Photo Location Finder
See where a photo was taken. Drop a photo and this tool reads the hidden GPS data inside it, pins the exact spot on a map, and shows when it was taken and on which phone. Then remove the location in one click. Your photos never leave your device.
What a photo can reveal about where you were
Every photo file carries a hidden block of data called EXIF. It is written by your phone the moment you take the picture, and it stays inside the file when you send it on. This is what it can contain.
The exact spot
Phones save GPS coordinates in every photo when location is on for the camera. Outdoors this is often accurate to a few metres, enough to point at one house, one office or one table in a café.
The date and time
The moment the shutter was pressed is saved to the second. Put next to the location, it shows where you were and when, and whether you were away from home.
Which way you were facing
Many phones also save the compass direction of the camera. That narrows a photo down to which side of the street, or which window, it was taken from.
Your phone model
The make and model of the phone or camera is saved too. It ties several photos to the same device, even when they are shared under different names.
How high you were
GPS altitude is stored next to the coordinates. In a tall building it can hint at the floor, and outdoors it adds detail to the location.
A trail of places
One photo shows a place. A handful from the same phone can show a routine: home in the morning, work at noon, the gym in the evening. Drop several photos above to see the trail.
How to find where a photo was taken
1Drop a photo
Drag one or more photos into the box above, or tap Browse photos to pick them from your phone or computer. JPG, HEIC, PNG and WebP all work, up to 20 at a time.
2See it on the map
The tool reads the GPS data hidden inside each file and drops a numbered pin where every photo was taken. Photos with a time are joined in order, so you can see the route they leave.
3Check the details
Each photo shows its coordinates, the date and time it was taken, the phone model, and, if saved, the altitude and the direction the camera faced. You can also look up the nearest street address.
4Remove the location
Tap Remove location & download to save a copy without the GPS data, date and camera details. The picture itself is not touched, so there is no loss of quality.
The whole check happens in your browser. The tool opens the file on your device, reads its hidden data and draws the result. No photo, coordinate or file name is sent to PrivacyTestLab.
Which photos still have their location
Whether someone can see where your photo was taken depends on how you share it, not just on the photo.
Email attachments
The original file is sent as it is, location included.
Cloud links (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud)
Anyone with the link downloads the original, location included.
AirDrop, Nearby Share, USB and memory cards
A straight copy of the file, location included. On iPhone, the Options button on the share sheet lets you turn location off first.
Sending as a "document" or "file" in chat apps
WhatsApp and Telegram send the untouched original when you pick Document or File instead of Photo.
Sending as a normal photo in WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal
The app re-compresses the picture and drops the GPS data.
Uploading through a website on your phone
iPhone and Android remove the GPS data when you pick a photo in a browser. Other details, like the date and phone model, often still go through.
Posting on Instagram, Facebook or X
These sites remove GPS data from the file on upload. A location tag you add yourself is still shown, though.
How to stop your phone saving location in photos
iPhone
Open Settings, then Privacy & Security, Location Services, Camera, and choose Never. New photos will no longer save where they were taken. For a single photo, tap Options at the top of the share sheet and turn off Location before sending.
Android
Open the Camera app and go to its settings. Turn off Save location on Pixel phones, or Location tags on Samsung. Other brands use a similar name. Photos you already took keep their location, so clean those before sharing.
Why no location was found
- Your phone hid it from this page. When you pick a photo in a browser on an iPhone or Android phone, the phone removes the GPS data before the website gets the file, even though the photo in your gallery still has it. Check the photo in your Gallery or Photos app (swipe up or tap Details), or copy the original to a computer and check it here.
- Location was off in the camera. The photo was taken with location turned off, so there was nothing to save.
- An app already removed it. Photos saved from WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook or X have had their location stripped.
- It is a screenshot or an edited copy. Screenshots never have GPS data, and some editing apps drop it when they export.
- The phone had no GPS fix. Indoors, underground or in flight mode, the phone may not have known where it was.
A photo without GPS data is safer to share, but it can still give away a place through what is in the picture, such as a street sign, a view from a window or a shop name. Want to clean other files too, like PDFs and Word documents? Use the Metadata Remover, or run a full privacy scan of your browser.