Phones and drones write your exact coordinates into every clip they record. Send us the files and we strip the location and device metadata for you, then send them back untouched in picture and sound.
Tell us what you have. We reply with a price and a timescale.
GPS metadata in a video is a set of coordinates stored inside the video file itself, recording where the camera was when the clip was shot. It sits in the file's header, separate from the picture and sound, so it is invisible when you play the video but readable by any tool that opens the file. A single line such as +40.7580-073.9855+011.000/ pins a recording to a spot a few metres across.
Most phones write this by default. So do action cameras and drones, which often add a continuous track of coordinates rather than one fixed point. Playback apps ignore the field, which is why people are surprised to find it there. Anyone who receives the original file can read it in seconds, on any operating system, with software that costs nothing.
Location metadata survives every copy, upload and backup of the original file. These are the cases where it actually bites.
Email attachments, AirDrop, cloud links and file transfer services move the file byte for byte. Nothing is stripped in transit, so the coordinates arrive with the clip. A single forwarded clip can show where you live.
Forums, self-hosted sites, press kits and stock libraries often serve the file you gave them. Anyone who downloads it gets the metadata too, including the frames you shot at home before you reached the location.
Footage from a protest, a site visit or an interview can identify where it was filmed to within a building. Removing the coordinates before the file leaves your hands is the only reliable step.
Walkthroughs and site videos frequently contain the coordinates of the last place the camera was used, which is usually your office or your home, not the property in the clip.
Alongside location, video files carry the camera make, model, firmware version and the exact second the recording started. Together these link separate clips to one device and one person.
Drones log a coordinate stream for the whole flight, not a single point. Handing over the raw footage hands over the flight path, which may cover land you were not asked to publish.
Every phone and camera saves location data in a slightly different spot inside the video file. That is why a tool built for iPhones can miss it on an Android clip, and why a quick online scan sometimes says a file is clean when it is not.
The standard GPS tagMost Android phones and cameras save latitude, longitude and altitude here as one line of text (technically moov/udta/©xyz).
Apple's own GPS tagiPhones save location in a different spot in .MOV files. A tool built to check the standard tag can scan an iPhone video and find nothing, even though the location is still there.
Device detailsRight next to the location, iPhones also record the exact phone model and iOS version that shot the video.
Extra copies from editing appsIf the video has been through an editing or cataloguing app, that app may have written its own copy of the coordinates elsewhere in the file, sometimes after the original was already removed.
GoPro and drone flight logsGoPro cameras log a GPS reading every second in a separate track, and DJI drones often save flight paths to a matching subtitle file. These are not in the usual location tag, so simple metadata tools skip them entirely.
The same file can carry location in two or three of these spots at once, if the camera wrote it and an editing app added its own copy later. Checking only one spot is how location survives a clean-up.
Five ways to do it, with the honest trade-offs. Two of them are free and cost you nothing but a terminal.
| Method | Ease | Cost | File leaves your device | Re-encodes video | Works on mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeoTag.world (we do it for you) | Easiest | Paid, quoted per job | Yes, you send us the files | No | Yes |
| ffmpeg (command line) | Hard | Free | No | No, with stream copy | No |
| ExifTool (command line) | Moderate | Free | No | No | No |
| Turn location off before recording | Easy | Free | No | No | Yes |
| Desktop video editors | Moderate | Usually paid | No | Usually yes | No |
Free with a bit of technical know-how, or send them to us and skip the terminal. Our service is for people with a lot of clips, a deadline, or no interest in learning a command line.
If you don't use a terminal, skip to the next section. The rest of this box is for people who do.
This one command strips the metadata and leaves the video and audio untouched. It runs in seconds, even on a large file.
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -map_metadata -1 -c copy output.mp4It won't touch a GoPro-style flight or telemetry track. That needs a separate step, since it's stored as its own data track rather than as metadata.
This clears just the location, so a title or copyright line you want to keep is left alone.
exiftool -gps:all= -xmp:all= -api LargeFileSupport=1 video.movIt covers the common cases well. Unusual camera formats can occasionally leave a stray entry behind, so it's worth a quick second scan afterwards to check.
What gets written, and what to check, differs by device. These are the four that come up most.
iOS saves the coordinates and your handset model in the video's hidden info. To stop it at the source, go to Settings, Privacy and Security, Location Services, Camera, and turn it off. To check an existing clip, open it in the Photos app and swipe up: a map means the location is still there. Sharing through the Photos share sheet with Location switched off in the Options panel strips it from the copy you send, but the original on your phone keeps it.
Android cameras save location the same way, just in a different spot in the file. The on/off toggle is usually in the camera app itself, under settings, as "Location tags" or "Save location", rather than in your phone's system settings. Google Photos shows the location on a clip's info panel, but removing it there only changes what Google shows you. It does not touch the actual file on your phone.
