Share iPhone photos without the location
Share iPhone photos without the location?
iOS has three separate controls: one for a single share, one for new photos, and one for a photo already in your library. They do different jobs. These are the steps from Apple's support pages and what each one leaves alone.
C2PA: Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity; C2PA specification 2.4
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iOS has three separate controls: one for a single share, one for new photos, and one for a photo already in your library. They do different jobs. These are the steps from Apple's support pages and what each one leaves alone.
Reviewed 18 October 2026
For one share: turn off Location in Options
- In Photos (or in the Camera app's camera roll), select one or more photos.
- Tap the share button, then tap Options.
- Turn off Location. Apple says Location Not Included appears above the Options button.
- Pick Messages, Mail, AirDrop or another option in the share sheet.
Source: Apple: Manage location metadata in Photos. The same switch is in Apple's iPhone guide for iOS 26 (Apple: Share photos and videos on iPhone (iOS 26)). The photo in your library keeps its location. The switch affects what goes out in that share.
Leave All Photos Data off
In the same Options screen, Apple describes All Photos Data as sharing the original file with edit history and metadata, available with AirDrop and iCloud links. If your aim is to keep the place private, leave it off and look at the Location line before you send (Apple: Share photos and videos on iPhone (iOS 26)).
For new photos: stop Camera from recording it
Go to Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Camera, then choose Never (Apple: Manage location metadata in Photos). Apple says location metadata can be collected only when Camera has access to Location Services. This does not touch photos you already took. Apple says the embedded coordinates are what let you search Photos by place, so new photos taken with it off carry nothing to search on.
For one photo already in your library
- Open Photos, tap Albums and open the photo.
- Open the info panel and tap Adjust Info.
- Tap Adjust Location, then No Location.
Apple documents this under Remove location metadata in Photos (Apple: Manage location metadata in Photos). It changes the library item itself, so the location is gone from later shares too. Apple's iPhone guide says you can revert an adjusted location to the original (Apple: See photo and video information on iPhone).
Apps you give photo access to
Apple's privacy page says that when an app uses the photo picker, access to a photo includes associated metadata such as location and depth information (Apple: Photos and Privacy). The Options switch is for the share sheet. For an app you grant access to, the safer habit is to hand it a copy that no longer has the coordinates.
Check the copy you are about to send
We could not run these steps on an iPhone for this page, so the check is yours to do. Save the shared copy to Files or send it to a computer, then open it in the Photo location viewer. If the viewer prints coordinates, the copy still has them. If the file is HEIC the viewer cannot open it; choose Most Compatible in Options, which Apple says may convert to JPEG (Apple: Share photos and videos on iPhone (iOS 26)), and test that file. Whether the conversion keeps or drops coordinates is not stated on Apple's pages, so test it before you rely on it.
For a file you already hold, Remove location from a photo writes a copy without GPS, and Verify metadata removed compares two files block by block.
What none of these change
A visible street sign or landmark stays in the pixels. A post-level location tag you add in a social app is a separate field. See What an iPhone photo's location reveals for what travels with the file.
FAQ
Does the Options switch change the photo on my phone?
No. It changes what is shared. Removing the location from the library item is the Adjust Location step in Photos.
Will turning Camera location to Never hide old locations?
No. Apple describes it as stopping new collection. Existing photos keep their stored location until you change them.
Do I need a website if Apple has these switches?
Not for a share from Photos. A browser tool helps for files already on a computer, for non-iPhone files, and for checking a copy before you send it.
More tools
Photo location viewer · Image metadata viewer · Remove location from a photo · EXIF remover · Verify metadata removed · What an iPhone photo's location reveals