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Image metadata viewer: read EXIF and GPS without uploading
A free online EXIF viewer that opens the file in your own browser. Choose a photo and UnHeic decodes the camera, lens, exposure, orientation, colour, authoring, and GPS values stored in its metadata directories, then says plainly what it could not reach.
Local read · no upload endpoint
Drop a photo or choose one from this device
The viewer reads at most 64 KiB from the start and 8 KiB from the end of the file, decodes the EXIF, TIFF, and GPS directories it finds there, and never renders the image or sends the bytes anywhere.
How this EXIF viewer works
- 1. The file stays local. The browser file picker hands the page temporary access to bytes already on your device. No upload request is created.
- 2. A fixed byte budget is read. At most 64 KiB from the start and 8 KiB from the end. No pixel buffer is created and the image is never rendered.
- 3. The container is identified first. The same signature inspector behind the format detector decides whether the file is JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF, HEIC, AVIF, SVG, or PDF.
- 4. Metadata directories are walked with bounds. Offsets, entry counts, and component sizes are validated before a value is read, so a malformed file yields fewer values rather than a crash.
- 5. Values are decoded, not guessed. Rational exposure values become shutter speeds and apertures, GPS degrees become decimal coordinates, and unrecognised enumerations are labelled as such.
What image metadata actually contains
EXIF
The camera-written block: make, model, lens, exposure time, aperture, ISO, focal length, flash, metering, and the date the shutter fired.
GPS
A separate directory inside EXIF holding latitude, longitude, altitude, and a UTC timestamp. This is the field most worth checking before sharing.
TIFF / IFD0
The base image directory: orientation, resolution, the software that last wrote the file, and dates that survive editing.
XMP
Adobe’s XML packet for editing history, ratings, captions, and rights. This viewer reports its presence rather than decoding it.
IPTC
Newsroom and stock-photo fields for caption, credit, and usage terms, usually written through a Photoshop resource block.
ICC profile
Colour-rendering intent rather than personal information, but it explains why colours can shift after conversion.
Frequently asked questions
What does an image metadata viewer show?
It reads the directories a camera or editor writes alongside the pixels: EXIF camera and exposure settings, GPS coordinates, capture and file dates, orientation, colour space, and authoring fields such as software, artist, and copyright. This viewer decodes the TIFF, EXIF, and GPS directories it can reach inside a fixed read budget and lists the values it actually found.
Is this EXIF viewer online and free to use?
Yes. It runs as a normal web page with no account, no payment, and no upload endpoint. The page and its code load over the network; the photo you select does not.
Is my photo uploaded to a server?
No. The file is read from local browser memory with the File API and parsed in the page. There is no upload request for file bytes, file names, or extracted values. You can confirm this yourself with the browser Network panel, and the verification guide on this site walks through the exact steps.
Which image formats can it read metadata from?
JPEG, PNG with an eXIf chunk, WebP, TIFF, and HEIC or AVIF files whose EXIF item falls inside the bounded ranges. SVG and PDF are inspected for metadata and active-content markers rather than camera fields, because they do not carry EXIF directories.
Can it show the GPS location where a photo was taken?
When the file stores a GPS directory inside the inspected ranges, the viewer converts the stored degrees, minutes, and seconds into decimal latitude and longitude, plus altitude and the GPS timestamp when they are present. Those values stay in your browser.
Why are some fields missing or reported as unknown?
The viewer reads at most 64 KiB from the start and 8 KiB from the end of a file rather than the whole file. Proprietary maker notes, compressed XMP packets, thumbnail directories, and HEIC or AVIF items stored past that budget are not decoded. A missing row means the value was not readable here, never that the file is guaranteed to be clean.
How do I remove metadata after viewing it?
Converting a photo through this site strips source EXIF, GPS, capture dates, and embedded ICC profiles, because the browser canvas path does not copy them into the output. Convert the file, then run the downloaded output back through this viewer to confirm what survived rather than trusting a preservation claim.
Continue with the same file
Metadata privacy check
Triage a photo for GPS, EXIF, XMP, and IPTC signals before you share it.
Image format detector
Identify a file by its magic bytes instead of trusting the extension.
Verify local processing
Use the browser Network panel to check that no file bytes leave the device.
HEIC to JPG converter
Convert iPhone photos locally; the conversion path drops source metadata.
Magic-number reference
The signatures and bounded evidence behind the detector and this viewer.