Guide · Photo files
What is EXIF data? The photo format explained
EXIF is a standard way of storing facts about a photo inside the image file itself. A camera or phone writes a list of labelled fields, called tags, next to the picture: the make and model, the date and time, the exposure, the lens, the orientation, often a small preview, and sometimes the GPS position. Photo apps read those tags to sort and rotate your pictures. The standard was written for camera makers and is now kept by JEITA and CIPA, two Japanese industry groups.
On this page
A label inside the file
Every digital photo has two parts: the picture, and a set of notes about it. EXIF is the most common format for those notes. The Library of Congress describes it as a set of rules for recording technical details of digital photography, first written by JEITA and managed together with CIPA since 2009. EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image File Format.
The notes travel with the file. Copy the photo to a computer, attach it to an email or upload it somewhere that keeps the original, and the notes go along. That is why they matter for privacy, which our guide on what photo metadata reveals covers. This page is about the format itself.
How the fields are organized
EXIF data is a list of entries. Each entry has a number that says what it is (its tag), a type (text, a whole number, a fraction) and a value. The entries sit in groups:
| Group | What it holds | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Main image | basics about the picture | camera make and model, orientation, software, date changed |
| Exif | how the shot was taken | exposure time, aperture, ISO, focal length, lens model, date taken, flash |
| GPS | where | latitude, longitude, altitude, direction, time from the satellites |
| Thumbnail | a small preview | a tiny JPEG of the photo |
| Maker notes | the brand’s own data | settings only that maker’s software understands |
Dates have no time zone in the oldest fields, which is why a photo can show the wrong hour after a trip. Newer versions added separate fields for the time zone offset.
Which files carry it
The standard was built on two file types. The Library of Congress says it defines a TIFF-based form and a JPEG-based form, and that in a JPEG the data sits in special segments near the start of the file, called APP1 and APP2. Other formats borrowed the same block later. A HEIC photo from an iPhone stores an EXIF block too, and PNG and WebP files can hold one, though many apps that make PNG or WebP files leave it out.
Screenshots and images saved from websites often carry little or no EXIF, because no camera wrote them.
The fields an iPhone shows you
You don’t need special software to see the main fields. Open a photo in Photos and swipe up. Apple’s user guide lists what you’ll see there: the device that captured it, the date and time, camera details such as the lens and shutter speed, the file size, and where it was taken. Photos also lets you change the date, time and place it stores.
To see the full list of tags, including ones the Info panel leaves out, use the photo metadata viewer on this site. It reads the file in your browser.
Who reads EXIF, and why
- Photo apps use the orientation tag to show a picture the right way up, and the date to sort your library.
- Maps in photo apps use the GPS fields; our guide on finding where a photo was taken shows how.
- Photographers read the exposure settings to learn from a shot.
- Websites often delete the whole block on upload to save space and protect people’s privacy, but not all of them do.
Can EXIF be trusted?
Not as proof. The fields are plain values that any editor can change or delete, and Photos itself lets you change the date and place. Treat them as a likely story: a strong hint when they are complete and consistent, and nothing at all when they are missing.
Where Sealed helps, and where it doesn’t
It helps keep a photo, with all its EXIF fields, inside an encrypted vault rather than in the library other apps can be given. Sealed encrypts the photo data it receives as it is, without shrinking or recompressing it first. Sealed encrypts every file with AES-256-GCM before it is saved.
It doesn’t edit or remove EXIF fields. To strip them from a copy, use Photos’ location settings or the metadata remover.
Questions and answers
What does EXIF stand for?
Exchangeable Image File Format. Despite the name, it is not an image format of its own: it is a way of storing metadata inside formats such as JPEG and TIFF.
Does removing EXIF data lower the quality of a photo?
No, if the tool only drops the metadata and keeps the picture data as it is. A tool that re-saves the whole image can lower the quality, so check what it does.
Sources
What this page says about Sealed was checked against the app on .
- Library of Congress, Sustainability of Digital Formats, Exif Exchangeable Image File Format, Version 2.2 — read 13 Nov 2026; Exif records technical details of digital photography; developed by JEITA and managed jointly by JEITA and CIPA since 2009; TIFF-based and JPEG-based variants, with JPEG metadata in the APP1 and APP2 segments; supports thumbnails
- Apple iPhone User Guide, See photo and video information on iPhone (iOS 27) — read 13 Nov 2026; Photos shows saved metadata such as the device, date and time, lens, shutter speed, file size and location, and lets you adjust the date, time and location
- Sealed on the App Store — the listing for the app this guide mentions
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Sealed: Private Photo Vault
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