Before you send a video, check the metadata in the file, what can be seen and heard in it, and the sharing settings of the place you send it to. Removing a GPS tag does not hide an address on a parcel or a name someone says in the recording.
Not every phone video contains GPS; it depends on the device settings, the camera app and how the file was exported. Check the exact copy you plan to share.
A pre-sharing checklist
| Area | What it can reveal | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Filename | A person’s name, address or client project | Use a neutral name |
| Tags | Location, date, author, camera or internal notes | Check them and remove them from a separate copy |
| Video frames | Faces, badges, paperwork, reflections | Watch the whole clip; crop, cover or cut the part |
| Screen recording | Account paths, notifications, tabs, email, API keys | Also check transitions and dialogs that appear briefly |
| Audio | Names, addresses, meetings, background conversations | Remove the audio if needed |
| Destination | Location labels, public links, access permissions | Check them before sending |
For screen recordings, check the whole recording, not only the first frame: a notification can appear halfway through. If a password, API key or other credential has already been exposed publicly, deleting the video is not enough; revoke it or replace it with a new one.
Inspect and remove tags without commands
The metadata removal tool processes the video in your browser. It needs a network connection to download its processing engine, but it does not upload your video.
- Keep the original, and select the file you plan to share.
- Look at the tag names it finds. The values are hidden at first; turn on Show tag values only if you need to see them.
- Choose Remove tags. The Remove known personal tags mode can leave unfamiliar fields behind.
- Check the output format. If the input is MOV, MKV or WebM, the output defaults to the same format. The streams are copied without re-encoding, which can fail if the codecs do not fit the format you pick.
- Read the tool’s check of the output and play the whole result. The tool leaves out subtitle, data and attached-picture tracks and chapters on purpose. If you need them, do not use this output.
- Download the result, then press Clear selection and results so the page lets go of your file and the output.
The output is named metadata-removed, so a person’s or client’s name in the original filename is not carried over. Clearing the tool does not delete downloaded files or your browser’s download history.
If the tool finds no tags, that does not make the file anonymous: it checks the tags it supports, not every way identifying information can be stored in the file’s bytes.
Tag removal test
The test file was a one-second synthetic video made on September 10, 2026 with native FFmpeg 8.1 (the installed program, not the browser version). It had two sine-wave audio tracks, a subtitle, a chapter, made-up author, device and comment tags, tags on the second audio track, and one unfamiliar custom field. The commands were built with the same code the tool uses.
| Output | Mode | Known test tags | Custom field | Decode test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MKV | Remove tags | None remaining | None remaining | Passed |
| MKV | Known personal tags | None remaining | Remained | Passed |
| MP4 | Remove tags | None remaining | None remaining | Passed |
| MP4 | Known personal tags | None remaining | Not kept in this output | Passed |
In all four cases, both audio tracks were kept and the subtitle and chapter were left out. The measurement JSON describes the test file and the limits of the test.
The custom field left in the MKV file shows that removing only known tags can miss information. The MP4 result does not mean MP4 files are private by nature. The test did not cover real phone recordings, camera makers’ own metadata formats, data inside the codec bitstream or the browser version of FFmpeg.
Measuring audio muting and black masking
Removing metadata does not remove names spoken aloud or notifications on screen. For those, you mute the audio or cover part of the picture. Muting, and covering a fixed region in black, were tested on September 10, 2026 with native FFmpeg 8.1 on a synthetic 3-second 320x180 clip. The commands were built with the same code the tools use.
| Check | Result | Not shown by this test |
|---|---|---|
| Remove all audio | No audio tracks in the output | Whether visible text or surroundings are safe |
| Mute 1-2 seconds on every track | Every decoded sample from 1.2-1.8 seconds was zero on both tracks; sound remained outside that range | Real speech, and the start and end edges of the muted range |
| Fixed black rectangle | Mean decoded grayscale value 0.034 / 255 across the whole 84x48 region (rounded outward) | Covering faces that move, reflections or other scenes |
| Six conditions, including pixelation and blur of a tiny region | All outputs decoded; test tags, subtitles and chapter were gone | That pixelated content can no longer be read |
Both frames show the same synthetic scene at 1.5 seconds. Only the selected rectangle is blacked out.
The measurements, FFmpeg arguments and output SHA-256 hashes are published. For how FFmpeg works on audio one sample at a time, see the aeval filter documentation.
Before sharing, black out confidential text, decide separately whether to remove conversations, and watch the whole output. A stronger pixelation setting does not prove that nobody can read the text or identify the person.
Phone sharing settings are not file sanitization
On iPhone, in Photos you can tap Share, then Options, and turn Location off. This only affects what is sent in that one share; it does not promise that every other tag or visible detail is removed. For sensitive material, check the copy that is actually sent. See Apple’s sharing instructions.
Google Photos location settings are separate from the metadata in a downloaded file. Google says its location edits do not apply when a photo or video is downloaded and emailed outside Photos, so the location the device originally saved can still appear. Hiding the location in Photos does not mean an exported video is clean. See Google Photos help.
Do not assume a social network or messaging app strips metadata: posting a video, attaching the original file and sharing a cloud link can each be handled differently.
Inspect locally with ffprobe
If your FFmpeg installation includes ffprobe, this shows the container, streams and chapters:
ffprobe -v error -show_format -show_streams -show_chapters -of json input.mp4Check the tags on every stream, not only format.tags. The report itself can contain private filenames and tag values, so do not paste all of it into a public issue or forum.
ExifTool is another way to check: exiftool -a -ee3 -G1 -s input.mp4. -ee3 makes ExifTool also read location tracks recorded alongside the video, which dashcams, action cameras and drones use. On a long video this can take a while. If one tool shows nothing, that does not prove the file holds no identifying data.
To make a separate MP4 copy for sharing:
ffmpeg -n -i input.mp4 -map "0:V?" -map "0:a?" -map_metadata -1 -map_metadata:s -1 -map_chapters -1 -c copy -movflags +faststart output.mp4The two -map_metadata options stop FFmpeg from copying the file’s tags and the tags on each stream, and -map_chapters -1 drops the chapters. The two -map options keep the video (but not attached pictures such as cover images) and the audio, and leave out subtitles and data streams. The streams are copied, not re-encoded, so nothing in the picture is covered. See the FFmpeg documentation.
Check output.mp4 with the same ffprobe command and play it. If the codecs cannot be copied into MP4, use a container that accepts them. Keep the original untouched.
What can remain
A general CPU, GPU or camera model name is not the same as a device serial number, a computer name or a personal folder path. A model name on its own does not reveal a person’s name or files, but together with other public information it can still help identify someone.
Duration, frame size and codec information stay, because players need them. The program that writes the output may also add new tags. Rotation can be stored outside ordinary tags, so removing metadata does not always remove it. Check that the result is the right way up and that the audio and duration are correct.
Use mosaic to cover things people could recognize, mute to silence conversations and trim to cut out a section. For sensitive material, ask whether it needs to be published at all.
A cleaned copy does not change the original, your backups, cloud copies or files you already sent, and it does not undo an earlier share.