exifcleaner: Remove Metadata from Images and Media Files

Overview

ExifCleaner is a desktop GUI for removing metadata from supported images, media files, and PDFs. It wraps ExifTool in a drag-and-drop workflow, including batch processing and before-and-after metadata inspection, so users can clean files without working directly with command-line tools.

It is a practical choice for photographers, journalists, and other people sharing files who want to reduce embedded location or device information. Its removal guarantees depend on the file format and ExifTool, so it should not be treated as a universal secure-erasure tool.

Key Features

• Batch-process files using ExifTool's stay-open protocol.
• Drop individual files or folders, with folder recursion available.
• Inspect metadata differences before and after processing.
• Choose privacy options such as saving a copy, preserving orientation or timestamps, and removing macOS extended attributes.
• Run on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
• Use a dark interface and switch among 25 languages.
• Work offline, with no telemetry or automatic network updates, according to the project documentation.

Use Cases

• Photographers can remove embedded metadata from batches of images before publishing or sharing them.
• Journalists and advocates can reduce identifying metadata in media they distribute, while checking the format-specific limits first.
• Teams managing image or video libraries can use folder recursion to process collections through a desktop interface.
• Users who want to inspect what changed can expand processed files and compare metadata before and after cleaning.

Getting Started

Download the release for your operating system from the GitHub releases page. See the README for installation guidance, checksums, and development instructions.

Considerations

• Metadata removal is not equally complete for every format. The project documents limitations for PDF, TIFF, AVIF, and other formats; PDFs in particular retain recoverable original metadata.
• The app refuses RAF files because it cannot currently guarantee a safe cleaned result. MKV is not supported.
• The project advises keeping backups. ExifTool may not fully remove metadata from some formats, and its writer limitations can affect files.
• Releases are unsigned. The README explains first-launch warnings and checksum verification.
• The desktop app is built with Electron and requires a supported 64-bit macOS, Windows, or Linux system.