Screenshots show the English app. Preset names and controls are also available in your app language.

Your starting point

Use Standard Compression · metadata controls in PixRinse, then review these settings against your actual destination.

Settings for this workflow
PolicyRemove Sensitive Information Only
RemovesGPS location and device serial numbers
Capture date in this exampleKeep Capture Date — on
ProcessingOn your Mac
PixRinse advanced metadata controls for removing sensitive information from images
Settings used for this walkthrough. Select the screenshot to inspect it at full size.

How to do it

  1. Add the images you plan to share

    Keep the original files in your private archive. Work on an export set for the people or platform receiving the images.

  2. Enable sensitive metadata removal

    In Advanced, choose “Remove Sensitive Information Only”. Leave Keep Capture Date on for this example; review the copyright control for your own files.

  3. Choose a suitable output format

    Keep the source format when appropriate, or choose a sharing format. If you want to avoid pixel changes, check whether Lossless Cleanup supports the particular operation.

  4. Export and verify

    Review the result and inspect the exported file’s metadata with an independent metadata viewer when location privacy is important. Share the exported copy.

THE FILES FROM THIS WALKTHROUGH

What this example produced

The input deliberately contains synthetic GPS coordinates and a demo camera serial number. The exported JPEG removes both while retaining its embedded capture date.

Input GPS
Present — synthetic test coordinates
Output GPS
Absent
Output device serial
Absent
Capture date
2026:10:01 10:20:30 — retained
Actual exported files
FileFormatPixelsBytes
vase-location.jpgJPEG3072 × 2048271,574
Share photos without the location: actual exported results
Actual export results for the sample files shown in this walkthrough.

Measured on the sample files shown. Your results depend on your originals and settings. The ceramic-vase photograph is an AI-generated sample. The app screenshots and exported file measurements are real.

ALREADY ON YOUR MAC

Remove GPS from photos without installing anything

macOS has two built-in routes, and they do quite different things. Preview removes only the location, from one photo at a time. Finder’s Convert Image can remove all the metadata we tested, from as many photos as you select.

One photo, location only: Preview

Make a copy if you want to keep the original. Open the photo in Preview, choose Tools > Show Location Info, click Remove Location Info in the GPS section, then save. If Show Location Info is dimmed, the file has no location to remove.

Several photos, all metadata: Finder

Select the photos, Control-click the selection and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image. Choose a format and size, turn off Preserve Metadata, then convert. New files appear next to the originals.

Where the built-in route stops

  • Preview changes the file you opened, and only the image on screen. With two photos selected, the second kept its GPS in our test.
  • Preview left the capture date, serial number and camera details in place. On a JPEG, the compressed image data was unchanged. On a HEIC, saving re-encoded the photo: our 1.29 MB sample became 386 KB.
  • Convert Image with Preserve Metadata off removed GPS, capture date, serial number, camera details and copyright together. You can’t keep just the date.
  • Preview’s export and Convert Image’s default settings both keep GPS, so a converted copy is not automatically safe to share. Check it first: Show Location Info is dimmed when a file has no location data.

PixRinse is a better fit when you want to remove GPS and serial numbers across a batch, keep the capture date and leave the originals untouched.

Tested on macOS 27 in November 2026 with sample images. Menu names can differ on other versions, and results depend on your files. Choosing between apps? Compare Mac image compressors.

A couple of common questions

Does this erase everything about the photo?

No. A sensitive-data policy is different from removing all optional metadata. File names, visible content and the receiving service can still reveal information.

Do the photos go to a server?

Image processing happens on your Mac. Optional feedback sends only what you choose to submit, and App Store purchases use Apple’s services.

Put the workflow to work.

Open PixRinse, add a few images and start with the settings above.

Download for MacFree: up to 10 images per batch and one output per source. Compare Free & Pro.