Someone posted a casual video on social — and their home address was inferred from the embedded GPS coordinates. Someone listed used camera gear and the sample clip leaked their daily commute pattern. These leaks still happen in 2026 because every iPhone and Android phone embeds rich metadata into video files by default.

This guide walks through:

  1. What metadata an iPhone / Android video actually contains
  2. How to inspect it (exiftool / ffprobe / browser tools)
  3. How to remove it (browser-only or CLI)
  4. How to verify the result

If you just want to wipe everything before posting, the Strip Video Metadata Tool does it in one click — lossless, no upload.

Why metadata sticks to your videos

Default settings on iPhone and Android record the following into every video file:

FieldWhat it containsLeak risk
GPS coordinates (lat/lon)Where the video was shot (meter-level accuracy)Home and workplace inference
Creation date (with timezone)When it was shotDaily routine pattern
Camera make / modeliPhone 15 Pro / Pixel 8 etc.Gear identification
AuthorSometimes real name (depending on OS settings)Personal identification
Encoder / softwareEditing app and versionWorkflow disclosure
Cover art / thumbnailA frame from the videoReverse-image-search vector

These live in the container metadata of MOV / MP4 files and travel with the file whenever you share it. Some social platforms strip them on upload, but coverage is inconsistent — see the platform comparison below.

1. Inspect with exiftool (most detailed)

ExifTool is the de facto standard for inspecting media metadata.

# Install (macOS)
brew install exiftool

# Install (Ubuntu / Debian)
sudo apt install libimage-exiftool-perl

# Windows: download the exe from the official site

Inspect everything:

exiftool input.mov

Filter for GPS only:

exiftool -gps:all -G1 input.mov

Example output (an iPhone video shot near Tokyo Station):

[QuickTime]     GPS Coordinates        : 35 deg 40' 52.20" N, 139 deg 46' 1.20" E
[QuickTime]     GPS Position           : 35.681166 139.767000
[QuickTime]     GPS Altitude           : 8 m Above Sea Level
[QuickTime]     GPS Date/Time          : 2026:05:15 14:30:22Z

Paste 35.681166, 139.767000 into Google Maps and the exact shooting spot lands on the map. If you posted this file without stripping it, any stranger could do the same reverse lookup.

2. Inspect with ffprobe (already installed if you use FFmpeg)

If FFmpeg is already on your system, ffprobe is bundled with it — no extra install.

ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format -show_streams input.mov

In the JSON output, look at the tags block under format:

{
  "format": {
    "tags": {
      "creation_time": "2026-05-15T14:30:22.000000Z",
      "make": "Apple",
      "model": "iPhone 15 Pro",
      "com.apple.quicktime.location.ISO6709": "+35.6812+139.7670+008.000/",
      "com.apple.quicktime.make": "Apple",
      "com.apple.quicktime.model": "iPhone 15 Pro",
      "com.apple.quicktime.software": "17.5"
    }
  }
}

The com.apple.quicktime.location.ISO6709 field uses ISO 6709 format (+lat+lon+altitude).

3. Inspect with a browser tool (easiest)

The Video Diagnostics Tool gives you a quick summary just by dropping the file in. The HTML5 <video> element exposes only a subset of the metadata (duration, resolution, estimated bitrate), so it won’t show GPS by itself. For a thorough inspection, fall back to exiftool / ffprobe.

Remove the metadata

The Strip Video Metadata Tool runs -map_metadata -1 for you in the browser:

  1. Drop a video file
  2. Pick “Strip all” or “Personal info only”
  3. Click “Strip all metadata”
  4. Download

Video and audio are stream-copied — no re-encoding, so quality is bit-perfect. A 500 MB file finishes in seconds.

Remove every metadata tag and chapter information in one pass:

ffmpeg -i input.mov \
  -map 0 -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 \
  -c copy -movflags +faststart output.mp4
  • -map_metadata -1 removes container and per-stream tags
  • -map_chapters -1 removes chapter information
  • -c copy keeps the original codecs (lossless)
  • -movflags +faststart puts the moov atom at the start for web playback

Method C: FFmpeg CLI (GPS only)

If you want to keep device/timestamp info but strip just the location:

ffmpeg -i input.mov \
  -metadata location= \
  -metadata location-eng= \
  -metadata com.apple.quicktime.location.ISO6709= \
  -c copy output.mp4

Each named tag is overwritten with an empty value.

Method D: exiftool

# Strip everything in place
exiftool -all= input.mov

# GPS only
exiftool -gps:all= input.mov

Note that exiftool’s write coverage for MOV / MP4 is narrower than for still images. For video, FFmpeg is more reliable. Use exiftool for photos and FFmpeg for video.

Verify after stripping

Always re-check after removing metadata — don’t trust the first pass blindly:

exiftool -gps:all output.mp4
# (empty output means GPS is gone)

ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format output.mp4 | grep -i "location\|creation_time\|make\|model"
# (no matches means the tags are gone)

If you used the browser tool, run one of the above cross-checks to confirm.

How social platforms actually handle this

Coverage varies by platform and changes over time. Don’t rely on it:

PlatformVideo metadata handling (2026)
X (Twitter)Almost always stripped on upload
InstagramGPS and creation date are sometimes retained
TikTokRe-encoded on upload, metadata effectively wiped
DiscordOriginal file preserved as-is when shared in channels
LINECompressed on upload, metadata partially retained

The only reliable strategy is to strip locally before uploading. That insulates you from platform policy changes.

FAQ

Q. Doesn’t disabling “Save location” in iPhone Camera settings handle this?

A. Only for new recordings. Already-recorded videos still carry the embedded data. Use the methods above to clean them.

iPhone path: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera → “Ask Next Time” or “Never”.

Q. After stripping, my portrait video plays sideways

A. iPhone stores orientation as metadata, so “strip all” also removes rotation. Options:

  • Use “Personal info only” mode (keeps rotation)
  • Use the Rotate tool to bake orientation into pixels first (re-encodes)
  • Strip first, then re-rotate after

Q. If social platforms strip metadata on upload, why bother locally?

A. They often strip, but it’s not guaranteed. Instagram reportedly retains GPS on certain upload paths, and policies change. Local stripping is the only way to be sure.

Q. Does stripping reduce file size?

A. Barely. Metadata is less than 0.1% of the file. The output differs by a few hundred KB at most. For real size reduction, use the Video Compressor.

Q. Can I recover the original metadata after stripping?

A. No. -c copy with metadata removal is irreversible. If you need the original creation date or location, record it separately first.

Q. What should professionals strip before client delivery?

A. Especially these:

  • encoder / software — editor and version
  • comment / description — internal notes
  • creation_time — workflow clues
  • author / artist — staff names

“Personal info only” mode covers this case while keeping codec/container metadata intact.