Check which photos carry location data

Select up to 20 photos. Your browser reads each file locally and lists which ones contain GPS coordinates.

No files selected yet. Files stay on this device. Nothing is uploaded.

Limits: reads EXIF, XMP, and IPTC GPS tags in the copies you select. HEIC, AVIF, and RAW files may not parse. A stripped copy can hide GPS that the original still has. Coordinates link out to OpenStreetMap only when you click them.

How to audit a batch of photos before sharing

Select the exact copies you plan to send, run the check, then decide file by file. The table shows one row per photo with a plain verdict: GPS found or no GPS. Files are processed in the order you selected them, up to 20 at a time, so a whole album folder can be reviewed in a few passes.

  1. Select up to 20 photos. Use the copies you are actually about to share, not the originals in your camera roll, because messaging apps and social networks often strip location from the versions they deliver.
  2. Run the check. Each file is parsed in this tab. Rows with coordinates show latitude and longitude plus the capture date and camera model when those tags exist.
  3. Act on the flagged rows. Run GPS-tagged files through the remove photo metadata tool for a clean sharing copy, or keep them private if the location matters.

Why some photos have location and others do not

A phone adds GPS tags only when three things line up: camera location permission, a live position fix, and a file format that stores EXIF. Indoors, in airplane mode, or with permission denied, the photo simply has no coordinates. Screenshots, downloaded images, and AI-generated pictures never carry camera GPS either.

Later handling matters as much as capture. Email attachments, AirDrop transfers, USB copies, and cloud originals usually preserve every tag. WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Facebook, and X strip EXIF GPS when you upload, which is why a photo can be clean on a social feed but fully tagged as an email attachment. Audit the copy that travels, not the platform promise.

What this audit cannot tell you

Hidden tags are only half of photo privacy. A row that says no GPS says nothing about visible clues: house numbers, street signs, school badges, reflections, license plates, or a recognisable skyline all survive metadata removal. View each photo at full size before sharing it anywhere public.

The tool also reads only what the file declares. It cannot confirm the coordinates are true, recover GPS that was already stripped, or tell you who else received the file before you. Treat a clean result as one passed check, not a guarantee of anonymity.

Remove photo metadata

Make a clean sharing copy without GPS and camera data.

Draw a radius map

Create a precise circle in miles or kilometres, then share or download it.

Photo location questions

Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
No. Every file you select is read and parsed inside your browser tab on your own device. LocateKit never receives the images, their coordinates, or their metadata. The parsing library loads once from a public CDN, then all work happens locally.
Which photo formats can I check?
JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF, and GIF files work best because browsers can hand them to the parser directly. HEIC photos from iPhones and AVIF files may fail to parse in some browsers. RAW camera files are not supported. Oversized files above 25 MB are skipped to keep the tab responsive.
Why does a photo show no GPS data?
Either the camera never recorded it (location services off, no GPS fix indoors, desktop screenshot) or an app stripped it later. Most messengers and social networks remove EXIF GPS on upload, while email attachments, AirDrop, and cloud originals usually preserve it. No GPS here means this copy has none, not that the original never did.
How accurate are the coordinates shown?
They are exactly what the file stores, usually a phone GPS fix accurate to about 5 to 20 metres outdoors. The tool rounds display to 5 decimals (about 1 metre). It does not verify the fix against reality: an old cached position or a manually edited tag can be wrong.
Can I remove the location data after finding it?
Yes. Use the LocateKit remove photo metadata tool to create a clean copy for sharing, or turn off camera location access in your phone settings so future photos carry no GPS at all. This audit tool only reads files. It never edits or saves them.
Does the audit work offline?
Mostly. The EXIF parsing library downloads once from a CDN the first time you open the page. After that load, selecting and checking photos needs no network. If the CDN is blocked, the page tells you and checks nothing rather than failing silently.