An iPhone photo in its original HEIC container. This is an illustration — no real file, name or location is used.
Before — what you would be sending
IMG_3312.HEICHEIC
Exact location51.503364, -0.119543
Altitude34 m — third floor
Camera ownerA. Whitfield
Camera serial numberF2LX9K3QW1
Apple · iPhone 15 Pro · 14 Aug 2026, 19:42
After cleaning
IMG_3312-clean.HEICHEIC
Exact locationremoved
Altituderemoved
Camera ownerremoved
Camera serial numberremoved
Every pixel identical. Nothing is re-compressed, so there is no quality loss.
Why HEIC is different
HEIC is not a simple image file with a metadata block bolted on. It is a container of numbered items, where one item is the picture, another is the EXIF, and a table elsewhere in the file records where each one begins and how long it is. Tools written for JPEG do not find any of it.
How this cleans it
The EXIF item is located through the container's own index, then overwritten with a valid but empty metadata block, padded to exactly the original length. Because nothing changes size, the index stays correct and the file opens normally. The picture data is never touched.
Converting to JPEG first does not help
Most converters faithfully copy the metadata across, because preserving capture information is what photographers want. You get the same GPS coordinates in a different wrapper. Clean the HEIC itself.
In practice
Why the file cannot simply be shortened
HEIC records where each item's bytes begin using absolute offsets held in a separate index. Cut the metadata out and every offset after it becomes wrong, and the photograph stops opening. The fix is to keep the space and change its contents: write a valid but empty metadata block into the region and pad the remainder with zeros. Nothing moves, the index stays correct, and the encoded picture is untouched.
Checking the result
After cleaning, the file should be the same size as before, which surprises people who expect a cleaned file to shrink. That is the point: the space is preserved so the structure survives. To confirm the metadata is gone, drop the cleaned file back into the checker. It should report no location, no owner and no serial number.
Turning HEIC off entirely
If HEIC causes you more trouble than it saves, iPhone can shoot JPEG instead: Settings, Camera, Formats, Most Compatible. Files roughly double in size and the metadata problem is unchanged, but every tool can then read them. It is a reasonable trade if you regularly send photographs to people on other platforms.
Common questions
Can online tools read HEIC metadata?
Many cannot, because HEIC stores metadata as container items rather than as a simple block. This page parses the container properly.
Does cleaning a HEIC reduce its quality?
No. Only the metadata item is overwritten. The encoded image is untouched.
Should I convert to JPEG before removing metadata?
No. Converters usually copy the metadata across. Clean the original.