Hushbox

How to Remove Location From iPhone Photos

Updated November 5, 2026 · Covers iOS 17 and iOS 18

When Location Services is on for the Camera, your iPhone saves where each photo was taken inside the photo file. That is handy for your own map of trips. It is less handy when you send a picture of your new apartment to a stranger selling a couch.

iOS has three built-in ways to deal with this, each for a different situation:

First: check whether a photo has a location

  1. Open the photo in Photos.
  2. Swipe up on the photo, or tap the Info button (the "i").
  3. If the photo has a location, you'll see a map and a place name. If there is no map, no location is stored.

Method 1: Remove location when sharing

This is the best option for most people. Your own photo keeps its location for your memories, and the copy you send goes without it.

  1. Open the photo in Photos, or select several photos.
  2. Tap the Share button.
  3. At the top of the share sheet, under the number of photos selected, tap Options.
  4. Turn off Location.
  5. Tap Done, then choose how to share: Messages, Mail, AirDrop or another app.
Do it every time. The Options setting applies to the share you are making. Check it again the next time you send a photo you care about.

Method 2: Remove location from a photo in your library

Use this when you want the location gone from your own copy, so it can't leave with the photo later.

  1. Open the photo in Photos.
  2. Swipe up, or tap the Info button.
  3. Tap Adjust next to the location.
  4. Choose No Location.

The map disappears from the info panel. Any copy you share from now on won't carry the location, even if you forget the Options step.

Method 3: Stop recording location for new photos

If you never want location saved in your photos, turn it off for the Camera app.

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Privacy & Security, then Location Services.
  3. Scroll down and tap Camera.
  4. Choose Never.

This only affects photos you take from now on. Photos already in your library keep their location until you remove it with Method 2.

The trade-off: you lose the Places map in Photos and the ability to search by where a photo was taken. Many people prefer to leave location on and use Method 1 when sharing.

Which method should you use?

SituationBest methodChanges your copy?
Sending a photo to someone you don't know wellShare sheet › Options › Location offNo
A photo that should never carry a locationInfo › Adjust › No LocationYes
You never want location in new photosLocation Services › Camera › NeverOnly new photos

What happens to location after you share

Different apps and websites handle photo metadata differently. Some remove location from the version other people see. Others pass the original file along, location included. And an app that hides location from other users may still receive it when you upload.

Because you can't always tell from the outside, the safe habit is simple: remove location on your side, before the photo leaves your phone. Then it doesn't matter what the other end does with it.

Location isn't the only thing a photo can give away. Street signs, house numbers, a view from a window or a school logo can reveal just as much. Take a second look at the picture itself before sending.

Keeping private originals private

Sometimes you want to keep a photo with its full details, location included, but not have it sitting in your camera roll. In that case the question isn't metadata, it's where the photo lives and who can open it. Our guide on how to hide photos on iPhone covers the options, from the Hidden album to a vault with its own passcode.

How Hushbox fits in

Hushbox, coming soon to the App Store, doesn't change or remove location data. What it does is store your originals privately: each photo and video is encrypted on your device with AES-256-GCM, file names, dates and thumbnails included, behind a passcode separate from your iPhone passcode. Files keep their original quality. To share a photo without its location, use the built-in steps above. Learn more about Hushbox.

FAQ

Does turning off Location for the Camera remove location from old photos?

No. It only stops location from being saved in new photos. Use Info › Adjust › No Location for photos you already have.

If I turn off Location in the share sheet, does my original change?

No. Only the copy you are sending goes without location. Your photo in Photos keeps it.

Do screenshots include my location?

Check any image the same way: open it and swipe up. If no map appears in the info panel, no location is stored with it.

Is it enough to remove the location?

It removes the GPS position stored in the file. What is visible in the picture, like signs or landmarks, can still give away where it was taken.

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