Remove metadata from a WebP image
Drop a WebP below to see the EXIF and XMP data inside it, then download a copy with those chunks deleted. WebP keeps metadata in separate container chunks, so removing it does not re-compress the image.
Nothing is uploaded. The inspector runs in a frame that the browser blocks from opening any network connection at all.
How WebP stores metadata
WebP is a RIFF file: the four bytes RIFF, a size, the tag WEBP, and then a run of labelled chunks. Only two of them hold metadata:
| Chunk | Holds | What happens to it |
|---|---|---|
EXIF | GPS, camera, serial, capture date | Deleted |
XMP | Editing history, credit, keywords | Deleted |
ICCP | Colour profile | Kept — colour accuracy |
VP8 / VP8L | The compressed image | Kept, byte for byte |
ALPH | Transparency | Kept |
ANIM / ANMF | Animation frames and timing | Kept |
VP8X | Extended header and feature flags | Kept, with metadata flags cleared |
The flag bits most tools forget
The VP8X header contains a byte of flags saying which optional chunks the file contains — one bit for the ICC profile, one for alpha, one for EXIF, one for XMP, one for animation.
Delete the EXIF chunk and leave that bit set, and the file now advertises metadata it does not have. Most decoders shrug, some tools report the file as still carrying EXIF, and the result is a file that describes itself incorrectly. This tool clears the EXIF and XMP flags when it removes those chunks, and then re-reads the file it wrote to confirm.
Converting to WebP does not strip metadata
A common assumption, and usually wrong. Conversion tools tend to copy EXIF into the WebP output by default. If you converted a photo to WebP to make it smaller and assumed the coordinates were dropped along the way, drop the result into the tool above and check.
Questions
- Does WebP store EXIF data?
- Yes. The extended WebP format defines optional EXIF and XMP chunks alongside the image data, and converters routinely copy metadata into them when producing a WebP from a JPEG. A WebP saved from a phone photo can carry the same GPS coordinates and camera serial number the original had.
- Does removing WebP metadata re-compress the image?
- No. WebP is a RIFF container: a header followed by labelled chunks. The EXIF and XMP chunks are separate from the VP8 or VP8L chunk holding the compressed image, so deleting them leaves the image data untouched. Both lossy and lossless WebP files are handled the same way.
- What is the VP8X chunk and why does it matter?
- VP8X is the extended-format header, and it carries flag bits advertising which optional chunks the file contains. Deleting the EXIF chunk without clearing its flag leaves a file claiming to hold metadata that is no longer there — valid enough for most decoders, but it misdescribes the file. This tool clears the flags too.
- Do animated WebP files survive?
- Yes. The animation chunks and every frame are passed through unchanged; only the EXIF and XMP chunks are removed. An animated WebP comes out animated with the same frames and timing.
When the browser is the wrong tool
Sites that publish WebP usually generate it in bulk, which is a pipeline problem rather than a browser one.
Nothing Personal for Mac does two things this page cannot. It reads the download history macOS attaches to a file — where you saved it from — which lives outside the image and is invisible to any browser. And it handles folders rather than a handful of files, from Finder, without opening anything.