September 7, 2026 · 4 min read

Does Reddit Remove Metadata From Photos? (Before You Post)

Posting an image to Reddit? Here's what happens to its EXIF and GPS metadata, where the gaps are, and how to make sure you're not sharing your location.

Short answer: images uploaded directly to Reddit are re-processed, and that generally strips EXIF metadata including GPS. But Reddit isn't the only path your image takes, and 'generally' isn't 'always' — especially when you post via a third-party host or an app. Here's what to know.

What usually happens

When you upload an image through Reddit's own uploader, it's re-encoded and served from Reddit's image host. That re-encode drops most EXIF fields, so someone saving your picture from the post typically won't find camera or location data in it.

Where the gaps are

• External hosts: if you link to an image hosted elsewhere, Reddit isn't processing it at all — whatever metadata that host kept is still there.
• Third-party apps: some clients upload differently, and behaviour can vary.
• The pixels themselves: stripping EXIF doesn't hide what's visible in the photo — house numbers, street signs, reflections and uniforms have all deanonymised people before.
• Cross-posting the original file elsewhere: the file on your device still contains everything.

Reddit is one place worth being careful

People often post to Reddit semi-anonymously, which makes it exactly the platform where an accidental GPS leak matters most. If the image was taken at home, strip the metadata yourself rather than trusting the upload pipeline.

• Drop the photo into Skrubly's Metadata Cleaner.
• See exactly what's embedded — GPS, timestamp, device.
• Clean it, then upload the cleaned copy. It all runs in your browser, so the photo is never uploaded to us.