Before you remove metadata it helps to see it. Your computer shows some of it for free. Here is where to look, and where the built-in views stop.
Windows
- Right-click the file, choose Properties, then the Details tab.
- Photos show the camera, exposure and, if present, the GPS coordinates. Documents show the author and dates. Music shows the tags.
- The link at the bottom, Remove Properties and Personal Information, opens a dialog to clear many fields, either in a copy or in the original.
macOS
- Finder: select the file and press Command-I (Get Info) for the dates, and under More Info for images the pixel size and camera.
- Preview: for an image or PDF, choose Tools, Show Inspector. The Exif and GPS tabs list the details; the PDF inspector shows the author and producer.
- Photos: select a picture and press Command-I for the location and camera.
- Terminal: the command mdls followed by the file name prints everything Spotlight knows.
iPhone and Android
In the iOS Photos app, swipe up on a photo to see the date, the camera and the place. On Android, open a photo in the gallery and choose Details or the information icon, which shows the date, the device and the location.
What built-in views miss
They show the common fields only. They usually hide the XMP, maker notes, editing history, document IDs, embedded thumbnails and the metadata of pictures placed inside documents. For a complete list in a browser, use the File Metadata Viewer, which reads hundreds of formats and flags the risky fields. For photos only, the EXIF Viewer reads the file in your browser without uploading it.
Command-line tools
exiftool -a -G1 -s photo.jpg