EXIF reader — see every hidden tag in a photo, including GPS

How to use the EXIF reader

1. Choose a photo: JPEG, HEIC/HEIF, TIFF or PNG. Other image types are accepted too, but often carry no tags.
2. Press Read EXIF.
3. Read the summary cards at the top: Camera, Lens, Taken, Exposure, Aperture, ISO, Focal length, Software and GPS position, where present.
4. Scroll the full tag table below. Use its download to save it as exif.csv.

What it does and when to use it

Cameras and phones write a lot of hidden data into each photo. This tool shows all of it, grouped by where it was found:

• EXIF and TIFF: camera make and model, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, flash, white balance and the time the photo was taken.
• GPS: latitude, longitude, altitude and direction.
• IPTC and XMP: captions, keywords, copyright and editing history written by photo software.
• ICC: the colour profile.
• IFD1: details of the small preview thumbnail stored inside the file.

Use it to check what a photo reveals before you post it, to learn the settings behind a shot you like, to confirm when a picture was taken, or to see which app last edited a file. When you are done, EXIF Remover strips the tags. For a shorter camera-and-location view, use Image Metadata. To check print resolution, try the DPI checker.

How it works

The tool reads the file’s bytes directly with exifr; it does not need to decode the picture, which is why HEIC photos from iPhones work even in browsers that cannot display them. Coded values are translated into words, such as “Auto” or “Flash did not fire”. Nested groups are flattened into names like exif · FNumber. Up to 2,000 tags are listed, and very long values are cut to 300 characters in the table.

The summary picks the most useful tags. Exposure times under one second are written as fractions, so 0.004 s appears as 1/250 s. An FNumber of 1.8 appears as f/1.8.

Worked examples

• A phone photo with location on. The cards show the phone model, lens, exposure and a GPS position such as 12.971599, 77.594566. A warning explains that anyone with the original file can see where it was taken.
• A picture downloaded from a social app. The result says no EXIF metadata was found, because the app removed it on upload.
• An edited photo. The Software card names the editing program, and the XMP group in the table lists editing history if the program wrote it.

Limits and tips

• The tool reads metadata only; it does not change the file.
• Camera makers also store private “maker notes”. These appear as raw values, not friendly names.
• Metadata can be edited by anyone, so treat dates and places as clues, not proof.