---
title: "PNG Metadata Remover: Strip EXIF & Text – PNGMender"
description: "Remove text, timestamps, EXIF and private chunks from PNG files without re-encoding, so the pixels stay identical. Batch, see what went, download a ZIP."
url: https://pngmender.me/png-metadata-remover/
---

Lossless · pixels untouched

# PNG metadata remover

Strip comments, author and software tags, XMP, timestamps and EXIF from your PNGs. The image data is copied byte for byte, so the pictures stay exactly the same.

Cleaned in this tab. Nothing is uploaded.

## Remove

Removing colour chunks can change how colours look: an image saved in Display P3 or Adobe RGB, or with an unusual gamma, will look duller or shifted once its profile is gone. Leave this off unless you know the image is plain sRGB.

Always kept: IHDR, PLTE, IDAT, IEND, transparency (tRNS), animation (acTL, fcTL, fdAT) and Android nine-patch data.

## Clean PNGs without touching a pixel

A PNG is a list of chunks. The picture lives in IDAT (plus PLTE and tRNS for palette images); everything else is optional. Editors and screenshot tools add text chunks with the software name, author or an XMP packet with editing history, a tIME chunk with the save date, and sometimes a full EXIF block with camera details or GPS coordinates.

This tool rewrites the file with only the chunks you keep, copying them byte for byte. Because the image data is never decoded or re-compressed, the result is pixel-identical to the original, and the saving is exactly the size of what was removed.

1. Choose which kinds of metadata to remove (the defaults suit sharing on the web).
2. Drop one or many PNGs. Each file lists the chunks that were removed and the bytes saved.
3. Download files one by one or all together as a ZIP.

### Before you post the image

Screenshots and exports often carry your name, your software and the time you made them. Removing that before sharing on forums, marketplaces or support tickets gives away less about you.

**Signing up just to post the picture?** Many forums and marketplaces ask for an account before you can upload. A temporary inbox from [CleanTempMail](https://cleantempmail.com/) takes the confirmation email without exposing your real address, and needs no sign-up itself.

Want to see every chunk in a file first? Open it in the [PNG chunk inspector](https://pngmender.me/png-chunk-inspector/). To also shrink the pixels, use the [PNG compressor](https://pngmender.me/).

## Questions

**Does removing metadata change the image?**

No. The image data chunks are copied unchanged, so every pixel decodes to exactly the same value. Only the colour-management option can change how the same pixels are displayed, which is why it is off by default.

**Can a PNG contain GPS location?**

Yes. Phones and some editors write EXIF into PNGs, either in an eXIf chunk or as a “Raw profile type exif” text chunk, and EXIF can include GPS coordinates. Both are removed with the default settings.

**Why is a file not smaller after cleaning?**

It had no metadata of the kinds selected. Screenshots from some tools carry only a few bytes of text, so the saving can be tiny. To make the file itself smaller, use the PNG compressor.

**Is it safe to remove the pHYs chunk?**

For the web, yes: browsers ignore it. Print and layout programs use it to pick a default size, so a 300 DPI file will open at the default 72 or 96 DPI instead. Untick “Physical size” to keep it.

**Are animated PNGs supported?**

Yes. The animation chunks (acTL, fcTL, fdAT) are always kept, so an APNG stays animated and only loses its metadata.

## More PNG *tools*

- [PNG Compressor](https://pngmender.me/): Shrink PNGs with a smart palette of up to 256 colours (transparency kept) and a lossless oxipng pass. Batch, compare, ZIP.
- [PNG Chunk Inspector](https://pngmender.me/png-chunk-inspector/): Every chunk with offset, length and CRC check: decoded text, palettes, DPI, colour profiles, APNG frames and a hex view.
- [PNG Metadata Remover](https://pngmender.me/png-metadata-remover/): Strip text, timestamps, EXIF and private chunks without re-encoding a single pixel.
- [Repair PNG](https://pngmender.me/repair-png/): Fix bad CRCs, damaged signatures, a missing IEND and cut-off downloads, and unmask JPEGs posing as PNGs.
- [Make PNG Transparent](https://pngmender.me/make-png-transparent/): Pick a background colour with the eyedropper and remove it, with tolerance, edge flood fill and soft edges.
- [Trim Transparent PNG](https://pngmender.me/trim-transparent-png/): Auto-crop empty transparent or solid borders, then add padding, square the canvas and centre. Batch.
- [APNG Maker](https://pngmender.me/apng-maker/): Turn PNG or JPG frames into an animated PNG with per-frame timing, or split an APNG back into frames.