account. Paid plans add bulk cleaning, API access, and higher file size and traffic limits.

Does cleaning change the file's content?

No. The visible content of the file is preserved exactly. Only the metadata is removed.

Will signed PDFs still verify after cleaning?

Removing metadata after a digital signature is applied usually invalidates the signature. Clean before you sign.

Do you support files larger than 50 MB?

Not currently. The enterprise plan caps individual files at 50 MB.

Do you store my files?

No.

Drop a file to clean it