Remove AI Metadata from Images — Free, Local, 1-Click

Remove, clean, or delete AI metadata from any image. Works on Firefly, Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion. 100% in your browser, no upload, free for 10 images a day.

Last updated: 2026-10-19

To remove AI metadata from an image means to strip the trail that generators like Adobe Firefly, Midjourney, OpenAI DALL·E, and Stable Diffusion write into the file when they save it. The trail usually includes the prompt, the model version, the seed, the originating software, and — for some generators — a signed C2PA manifest. You can read it with our free scanner, and you can wipe it in one click.

What does AI metadata actually look like inside a file?

A typical AI-generated JPEG carries four kinds of provenance:

XMP parameters — the full prompt, model, seed, and CFG scale. Written by Midjourney, Stable Diffusion (AUTOMATIC1111, ComfyUI), and similar tools.
XMP dalle and EXIF openai software tag — written by DALL·E 3 exports.
EXIF Software — strings like Adobe Firefly 3.0, Stable Diffusion XL, or NovelAI.
C2PA Content Credential — a signed manifest inside an APP11 marker, written by Adobe Firefly, Microsoft Copilot Designer, and Bing Image Creator.

All four sit in metadata segments, not in the pixel data. They can be removed without touching the image. Our scanner reports which of these your file carries before you decide what to clean. The C2PA explainer goes deeper on signed credentials; the format comparison covers the full set.

"Remove", "clean", "delete" — do they mean the same thing?

Yes. In this context the verbs are interchangeable: remove, clean, strip, delete, scrub, and erase all mean the same outcome — drop the AI-trailing metadata segments from the file and write a new file with only those bytes gone. No tool that we know of distinguishes between them; the difference is in the speaker's intent, not the result.

If you have seen three products marketed as a "remover", a "cleaner", and a "deleter", they are doing the same job under three different names. The thing that actually varies is how they do it. Some re-save the file, which mutates pixels; some walk the file at the byte level and only remove the AI segments. Byte-level vs re-save is covered here.

Image vs photo: what is the difference?

In search queries, "image metadata remover" and "photo metadata remover" show up as separate terms. In practice they describe the same tool working on the same file formats. The distinction is in what the user wants to keep:

An image is the broader term — screenshots, web graphics, illustrations, AI-generated renders. The user usually wants the AI provenance gone and is less concerned about preserving camera EXIF.
A photo implies a camera origin. The user is usually a photographer with a color-managed workflow. They want the AI provenance gone, but they want their camera EXIF, IPTC copyright, and ICC color profile preserved.

The byte-level cleaner handles both. The photographer-focused guide covers the photo case in depth: what to keep, what to remove, and how to verify the result. The image batch workflow covers the higher-volume case.

How to remove AI metadata from any image

Drop the file into the drop zone on our homepage. JPEG, PNG, and WebP are supported. HEIC is read-only.
Read the report. The scanner shows every AI-trailing field the file carries — generator name, prompt, model, software tag, C2PA issuer, and any signed action history.
Click Clean. The cleaner walks the file, removes only the AI segments, and writes a new file. Pixel data is byte-identical to the source. The ICC color profile is preserved.
Download the cleaned file. Re-scan it to confirm the trail is gone.

No upload, no account, no waiting. The whole flow runs in your browser. The file never leaves your device.

Removing AI metadata from many images at once

The free tier covers 10 images a day for anonymous users and 20 a day once you sign up. Drop them in together — the scanner processes them in sequence, and you can download each cleaned file as soon as it is done. There is no separate batch mode; the same drop zone handles one or twenty.

For higher volume, the paid credit packs let you run unlimited cleanings inside a month (100 / 500 / 1500 credits at $5 / $20 / $50).

Free metadata remover: what "free" actually means here

The free tier is the default, and it is genuinely free — no trial, no credit card, no watermark on the output. Three things to know:

The free tier is 10 scans a day for anonymous users and 20 a day once you sign up. Scans are counted per file dropped into the drop zone, regardless of whether the file has any AI metadata. The counter resets at midnight in the user's local timezone.
The free tier is the full tool. No field is locked, no format is restricted, no report is gated. You get the same scan, the same clean, and the same verified report as a paid user. The only difference is the daily volume.
The free tier is local-only. No request is made with the file contents, anonymous or signed-in. The byte-level walk runs in your browser. You can verify this by opening the network tab in DevTools — there are no outbound requests with the file bytes.

The paid tier exists for users who run more than 20 cleanings a day, or who want to support the project. Credits never expire; buy a pack when you have a batch to run. The pricing page has the full breakdown.

What gets stripped, what stays

| Field | Action | Why | | ------------------------------------ | ------------------ | -------------------------------------------- | | XMP parameters, dalle, openai | Removed | Direct AI provenance | | EXIF Software if AI-originated | Removed | Generator name | | EXIF Software if camera-originated | Kept | Useful to the photographer | | EXIF GPS | Removed | Privacy | | C2PA manifest | Removed by default | Strip on publish; keep only for auditability | | IPTC caption and copyright | Kept | Author credit | | ICC color profile | Kept | Print and color accuracy |

If you want to keep the C2PA credential for provenance reasons, leave it in. If you want the cleanest possible file, take it out.

Frequently asked questions

Does removing AI metadata change the image?

No. The cleaner works at the byte level. The pixel segments are byte-identical to the source. The only thing that changes is the metadata segments. Re-save-based tools do change the pixels; ours does not.

Can I remove AI metadata from many images at once?

Yes. Drop 1 to 20 files into the drop zone and they are processed in sequence. Each cleaned file is available to download as soon as the scan finishes. The same drop zone handles batches and singles.

Will re-uploading to social media undo the cleanup?

Often, yes. Most platforms re-save the file on upload, and that re-save rewrites the metadata. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit all strip C2PA credentials on upload. If your goal is "no AI trail visible to a buyer", upload the cleaned file and do not re-edit it. If the platform strips the trail anyway, the upload is harmless either way.

Is my image uploaded to a server?

No. The scan and the clean both run in your browser via JavaScript. The bytes never leave your device. You can verify this by opening the network tab in your browser's developer tools — no requests are made with the file contents.

What if the file is not AI-generated?

The cleaner is safe to run on any file. If there is no AI metadata, nothing changes — the output file is byte-identical to the input. The scanner will tell you exactly which fields were found and which were not.

Try it

Drop one image into the tool and you will see the AI trail in under a second. If there is one, hit Clean. If there is not, the report tells you that too. Free, local, no signup for the first 10 images a day.

Open the AI metadata scanner →