GoPro records GPS continuously throughout the clip, not just once, and saves it as its own data track rather than a simple tag. That means basic metadata tools do not catch it. It has to be removed as a separate step. Turn off GPS in Preferences, Regional, GPS if you do not want it recorded in the first place.
DJI drones save location in the video itself and often create a matching subtitle-style file with the flight path, altitude and camera settings for every frame. Delete or hold back that extra file too, not just the video. Some drones can also burn the flight data visibly onto the picture, and no metadata tool can remove that since it is part of the image itself.
Tell us what shot it (phone, drone, action camera) and what you're trying to do. We'll tell you what's likely in the file, including whether there's a telemetry track, before you send us anything.
Get in Touch About Your VideosNo. The coordinates sit in header atoms that the decoder never reads. The picture and the sound live in separate stream boxes and are copied across byte for byte, so nothing is decoded and nothing is compressed again. Resolution, bitrate, frame rate and audio are identical before and after.
The file shrinks by a few hundred bytes at most, and playback, editing and upload behave exactly as they did. The one thing to expect is that the recording date may go with it, since that field usually sits in the same block. Tell us if you need the date kept and we will leave it alone.
There is no self-serve video tool on this page yet. Tell us how many clips you have, roughly how big they are, and what you need removed. We reply with a price and a timescale, usually within one business day.
Remove GPS from a video
$3 per video
or 3 for $8
Strips GPS and device metadata. Recording date kept unless you tell us otherwise.
Add GPS to a video
$5 per video
or 3 for $12
Send us the coordinates, or the address, and we add them for you.
Covers files up to 1 GB or 10 minutes each. More than 3 videos, bigger files, or a bulk job? Tell us in the form below and we'll send a custom quote.
We only use your video to do the job you asked for, then delete it permanently. We do not keep a copy or share it with anyone.
Usually yes, because the creation date sits in the same metadata block as the location. ffmpeg's -map_metadata -1 clears both. ExifTool can target the location alone and leave the date. If you need the dates kept, say so in your enquiry and we will do it that way.
Most of them re-encode uploaded video, which drops the header metadata as a side effect. That protects the copy on their servers, not the file you sent someone by email or uploaded to your own site. It is also not a promise any platform makes, so it can change without notice.
WhatsApp compresses video sent normally and the location metadata does not survive that. Sending the same clip as a document keeps the file intact, metadata included. Instagram re-encodes uploads. In both cases the original on your phone is unchanged, so a later AirDrop or backup still carries the coordinates.
Partly. iOS lets you drop the location when sharing, through the Options panel on the share sheet, which covers the copy you send. Android varies by manufacturer and Google Photos only hides the location rather than editing the file. Neither approach touches a telemetry track. For files that must be genuinely clean, use ffmpeg, ExifTool or send them to us.
Removing metadata from your own footage is legal and is a normal privacy step. It is a different matter if the file is evidence in a legal case, is being submitted to an insurer, or is subject to a retention or disclosure obligation. Altering a file in those situations can be an offence. Keep the original if there is any chance of that.
Not from the cleaned file. The bytes are gone, not hidden. It can still be recovered from anywhere else the original survives: your camera roll, a cloud backup, a copy you already sent, or a sidecar file sitting next to it. Clean the copy you are about to share and check what else is holding the original.
ffmpeg and ExifTool run entirely on your own machine with no network connection. Our service does not, because you are sending us the files. If working offline matters more than convenience, use one of the two commands on this page.
For ffmpeg and ExifTool, no practical limit beyond your disk space. Our $3/$5 price covers one file up to 1 GB or 10 minutes each. Bigger files or more than 3 videos are still welcome, just tell us the total in your enquiry and we will quote it.
MP4 and MOV cover almost everything from phones, drones and action cameras, including .m4v and .qt. If you have something unusual, ask and we will check before quoting.
$3 to remove GPS and device metadata from a video, or 3 for $8. $5 to add GPS to a video, or 3 for $12. That covers files up to 1 GB or 10 minutes each. More than 3, or bigger files, get a custom quote.
We reply to every enquiry with a price and a timescale, usually within one business day. The work itself is fast, since nothing is re-encoded. Transfer time for large files is normally the slowest part. Say in your message if you are on a deadline.
No. Metadata sits in header atoms that are separate from the video and audio streams. Removing it does not decode or recompress anything, so resolution, bitrate and sound are identical to the original.
Yes. The container structure is intact and only the metadata entries are gone, so players and editing software read it normally. The one visible change is that the creation date may now show as the file's modification date instead of the shoot date.
Yes, batches are the usual case. Send the folder and tell us whether every file should be treated the same way. If some clips need the dates kept and others do not, list which is which.
Photos are self-serve and free to try. Remove or add GPS coordinates on JPEG, PNG, HEIC and more, in your browser, with the image untouched.
Open the Photo GPS Tool